DIY Ladder Shelf to use as a plant stand on our courtyard deck.
Altered the original plan only enough to accommodate the materials I had lying around without going to buy more lumber. The workbench I built is not as wide being only 48" instead of the 55" noted in the plans. For the top of the workbench and the lower shelf I used 1x4 furring boards again, because it is what I had for material at the time of building.
Once I made the basic frame, I squared it and then installed the supports for the table top and the lower shelf. Once the supports were in I cut the 1x4's to the appropriate length. As I laid each respective board, I also laid a good dose of wood glue down and then clamped them in place. I let those boards set with glue for about 5 minutes before going back and using a 2" brad nailer to finish them off. Once the nailing was done, I removed the clamps and moved to the next series of boards. Because I had several clamps I was able to lay about three boards at a time and let the glue set for another 10-15 minutes. Working slowly and methodically got the whole job done in a couple of days of a few hours a piece before completion.
Easy project and something that will last a long time when done correctly.
Garage Shelf inspired from Ana's Ryobi workshop design
I built these for my daughter's birthday, after she showed me a set of night stands that resembled these from the site. I used cedar with a steel wool and viniger stain to give them a aged look. With 4 coats of a water based urathane as a finish. Your plans were accurate and simple to follow. Thanks
Our girls had made do with hand me down room furniture and decor( youngest 2, out of 5 girls). It was time to give them a space they love. I have never built anything other than slight upcycle projects. Slightly modifying this or that , never just starting with lumber and a plan. They picked the farmhouse beds and my husband was gone for 3 weeks backpacking, so off to buy lumber. Not as easy NO ONE HAS UNTREATED 4x4 posts!!!!! i called 3 counties, almost cried, to order was 3 weeks, or just cant get them. Finally found a cedar and cypress mill 1 hr away. Hopped in the car and off i went to load up.I had 2 beds to do so the second one went faster. What i learned?
1. even after predrilling you will do best hand screwing screws. Cypress was really hard in places and a stripped screw equals stress.( just like there is no crying in baseball, there is also no crying in carpentry)
2. the 2x4 that is under the 2x6 on headboard and footboard should be cut AFTER you assemble the 1x6 and 1x4 base. Much easier than making cuts with a circular saw on 1x6
3. your hands will feel like they were run over after day 1 of sanding, it will pass and get better.
4. perfect is not possible. It probably not even preferable. You want perfect? That is a machine
The room still needs some special touches, lamps, nicknacks, etc. cannot paint , rental. so sad. oh well
Fri, 08/31/2012 - 09:07
Thank you! I really enjoy woodworking, looking foward to more projects.
Fri, 08/31/2012 - 09:55
Your girls must be so happy to have these cute beds. And, proud of their mama who made them!
In reply to So darned cute! by sgilly
Fri, 08/31/2012 - 10:09
Really hard to find common ground for a 15 yr old and 12 1/2 yr old. Tried to go for sophisticated beach side cottage. Dark wood bookcase and side tables , jute rug, cotton quilt coverlets....also i did add six inches to the height for added storage. Lots of girls equal lots of shoes
I built these fun and easy tents for our playroom. They are perfect for reading, or for an indoor camping trip.
Sun, 07/05/2020 - 08:42
Lovely desks/space! And the sewing machines look like they're going to bring hours of fun! What kind of wood did you use for the tops? Did you route it to make it tongue and groove?
Super fun project!!
so i put this storage shed on the outside wall of my garage and then i put my dust collector inside it and cut a hole for the pipe to into the garage. It's nice and out of the way now. I adjusted the size a bit to make it fit more of my outside tools like the trimmer and blower. Its not in the picture but I also extended the roof about 30 inches over the side to park the lawn mower under it. If I were to do it again I'd make it even bigger.
Very excited to have finished my second build! My daughter was so excited about these shelves, too. She even helped pick up her play area so we could get a nice picture. I only have a small wagon, so all the big cuts were done at Home Depot. Best part of this project: with the cuts completed in-store, this project took about the same amount of time to put together as a similar IKEA shelf, only no Allen wrenches were involved.
Used the Kreg Jig for the table top. I followed Ana White's Youtube Video "How to Build a Tabletop" for instructions on how to do it.
Weeklong project for all three. Started on a Saturday and had it in the dining room and eating a meal the next Saturday!
Ana - built this Queen Farmhouse Bed from your plans and videos. Really a warm, guest room that I built inspired from your work and detailed plans — thanks again!
Chris K
2 wood pallets, 1 2x4 from an old wall teardown, and an old door we were going to pitch = 1 free workbench!
(used the extra pallet wood to make the decor sign. I wanted to make it girly. :) )
I want to give a big THANK YOU!! to Ana. I found your website a few years ago when I wanted to move my toddler to a big girl bed. Since then I have built several things but this is the first that I have shared on the site. Long story short this is a bench that I made for my father in law for Father's Day. It was a pretty simple build that I believe came together pretty well. Next, a tailgate bench for my own dad for Father's Day. Luckily he doesn't mind that it will be late.
I spent about 2 weeks off and on working on this project. I was happy with the outcome. It was a project for my daughter for her 23rd birthday. She loved it! Thank you for the plans!
The hardest part of this project was definitely finding straight 2x2’s at Lowe’s! This was my first drawer too, but after a little headache getting it square I couldn’t be happier with it! It goes perfectly with our Farmhouse/Barndoor Headboard. I can’t say enough good about this site ♥️
Built 2 floating shelves and mixed stains together to get the look I was looking for. I love them.
Shontelle M
I followed the plan exactly except that I left out the stretcher. It turned out beautifully and fits our kitchen perfectly. I wanted to complete the building in a weekend, but even with a helpful husband the kids distracted me. It ended up taking me three weeks working during naptimes and after bedtime.
My recommendations:
-I used 2x4s for the legs, but if I had to do it over again, I'd just buy 4x4s and use those. I did my best to fill in the seams in the legs, but I still notice them from certain angles.
-Sand, sand, and sand again. I hate spending time sanding, but this is a project where it's totally worth it. I sanded everything really aggressively with 60 or 80 grit paper and after I filled in screw holes and cracks, sanded again with 120. Then I hand sanded with 220. I'm really glad I did.
-Don't cut the table top boards (2x6s) till you are ready to place them. You want to make sure you have a really tight fit here.
-Because I didn't want any cracks on the table top, I filled in the seams between the boards with Elmer's wood filler. I was really nervous about how it would stain, but I just was super careful to sand any excess wood filler off the boards before staining. The wood filler appears a bit darker than the wood, but I think it looks ok. Better than cracks.
-I notched out the table legs with the skill saw and I thought they looked pretty rough and it was a long process. When I made the bench legs, I used my table saw to notch. I'm not sure if this is recommended or not, but the notches were much cleaner looking and it was a lot easier.
We needed a big sturdy table for 8-12 persons for our big dinning room but didn't want to pay 3000$ for it. Then i found Ana-white's site and thought "why not!". It's my first project, i started whit the bench and then made the table. All buy myself, my husby doesn't even know how to use a saw. He help me carry it inside thought ;) The plans were realy easy to follow. Somebody stop me, i'm refurnishing my hole house, i can't stop! In 2 months i'v made 2 dinning tables, 2 patio tables, 1 coffe table, 5 benches. So if i can do it, you can too!
