Community Brag Posts

Parsons desk

I added an additional detached shelf so we can change the setup anytime. I also increased the space between the two main shelves to 30 inches and extended the depth to 22 inches overall. I left one shelf off to make room for the computer tower. The top is made from maple with a gunstock stain. This desk will mainly be for my kids gaming station. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$130
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax gunstock and Pro Finisher crystal polycrylic.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Aqua Spa Bench for Entry

My husband modified the plans to make the bench longer to sit in our entry as a place to take off shoes.  Painted, distressed sanded, then stained with minwax ebony.  Finished off with polyurethane.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
around $35
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
satin latex paint, minwax ebony stain, satin polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Modern Slat Top Outdoor Wood Bench

This took about 6 hours from beginning to end, but next bench should take about 4-5 hours. Most of the time was spent on sanding the wood and waiting for the stain to dry.

Main lesson learned: Drill pilot holes throughout. I used no-drill construction screws, but it didn't pull the wood tight enough against each other. Also, stain all the wood pieces before assembling (as opposed to just the top slats as suggested in the plan). Remember that the leg pieces will not need stain on the flat surfaces, just the sides that will be exposed. Use a square tool to stay as close to 90 degrees as possible.

Estimated Cost
$45 using "whitewood" (SPF) and pine 1x4's from Home Depot.
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax red oak, wiped on with cloth.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Mission Style Dog Kennel

This project was really pretty easy. The hardest part was holding the pieces just right so they ended up where we wanted once the kreg jig hole screws went in. Also, we had to be sure not to overtighten the screws and cause splitting.

 

We did have to make two adjustments to the plans. I think the first was a typo...where it says 2 - 1x2 @ 15 3/4" (door sides) they should actually be 1x3 based on the images.

The second adjustment was the plywood for the back 17 3/4" x 21" ended up too wide for the end to fit on, so we made it 17 3/4" x 20"

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Early American stain and satin polyurethane.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Knox11

Sun, 12/24/2017 - 17:17

This was my first wood working Project! I learned alot about what to do and not to do for future projects. We are excited about how it turned out!

Work Bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 12/24/2021 - 20:36

Built the DIY garage work bench, added wheels came out perfect...plans from Ana White were awesome@

Comments

Our Farmhouse Table, Bench and Bar Stools

Our kitchen has been pretty much the same for the last 4 1/2 years but this last fall we started to undertake a huge do-it-yourself remodel. We painted our cabinets, replaced the sink and floors and even painted the counter tops! You can check out the transformation on our blog.

Now that our kitchen was looking so good we decided we needed some awesome furniture to match.

This is where the great Ana White and her wonderful blog stepped in. We were able to build some beautiful high quality furniture at an awesome price! This was the first time I actually had matching and completed furniture in my kitchen and I have loved it.

We built the farmhouse table, bench and the extra tall bar stools with some modifications.

Estimated Cost
We spent around $220 for all of the furniture.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
I used a wood conditioner, 2 coats of a Jacobean colored stain and two coats of a satin finish polyurethane.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Turnings

Submitted by Russell AP on Sat, 06/22/2013 - 21:30

These are a few of my turnings. They are available for sale. Message or comment for price and shipping.

Estimated Cost
100$
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Most of my finishes for turnings are Arm-R-Seal poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Patio Table

I looked around to buy a patio and found they were often quite expensive or they were poorly made out of metal that would rust. I had some scrap pine and some table legs from an old table I wasn't using so decided to make a patio table myself.

For more details, check out my blog:
http://www.woodworkingfourdummies.com/blog/patio-table

Cheers,
Ian

Estimated Cost
$20 for paint
Wood was scrap
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint and Polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Modified King Farmhouse Bed - Taller headboard.

Submitted by Ijc2000 on Thu, 12/28/2017 - 10:09

Modified the standard farmhouse king plan a bit. Made the headboard 4" taller and utilized 1x4's and 1x3's to fill in the headboard instead of 1x8's. I used 2x8 from front to back for the runners and horizonal 2x6's just under the lip of the 2x8 for the matress to sit on. It turned out great and we get lots of compliments. 

Estimated Cost
$350
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Picture included. Used the whitewash before using the restoration hardware technique.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Loft bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 12/26/2021 - 13:03

I used your loft bed plan and made some adjustments to better suit our needs. My daughter absolutely loves her bed and we love having all the extra room under her bed. Thank you and I will be using many more of your plans.

Justin

Comments

Tryde Coffee Table

I built Ana's Tryde Coffee Table.  Building was quick and easy and I am in LOVE with my new table!!!   You can see the modifications I made at our blog http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2011/04/coffee-table-reveal.html

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$40
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Dark Walnut and Rust-oleum Heirloom White Spray Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Nick & Leah's Farmhouse Bed

This was our first project & we worked on it together. My husband melded the Farmhouse plan with the Chunky Leg bed box. The box is reinforced & has 13 slats. We didn't sand out areas that had bark, but left them for the texture. We worked on it a few hours each night & then painted on Saturday & puit it together on Sunday. Design-wise we raised the bed so that the bottom of the frame sits at 12 inches. We also raised the footboard above the mattress level. These changes were just our preference, but we really love how it turned out. It is sturdy, substantial & beautiful!

Estimated Cost
$250.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Valspar Signature Eggshell finish in Vanilla Steam. After sanding we only applied one real coat, but applied it liberally.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Table

Submitted by bosox43 on Sat, 06/06/2015 - 18:49

Great project, super easy to follow instructions and really easy to modify with some simple math.

Perfect weekend project, started the table around 1pm on Saturday, finished the bench and had the garage cleaned up and sitting at the new table by 330pm on Sunday!

Thanks for posting the plans, they were very easy to follow!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$75
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Deck table
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Faux fireplace

Submitted by nhsarah on Sat, 12/30/2017 - 12:00

I live in an apartment, so I had everything cut for me at the nearby hardware store except the trimming. I scaled it so that it fits in my living room. It was my first woodworking project since high school, but I’m happy with how it tuned out. Thank you so much for the easy to understand instructions!!

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Sawhorse Table

Submitted by Alark on Wed, 06/26/2013 - 06:32

New table for our patio space. This was a fun, relatively easy project. The weather was my only hiccup in the building. Spent an afternoon making cuts, the next day sanding and staining and then assembly. Hubby saw the pieces laid out before staining was complete and loved the two tone look, so I went with it. I used minwax Kona for the stained area and covered everything with Spar Varnish.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax stain - Kona,
Spar Varnish
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Wedding Panel

Submitted by brittanyj on Wed, 06/10/2015 - 08:40

So glad to finally make this beautiful panel wall art for a friend for her wedding. The last name is Iverson, so the tree stood in for the I. I made it on cedar pickets ripped in half and sanded, kona stain, then designed my tree/lettering/birds in Cricut, cut it out, and painted. Can't wait to give it to her!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$2
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
varathane kona, spray clear top coat, acrylic paint and markers
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farm Table w/ Pocket Holes

I did a few thing different than the plan calles for. I used kiln dried douglas fir 2x8's and ripped them to remove the rounded mill edge. For the stretcher I used 4x4 rather than the 2x4. Where the bread board is attached I put a very small bevel at the joining edges of the bread board and table to create a visual distinction.

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax Espresso stain and Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Outdoor Pine Canopy Daybed

Submitted by evilmom on Sun, 05/01/2011 - 14:01

This is my first venture into woodworking/carpentry. Since I did not want to shell out too much money for lumber, I used untreated pine (worst wood they say to use) for the daybed and used an exterior wood stain (with uv protection) to seal the wood. I also did not invest in power tools and used a hammer and wood saw to cut and nail everything together. As I cannot sew, I waterproofed the mattress by sandwiching it between two plastic mattress covers (dollar store) and duct taping the seams. It's not elegant but no one is going to see it. I used a cotton fitted twin sheet (old one) for the cover and found some outdoor pillows for $16 a pair ($8 per pillow and made with solarium fabric). Also as this is placed outside (deck), I'm looking into getting a mosquito net to use over the daybed instead of the bed tent I have on right now.

In hindsight, I should have used pressure treated wood for the posts and canopy beams to prevent bending/twisting (I had to re-do 2 posts). If I get 3 years of use for this furniture. I'm a happy camper. Ana, thank you so much for the plan. Kathy thanks for the advice on painting the lumber first.

You guys can do this!

Estimated Cost
$70 for the lumber, $ 40 for stain, sand paper, nails, wood glue, $4 for mattress cover, duct tape
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Olympic exterior wood stain with UV protection (oil based).
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Sandbox (plus stage and puppet theatre)

I started with the original plans for the sandbox with the benches, and then just sort of took off with the modifications.

When it's open, it's a 4'x6' sandbox with a bench on one side and a canopy overhead. When it's closed, it's a stage complete with curtains, or can also convert into a puppet theatre.

I had to make several adjustments to the original plan to allow for enough support for the stage to be walked (and danced) on, including an extra armrest in the bench, and a few blocks built up from the base of the sand area. I also used 1x6 boards for the top instead of 1x4, to cover the entire 4' with only the one bench.

Thanks so much for the plans, my girls love it! (and thanks to KnittingEmily for posting the plans for the 6' sandbox, which gave me a jumping off point for the sizing I used.)

The story of how I built it can be found here:
http://www.thislemonyogurt.com/a-box-of-sand/

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Lasso the Moon

Fri, 06/28/2013 - 07:51

Oh, this must seem magical to those little ones. It looks like so much fun. Great job!
Anna