Traditional Bird House Brag Post
My very first project using the Compound Miter Saw. Easy Cuts. Easy assembly. Cost was about $1.50. I think I am going to make kits (as suggested in the sister plan) for a couple of birthdays coming up!
My very first project using the Compound Miter Saw. Easy Cuts. Easy assembly. Cost was about $1.50. I think I am going to make kits (as suggested in the sister plan) for a couple of birthdays coming up!
First time building anything. I think it came out pretty good! Thanks Ana white for the plans!!
Fri, 10/15/2021 - 15:31
Thank you for sharing, can't wait to see your next project! It looks so beautiful in your space!
We really liked the design of the console table. We built an entry way table and a coffee table to match. We did change some of the measurement to suit our particular needs. We are very happy with how this one turned out. Next we plan on making some end tables to match also.
This is the perfect workbench for my needs.
I upgraded the casters to bigger ones as my shop's floor is in rough shape.
I also added storage under the two work surface next to the miter saw. This was just a matter of closing under the 2X4 frame and making the two sections on casters a little shorter. The only downside for that mod is that the plywood can bend a bit since it is not screwed to the frame. I don't mind since it falls flat as soon as there is weight on it. Also, this mod makes it hard to include fence system (it would need to be removable, like fixed with dowels only, no glue) and almost impossible to include a precise fence system since it would need to be removable. In my case, I do rough, non-repetitive cuts, so there is no need.
TIP : Pay a little extra for smooth plywood. I lost a lot of time sanding mine :(
Tue, 02/04/2020 - 08:21
Awesome! Do you have pictures/info for the cart that has the Dewalt table saw? I have the same one and would love to build the cart for it.
A frame chicken coop with a few modifications- metal roof, insulation and slightly larger second floor.
By Chrystal
Love these night stands! I spent $40 on lumber for two night stands and $30 on the hardware! You can see more pics of my finished night stands at www.shanty-2-chic.com
Mon, 08/29/2011 - 20:10
We made two of these same night stands earlier this month. I haven't taken a good enough picture to post on here. I need to do that. Great job!
Wed, 09/28/2011 - 22:17
This is wonderful. I'm looking for something similar to build in the next couple weeks. Could you share the plans for it please?
Mon, 05/28/2012 - 06:25
My hubby made these for my daughter and they turned out awesome.So now I have to have them too. He is working on them now, but we are making them out of some oak we already had. Can't wait. Now I need a matching headboard!! Looking for plans...
I tackled the Farmhouse Table over a long weekend while my boyfriend was away - he was surprised needless to say!
I have not attempted any woodwork projects since grade 8, but this was alot of fun - I did not find it very difficult and loove using power tools :)
I made the matching bench, however I guess I did not stir the bottom of the can well enough and my bench is now red :/ soo I am going to either stain it dark or paint it white and use it as a mudroom seat!
*I also made mine shorter - 7ft long to fit in our dining room and adjusted the bench to fit.
Fri, 10/07/2011 - 17:15
Thank you so much Ana! We are in the process of renovating our house and your website has inspired me to take on so many more projects now!! :)
Wed, 11/02/2011 - 04:52
I built a similar table and I am having problems with my kids getting food in between the pieces of wood. Do you have this same problem, is anyone having this same problem? Does anyone have any suggestion as to how to fix it, how to keep food and other particles from getting trapped between the cracks? Thanks! You did a great job!!
Wed, 11/23/2011 - 15:00
I am building this table as we speak. The thought occurred to me as well concerning the cracks attracting crumbs. I believe using clamps to make the fit as tight as possible will help. Also some poly finishes may be appropriate with children which may even seal the cracks... if sanded and clamped well.
Wed, 11/23/2011 - 15:11
I did try my best to clamp the wood together as tight as possible - due to the pieces of wood not being completely straight, they are there.
I haven't had this problem yet. I do use place mats when eating at the table, that generally stops any crumbs etc.That's probably the easiest way to avoid it :)
Thank you for your comments!
Bought enough lumber for one sofa but ended up using old fence boards for the decking so had enough lumber to make the sectional and a shortened coffee table.
Great way to save some cash even if u have to buy the fence posts.
Added a reinforcing piece to the one armed sofa between the legs using a kreg jig to stabilize the legs a bit more.
Waiting on my foam from Amazon to finish off this project!
Used inspiration from the beer/wine cooler patio table and made the middle of the table removable to add a buck underneath later.
Note the 5 year old patio set, also an ana white project from back in the day!
Super quick build!
I did find that the measurements for customizing it for your cushion size seemed about 1.5 inches too big for all the depth pieces so I sized down but I haven't received my foam yet so maybe I'm wrong but Smth to think about. I didn't want my cushions to slide around so I took that into consideration when building.
Thank you for the easy and fun bench plan.
It was really easy to install.
Even my 2 little daughters had fun (-:
Thu, 04/24/2014 - 08:06
I love the finish you did on the bench. Thanks for sharing!
I was drooling over Ana's Faux Fireplace plan and it was perfect! Low profile, beautiful, and I knew I had to have it. We had a bunch of leftover 3/4" MDF and didn't want to spend any money on this project so we constructed the Faux Fireplace out of ripped MDF, a leftover 1x6, 1x2 and some quarter round! We made the faux beam top out of 1x4s as a slip cover that mounts to the wall.
We painted it with the off the shelf antique white paint by valspar that I had leftover and some "American Walnut" stain for the top. I painted the wall behind it in black chalkboard paint. This is the first piece of furniture we've made that pretty much serves NO function but I love it sooo much.
I put a basket in the opening with some christmas lights, burlap and chunks of 2x2s (I want some birch logs in there!) and they look pretty lovely when plugged in.
In reply to Marvelous! by JoanneS
Sun, 11/24/2013 - 16:49
Thank you! we soooo love it!
I used untreated pine for this project and painted with benjamin moore exterior paint.
I modified the back a little and I love how it turned out. I also added an extra brace against the back of each leg that fits under the seat for more support.
Very easy to build. I love the plan.
This was my first time building furniture. I've restored and refurbished antique furniture for years and but never imagined building my own before. I have a small kitchen and had to modify the size to accommodate area space. I also added breadboard ends to the tabletop. I am now planning to build more furniture using your plans. Thank you Ana White for providing such a wonderful resource to help beginners build their own furniture!
Fri, 09/22/2023 - 08:01
WOW, you did such a great job! Love the finish choice and added breadboard ends. Thanks for sharing:)
My last piece of my collection
Tue, 03/09/2021 - 12:17
Hi Lila - I love this table and bench and have been searching everywhere for the plans. The link you connected to: "2x4 truss benches for Alaska lake cabin" doesn't look like your set at all :(
Maybe it's the wrong link?
Do you have the link for the plans you followed for this table and bench?
Thanks in advance!
I enjoy making birdhouses and log cabin style is my favorite. I make the logs by setting my saw to rip 3/4 pine at 3/4 so I have 3/4 square strips. I then decide the size of my birdhouse and cut the logs accordingly. I also "wittle" on them a little to make it look more authentic. I simply then just stack, glue and nail one row at a time. You can use 1/4 poplar for the roof but I ripped pine at 1/16 and cut shakes with my utility knife and glue them on one at a time (there are 104 on this roof).
We took the plans and customized them to fit the area around our windows in the dining room. We also added a 1x6 to the top so we could fit larger items and added a trim piece. We made the shelves different heights to accommodate our plates and added a shorter shelf on the bottom
Great projects for any beginner. Make sure you're working on a level surface for the table. I purchased simple planter boxes from a local hardware store, and worked around those. For the bench, my only suggestion is to verify you are square at each step- other than that it's pretty straightforward.
My second building project... this one took quite a while, building in the evenings after the kids went to bed.
The playhouse is based off of Ana's Playhouse Building series, with some modifications to fit the space in my backyard and accommodate climbing wall, monkey bars, and slide.
To put the main deck structure into the ground for sturdiness while protecting from moisture, I dug out 5 holes to fit single hole cinder blocks (4 corners plus an extra 4x4 for the monkey bars; you can see an leftover block on the ground in one of the pictures). I placed some brick in the holes, then the cinder blocks on top. I then partially filled the cinder blocks with sand, put the pre-built deck in the cinder block holes (with help - it's heavy!), and then filled the rest of the cinder block holes with sand. It's worked remarkably well - the deck has been up for about a year now. I also sprayed some clear waterproof sealant on the bottom part of each beam near the ground for extra protection (deck, monkey bars, climbing walls, and swingset A-frame). This has allowed me to still run sprinklers near/around the playset and even grow grass underneath the swings!
Materials used:
* Playhouse: pine, plywood, Suntuf solar grey polycarbonate corrugated roofing panels (I live in Arizona, so little rain to worry about but lots of heat - the sheeting lets light in but blocks most of the UV rays, corrugated shape also provides venting at top when placed sideways)
* Deck/Swingset/Monkey bars: treated lumber, composite decking, pine for railings, monkey bars purchased from Amazon
* Climbing wall: pine, treated lumber, handholds/railing bought off ebay/Amazon
* Swings/slide/bongos/wheel, telescope: purchased from Amazon
Modifications:
* Turned playhouse 90 degrees to be in back of the deck, with swingset coming off the side. This meant the support beam for the swingset had to pass through the playhouse - modified the frame for that wall slightly and created a notch for the beam to pass through.
* Slide comes out one end of playhouse - made the "window" on that end larger than the plans called for in order to give room for the slide.
* Monkey bars come off one side of the deck - used extra 4x4 here to create support for the bars, and used extra bars to make a ladder on this side
* Climbing wall instead of ladder for main entrance
* Put large window in back wall of the playhouse
* Added cross bracing to side of decking on swingset end to make it more solid/cut down on sway when swinging
Tue, 04/29/2014 - 20:41
This is phenomenal - just the plan & design we've been looking for. Can you upload a few more pictures? Any sketches you can provide? Shopping list? Really great job - I hope your kids love it. It looks awesome.
Wed, 09/10/2014 - 14:03
Thanks! It's certainly nestled in right behind that tree - I originally was going to place it in between that tree and another one but then decided to just place it behind them in order to take better advantage of shade (critical in AZ) and fit in everything I wanted to put on it (monkey bars, swings, slide, climbing wall)
Mon, 07/08/2019 - 00:48
We've been looking at these type of players for our son, and good grief! Prices are astronomical for playsets that are NOTHING like this. This absolutely an amazing place for those boys to make memories. You're amazing! Do you mind if I ask what it cost once it was finished? I never imagined that it would cause a tic in my eye to look at the kids from Lowe's or anywhere else for that matter.
Tue, 08/20/2019 - 10:14
I don't remember how much it cost in the end... but probably around $900? That may include getting some tools that I needed but didn't have at the time. The slide was the most expensive single piece I bought - I think I got it from Amazon.
When it was all done, I remember thinking that what I got for my money was *way* beyond what I would have gotten by purchasing a kit or a pre-built play structure. Plus, by going my own way, I was able to build it to fit my space and the needs/abilities of my kids.
While the whole thing is big and looks like an intimidating build, it really isn't bad - the platform is a fairly blank base to design everything else off of, and is incredibly sturdy. Everything else is a discrete part that branches off of the platform and can be planned out as you need. Adding the monkey bars required putting in a 5th upright (the first 4 are the corners), but that was an easy modification since I knew I wanted it before building the platform. The playhouse just sat on top of the platform (screwed down, of course).
Sat, 08/01/2020 - 20:40
Hello. This is pretty cool, probably the best modification that I am looking for from Ana's default plans. Could you please add some more detail on the right side wall, and how you incorporated the support beam through the playhouse? (with maybe a picture from inside of that wall). And secondly, if you can add the dimensions for the monkey bar setup on the left side of the deck? Thanks, much appreciated
Modified with a high back and modern adirondack arms.
The base of the chair is built exactly to the plan except that the arms are done in a modern adirondack style.
The back was made independently to fit inside the base and then attached to the plan base.
Very comfortable but very heavy chair even without the modified back.
Not stained yet obviously.
Cushions are hard to find I think I would make it slightly smaller next time and maybe even find the cushions first and alter the plan to fit.
Tue, 06/09/2020 - 09:11
Stained with Saman: Urban Grey mixed with some left over brown 4:1 and now has a companion side table
Wed, 06/24/2020 - 07:33
Do you have the plans for the table you built? Im a brand ne beginner. I am trying the modern outdoor chairs and live this table with them.
Thanks Ana for your great plans... Unfortunately it hasn't stopped raining since we finished the armchairs! All we need now is the sun :)
We used 4x1 for the seats to match the outdoor sofas.
I bought a whole workshop full of Ryobi tools second hand from my brother over a year ago. I started researching workshop plans and came across Anna White’s Ryobi Nation Dream Workshop. I downloaded the plans and spent about 2-3 months working on it in my spare time. I made a lot of mistakes along the way but I’m pretty happy with it overall!
Wanted to kick start my summer projects with something that would not take too long. So I built this picnic bench for a friend over the last weekend. Thank you Ana for the plans.