Community Brag Posts

My wife saw this project on your page. I had to shorten it to two feet, but, it pretty easy to do and turned out pretty well 👍🏼😁

Steve Phethean
 

After spending weeks lurking on the site, I decided to go for it. I have no real experience doing this sort of thing, so everything was a learning experience. I had to invest in a lot of tools but the materials only cost about $100 ($50 in pine from local home store + ~$50 in other materials).

I live in a small apartment, so my workplace was less than ideal. I did a lot of sawing and sanding in the space you see so I made a HUGE mess, but I didn't really have any other choice.

I'm really pleased with the outcome. It isn't perfect, but it doesn't have to be. There are gaps in the planks on the table top, but I can live with it. I didn't follow the plans exactly in order. I built the table top first which allowed me to add removable legs for when it comes time to move. Instead of screwing the legs, I hung hanger bolts and did a nut/bolt setup (as I type this, I realize this was not a necessary step - I could have bolted the legs instead of screwing them in per the stepwise instructions, which would have been easier. Alas, what's done is done!). The picture shows two sets of nuts per bolt, but this is only because I had extra bolts and this ensure that I don't lose them.

I plan on finishing with a polyurethane and building the benches but that will be in the future. My advice to anyone on the fence is to just do it. It's easier than you think and if it doesn't turn out exactly perfect, no big deal. My project goes to show that even with a tiny Chicago apartment, as long as you're willing to make a mess, it can be done. Good luck, thanks for reading!

*sorry my photos are aren't right-side-up - just tilit your head :)

My husband built this for one of the recruiters in his station for his retirement from the Army after 20 yrs of service.

I've been looking for a way to hide my ugly garbage can in my kitchen for a while now.  I figured it would cost way too much to buy something like this and was so excited to find Ana's plans online.  This was my first furniture attempt ever.  The plans provided made the entire process so easy.  I used some leftover beadboard for the door and some odds and ends we had laying around for the hardware to keep the costs down.  

Garden Bench Project. Christmas Gift for my daughter-in-law. Cost of materials $75 and invested about 5 hours into the project. I modified the length to fit their porch. I sanded all the material and slightly rounded over all of the material edges. Recommend installing the seat BEFORE you install the arms as it is much easier to fasten. I extended the arms by an inch because I thought it looked better than cutting it flush to the leg. We will paint it in the Spring after the material dries out and can accept paint. It was fun to build. I have seen similar benches on Etsy for over $500.

Simple but beautiful!

I needed 3 stools for my kids to eat breakfast at the counter. These were perfect.

I already owned the fabric so I only needed to purchase the wood and the foam. I made it entirely out of furring strips so it was really inexpensive.

I took me a couple of hours to build and sand all 3.

Thanks for sharing this plan, I served to use a round glass tha I have saved, 

We followed Ana's "Toddler's Upholstered Bed" plan nearly exactly. The only major change I made was to add fancy looking french country legs I found at the local hardware store. They were screw in, so I used metal screw guides that popped right in after a little pre-drilling. I included some pictures to help explain this variance to help give others ideas. Thanks so much for these plans Ana!

Took a couple of weeks to complete but, hubby only worked on it in the evenings after he got off work. He had trouble finding untreated 4x4s so he glued untreated 2x4s together (which took extra time waiting for the glue to set up and dry). He used paint grade pine wood so our cost was a little higher than what was estimated. We ended up having around $350 in it after buying paint and everything. Overall, he said it was a fairly easy project.

For my sons airplane/helicopter Birthday I painted murals on 2inch thick cardboard. three mnths later they are still in the back yard, the cardboard has been rained on as well as the sprinklers have watered them almost daily and as you see they're still intact. so i decided to build them a frame out of pallet boards and hang them on the wall in the backyard. Since I used pallet boards, nails i already had, and remaining spray paint I have from my tractor tire project. This project cost me practically nothing, had to by anchor screws to hang..

This Rustic Table was built by my just-turned-15-year-old, Joey. He is amazing!

Joey is a Kreg Jig pro (and an engineering marvel) and this table is rock solid. The only change he made was the direction of the table legs (per my request) and he tapered the legs as well.

I finished the table using Ana's directions: http://ana-white.com/2013/05/staining-and-finishing-tabletops As a stain and poly novice, these directions were a life saver!!

Learning lesson: When I applied the stain (in several coats to match my cabinetry), I was nervous and patient. Then, I built up my confidence and decided to apply a very thick coat of stain. Don't do that; it was a sticky mess! I searched online and lots of people said that I would have to start over. Don't do that, either. One person (thanks to him!) said to be patient and wait it out. Fwew! So, I moved it onto the screened porch (and turned on the overhead fans) each day so that the warm Florida air could help dry it out (alternatively I imagine you could leave it in the house with some fans blowing across it). It took about a week of waiting (ugh), but it dried (yay!) so that I could apply the Spar Urethane.

Must do: Ana suggests using Minwax® Water Based Helmsman® Spar Urethane for a top that will tolerate water condensation, milk spills, etc. I did this and have no worries that my son's project will be ruined. This table is going to last!

The bench was also an Ana design. It was a really quick project.

Thanks so much to Ana for having these accessible, free plans. I could never have afforded a table of this substance and we are SO proud to tell visitors about Joey's Table when they ask.

All of the wood is recycled from pallets. The hardware is also recycled from old kitchen cabinets. All sides of the cabinet are paneled with planks of pallet wood. The plans were awesome to follow! After a certain point though, I had to go rogue because I was using different wood. 

My wife and I had been talking about buying a new dining room table for some time and we are just so sick and tired of paying good money for cheap, particle board furniture from Wayfair or box stores. And solid wood furniture is expensive AF! So, I decided to build a table myself, even though I'd never built a single piece of furniture in my life. When I found the plans for this table I realized that I could do it myself. The plans were straight forward and easy to follow. I had to size the length down to fit in my smallish dining room (and it is still a little bit too big), but I am so proud of what I was able to build by myself in a weekend. Thank you Ana!

Modified the Twin Farmhouse Bed slightly to meet the needs I felt were necessary for my 2 year old daughter.

I put the side rail cleats as low as possible to minimize height. I totally left out the Rail Supports for Footboard/Headboard (Part M), as they are unnecessary. I also added three center supports using 2x4 joist hangers. On the headboard posts I added two blocks to make assembly easy and uniform. The bed comes apart in 4 pieces and is easily put together by one person using screws. I will take more pictures if anyone has questions about anything.

Building the different pieces took roughly 6 hrs as I'm a little OCD. Finishing took a ton of time. I only have a palm finishing sander so I first sanded with 60 grit, then 120, then a final 220 (220 was recommended by Minwax). Finishing was time consuming as I had to finish one side of each piece at a time due to space limitations.

Minwax water-based stuff is a little tricky with pine as it causes "grain reversal" which is fine for me because I like the look. I think it was really designed for oak or other denser woods.

Tip: Use a low-profile box spring.