Balin Console Table
Built this for my wife for Christmas. It was super easy and she loves it!
Built this for my wife for Christmas. It was super easy and she loves it!
These were fun to build. The sanding , staining and finishing took longer than carpentry.
I bought a desk and chair for my daughter on Craigslist awhile back, but it did not include a hutch. I decided to add one and recently completed it...in addition to painting the desk a fresh white and then repairing the chair, painting it, and recovering the seat!
The hutch build was pretty straight forward and I used a Kreg Jig to assemble most of it. I built it to sit on the desk (not attached) but I included a cleat at the top to screw a couple of 3" screws into the wall studs to keep it in its place. It's nice and sturdy. I plan to add some puck lights under the bottom shelf soon.
The Lego house isn't quite up to Momplex standards :)
I'd been looking for plans to build a bed, since I wans't finding anything even remotely affordable that I liked in the stores, especially anything solid wood. I live in a renovated 4-square farmhouse, so the farmhouse bed plans seemed like an obvious choice. I absolutely loved the style, but I wanted to modify it a little. The original plans closely replicate the PB bed it is a knock off of, but I wanted a taller footboard that would come up above the mattress. I cut the footboard panels to 23" instead of 15", and the footboard posts to 35" instead of 21".
I scored on a gallon of oops paint at HD for $9, so total for this project was about $150 including the finish materials, $130 for just the lumber and hardware. This included adding an extra 1x8 to accomodate for the taller panels on the footboard. I did get 6' 1x4s instead of 8', which brought the cost and the material waste down some. Overall, my scrap pile was pretty tiny when I was done. It took me about a week to complete this project, but I worked slowly and a lot of time was spent watching paint/stain/urethane dry. It probably could have been done in a weekend if I was diligent.
Should I ever need to move this bed, I purchased knock down bed rail fasteners here and cut my 2x10 rails to 80", then mounted them to the posts with the fasteners 60" apart. I used 2x2s cut to 80" for "cleats" on the inside of each rail, glued and screwed about every 4" with 2.5" screws. Then I cut five 2x4 slats to 60" to sit on the cleats.
I measured from the floor to the top of the cleats and cut three "feet" from the 2x4 scrap to screw to the center of three of the slats to add center support (not shown in CAD drawing), as many mattress warranties require this. This sounds confusing, but I just used leftover chunks of 2x4 from the slats to make a "T" with three of the slats - top, middle, and bottom - so these slats rest on both the cleats and the floor. I have a split queen foundation, so I was worried about sagging. So far so good, feels super sturdy! The knock down fasteners are very secure, and there isn't a single wobble or squeak to be heard.
To get a good finish, I used a good wood filler. I think it was a JB brand wood repair product that was like a two part epoxy. I didn't just fill the screw holes, I filled any gaps and uneven places where joints didn't meet 100% exactly, like where the 4x4s meet the 2x4s. I didn't skimp on the sanding, either, even though I hate doing it, and even sanded lightly with 220 between coats of paint. The stain over the paint was totally experimental, but I loved the way it came out.
I'm super happy with the end result, but the taller footboard puts the bottom of my box spring around 13.5" off the floor - which gives me room to store stuff under there, but also makes for a very tall bed. Obviously you can adjust how high you want to hang the rails, I just wanted the bottom of the rails to line up with the bottom of the footboard panel, so it ended up tall.
Everyone who has seen this bed, or at least a picture of it, is absolutely in love with it. It's a showstopper in my bedroom, for sure.
Used the Farmhouse King Bed plans to make this and made a few adjustments to make it fit my matress.
Thank you Ana. As this is for outdoors -I used treated wood and Marine Ply - a fair bit more expensive. I followed the instructions to the letter - ordered the timber, did all the cuts and then began putting together. At that point I realised that treated Irish 4x2 is different to Alaskan standard 4x2! No worries though - as the instructions were well laid out and easy to follow - I only needed to cut an additional 1/2 an inch (aprx) off the 8 &1/2 pieces and a minor adjustment on the bottom shelf. A big, big thank you. Even though it was a fast build i've learned so much from it. It has a lovely logic and is very pleasing for the soul. I'll be retiring the white fold-up table in the 2nd picture - if you look carefully at it you will see the mark-up (jig marks) for artist easels. I hope your family has got through the health crises safely. If ye are ever in Ireland - come visit Waterford and give me a shout. Thanks again - Conor
Stuck to the plan as described, but I used my Kreg jig to use pocket holes where I could. I used 1x4s for the shelves and joined them together with pocket holes. This made it much stronger. Without joining these boards, the shelves are kind of flimsy, not sure how much weight they could support without some type of support system. I added an extra 2x4 to the top, this made it overhang about an inch on the front and back. I used 20" drawer glides. Also, I notched out the side supports for the 1x4 shelves 3/4" so the shelves sit flush with the side supports.
Fri, 12/27/2013 - 12:35
Just had someone build this for me, I'm wondering what paint color is on the bottom of yours? It looks great with the stain you chose!
Sun, 03/15/2015 - 17:00
Great table! I'm currently building a similar kitchen island and was debating going the cheaper route of utilizing 2x4s instead of making a butchers block. How did the wood filler between the boards work out for you as a flat surface? Has it cracked at all? Thanks in advance!
I used scrap wood and rope for this project. Its actually more of a serving tray/storage for remotes and etc. But I guess it could have multiple purposes. We're possibly going to use it as part of our centerpiece in our rustic-themed wedding next spring.
This DIY desk provides workspace for two people. A portion of the desk is for my oldest son during homeschooling and the other portion is for my husband while he continues to work from home. Cost : $35 Difference in length, width and height will result in a change in price.