Community Brag Posts

Kitchen Island with Butcher Block and Reclaimed Wood

Custom Kitchen Island with a butcher block top and reclaimed pallet wood on the sides and back. Sliding barndoors cover the lower cabinets and hammered black gate knobs finish out the upper drawer. 

Estimated Cost
1500.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Doll House Bookshelf

Submitted by alhskier on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 19:43

My first project from this website.  Made it for my daughter's first birthday! Had a fun time with it. Caulked the joints for a cleaner look, it came out great.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Caulk, and semi gloss paint!
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Princess Castle bed with storage

Submitted by bbcarey on Tue, 06/25/2013 - 12:36

Our daughter has a very small room. She also LOVES disney princesses. So I wanted to build her a princess castle bed.... but how do you fit a castle bed in a 9x11 bedroom?

There were some plans on Ana's site (good plans), and others on-line. But many of these plans had the bed on the TOP of the castle, and we were concerned with her trying to make her way down if she needed to in the middle of the night.

She also loves her Disney princess canopy bed that she has now... so if I could somehow build the castle around that bed, we'd be set. Which is exactly what we did.

I reviewed several pictures online, and then designed this bed with Sketchup (I LOVE that tool).

There is storage in the stairs, in the towers on the front down below, and in the back up on top. I also put rope lights inside around the ceiling over her bed for that 'Night light Princess glow."

There is also enough room on top for her bed if she wants to put it up there at some point in the future.

The idea for the decoration came from another poster who simply used the Vinyl Disney princess wall decals.

She loves it. Plus its big enough for daddy to read stories to her up in the loft at bedtime!

I've posted the plans on the sketchup warehouse... here is the link...

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=65f7fb029052c660cb6c…

If you can't find it with that search the sketchup warehouse for 'castle bed.'

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Latex interior paint. Castle top and trim were painted with spray paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

ThaddeusSwarfburnIII

Sat, 07/27/2013 - 16:17

Nice work. We worried about the height for our three year old, and if I were to build another (hah!) I would definitely make it lower. Carpeting the stairs is a good idea, I think I'm going to do the same. You've done well to cram everything into a small footprint. We're house-shopping now, and the tape measure comes with us. Gotta have 2.8m in the kid's room! Decals are great. My daughter went off hers for a while - nothing breaks your heart like a kid saying they want to give away something you worked really hard to build, even if you know they don't mean it. My wife put on some big wall stickers of a tree with squirrels and birds and suddenly she's in love with it again. Princess indeed (eyeroll).

bbcarey

Sat, 07/27/2013 - 20:53

Interesting your commented today :-) I am doing a similar project for my son for his 3rd birthday (this weekend) making a Lightning McQueen garage for his Ligthning McQueen bed...

Thanks for your comments... the castle project was fun. Its been fun to be able to even do these things now that I've visited Ana's site. And yes- I know its going to be a bummer when they no longer want the castle, or the garage (I had my son's bed in his garage tonight and not knowing better he hopped on the bed and jumped and bumped his head bad... now he's scared to have the bed in the garage- AND ITS NOT EVEN DONE YET!)

Thanks again..

Miter Saw Cart

Submitted by DrOcean51 on Tue, 05/19/2015 - 18:03

As a beginner I found this very easy to build. I took my time to make sure everything was measured and cut just right. I substituted longer screws for the brackets. The ones that came with the brackets seemed a little short. There's a trick to getting the screws in the brackets. The angled bar swings back to make it easy to attach the screws. Very happy with the finished product.

Estimated Cost
$50-$60
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
I used a Pecan Poly stain.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

RenoRustic

Wed, 05/20/2015 - 08:43

I went over a year without a miter saw stand/cart. Looking back it now that I have one, I kick myself for not getting one sooner. I have limited space for storage so I went with a store bought so that I can fold it up when not in use, but I really wish I had something that's always set up like yours. I also like the extensions that can fold down when not in use. Good job!

Wooden Marble Roller Machine

Submitted by mtairymd on Thu, 12/14/2017 - 13:57

I saw a picture of marble machine years ago and I finally got around to trying to make my own. I seriously had doubts about getting it working; so I didn’t want to invest money in nice wood. Therefore, besides the dowels, everything you see was made from a scrap 2×4.

As expected, it was a challenge to get mechanism worked out. I had to remake the cup and adjust the pivot point but I eventually got it working as shown in video.

Build Instructions: https://www.instructables.com/id/Wooden-Marble-Roller-Machine/

In Action: https://youtu.be/sel0w0gXGQk

Estimated Cost
$5%
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Dark Cherry
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Favorite Bookshelf

Submitted by ke263565 on Sun, 04/10/2011 - 05:06

Favorite Bookshelf - 2nd project  - slowly replacing all of my furniture - took about a day - all day - sprayed about 3 coats of spray paint on there - came out pretty good - hardest thing is to screw in shelves level -  but overall not too bad

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
40 - 50 bucks
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
moss green spraypaint - saw another user that used color so i stole it - sorry
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Modified rustic table and benches

Submitted by dkarinen on Sun, 06/16/2013 - 21:09

We built this table for my brother and new wife's wedding present. We modified it to use as an outdoor dining set. Instead of using the 1x10 for the tabletop we used 2x6's and for the legs we used 4x4's. We attached the top boards with a Camo fastening system we used last year on our deck (works great to conceal the screws). I stained the frame in Behr Cordovan Brown and the top boards in Behr Cedar Naturaltone. It was our first attempt at building a table and I think it turned out great, only problem was giving it away!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$300
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Behr cordovan brown stain and Behr natural cedartone
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

storchinsky

Mon, 06/17/2013 - 10:57

Very nice! I'd been considering this plan for my outdoor table, but my husband liked the modern farm table better. Same idea--I am leaving gaps to allow the water to drain. Love the two-tone finish! It's amazing what you can do with plain old 2 x 6s!

Caden Leather Ottoman (Pottery Barn knock-off)

Submitted by c11burke on Mon, 12/13/2021 - 14:51

This is a knockoff of the Pottery Barn "Caden Leather Ottoman". Made from Ash and American Walnut.

Comments

Dollhouse Bookcase

Submitted by mnewton on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 12:52

This was my first build. I was conviced to do this once I saw the Pottery Barn price tag. The plans were so easy to follow.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Barnwood Frame

As part of a redecorating project using reclaimed barn wood for our guest bedroom, we constructed this window frame to display some photos from one of our siblings of barns found in Iowa.

The dimensions are 44” X 33” with each photographic image being 11” x 16.5”.
Since the wood had so many bore holes, we used ¾” redwood under the visible fascia for added strength.

Cost - $75 / 4.5 hours to build.

http://ana-white.com/2009/12/plans-barnwood-frames-1-and-10-minutes.html

Estimated Cost
$75.00
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Pub Table

Submitted by Flip0427 on Fri, 12/22/2017 - 08:43

My daughter-in-law requested a pub table for my son’s birthday. Having never done this before I searched the web and found Ana White’s site (great by the way).  Table was built using the image of old_man’s table on Ana White’s site as inspiration (size 42” x 44” x 42” high).  I used 2x8s for the top, jointed and trimmed down to 6” wide and then glued together.  Since I could only clamp up to 25” wide, I made the top into two sections gluing one board at a time to minimize wet boards.  I then had two halves that I glued together using a wedge setup so as to avoid purchasing additional expensive clamps.  Once the top was complete, I sized out my base and opted to place the apron boards between the 4x4 leg instead of placing them outside the legs.  They were attached by drilling pocket holes in the apron and then attached with glue and screws.  The top was then attached to the legs and apron from using 1 1/2” right angle brackets.  As old_man stated and I concur, this table is HEAVY....  Thanks to both Ana White and old_man for the inspiration.

Estimated Cost
$109.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Used Minwax Ebony stain and Minwax Spar Polyurethane that I had on hand. Initially 2 coats of polyurethane over the entire table, sanding with 220 grit between coats and completed the top with 3 more coats with the final sanding of 600 grit on the top before the last coat of polyurethane was applied
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Planters

This was my first project! I did get better the more I made. Even mitred corners on the top! Thank you for the easy to follow plans.

Comments

farmhouse table

Submitted by wolfmawr on Sat, 04/16/2011 - 00:44

All natural table for six. We changed it a little using 4 x 4 for the legs and 2 x 4 for the sides. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
under $100
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Raw dark tung oil
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Assembly/ Out feed table

This week's project was an outfeed/assembly table. A project that iv'e been needing for a while now. It's mostly constructed with 2x4's and plywood and mdf for the tops. I added caster the the legs to keep it mobile in my shop in case of having to move it around. I'm extremely happy with it and I love the extra space it provides underneath.

Blog article: http://www.lanebroswoodshop.com/2015/05/assemblyoutfeed-table.html

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hap5Dv60qHw

Estimated Cost
200
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Doll house for 18" Dolls

Both my princesses absolutely LOVE their dollhouse. It was my first diy project and it's wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. 

Estimated Cost
I spent roughly $46 on the wood. We had a bunch of extra paint lying around the house and left over carpet pieces we decided to use.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Adirondack Chairs!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 12/26/2021 - 12:32

Ana’s Adirondack Chairs are the best!! The plans are so easy to follow and the chairs last for years! I made a pair for myself years ago and still constantly get compliments on them. I now make them (when I can) for gifts for friends for all occasions... Christmas, Weddings, you name it! Thank you Ana for sharing your talents with all of us. Blessing for a great 2022!

Comments

Lego Table with matching end tables

Submitted by hblackburn on Tue, 04/19/2011 - 18:13

This is the lego table my husband & I made. It was a fun project to build & we liked it so much we had to make some end tables to match. We used the same design just scaled everything down for the end tables. Making them was no problem but painting them was a different story. We started out with a latex primer & paint,  & found out that was a mistake. The latex paint is just too soft for furniture. So we went out & got some oil base paint and sprayed them. With lots of sanding & repainting we finally got them done.

Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Oil base paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

My first DIY project

Submitted by sara1 on Sun, 06/23/2013 - 07:08

I was inspired to try this after reading all the comments and being discouraged by the high price and poor quality of commercial sandboxes. We followed the instructions and it was super easy! I'm a complete novice, so if I can do it, anybody can.

After cutting the wood and sanding it, it only took about three hours to assemble the sand box. I then primed and painted it the next day taking about 3-4 hours. We also attached a landscaping barrier to the bottom with a staple gun to prevent weeds from growing through the sand. We used 10 bags (50 lbs) of play sand, but you could get by with less.

So far, it's been a big hit with my three-year-old son.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Valspar primer and pure white, satin finish
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Dining Room Pedestal Table

I've been wanting to build a pedestal dining table for a while, and loved these plans!

Estimated Cost
$120
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
I used a variety of stains but ultimately went with Briarsmoke by Varathane.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate