Community Brag Posts

 The project was used using the same plans but I extended the floor to be 6 feet wide vice 4 feet the additional 2 feet provided the perfect amount space I wanted. I also added an extra windows  to get cross ventilation.    I also insulated the coop and put paneling on the walls and lenolium on the floors.  I dropped the back wall sheeting 1.5 inches for additional airflow since the shed doesn't have a ridge vent.   The plans are easy to follow and easily adaptable.   

The need for a proper workbench in my garage/shop is a must, but. So is space! I already have a fold down workbench I’ve made with ¾ inch pipe & a door, but. I just need something that can handle all my tools. So, I stumbled upon these plans from the Family Handyman & couldn’t find a reason why this wouldn’t work in my shop. It has room for storage, can easily accommodate my tools & most importantly fold up to store. Easy to build too! Make sure you read all the plans first as some of the materials could be pricey, but well worth it. Technically it’s taken 2 months to build this bench, as I operate on a firefighter/teacher’s budget & during the holiday season no doubt. I ordered all the shelf standards & brackets through Amazon, $210.00 for those alone, but they hold so much weight to support your tools I figure it’s worth it. The rest materials (wood, screws) were purchased at Home Depot for around $150.00. The plans called for ¾ inch ply & it was $45.00 per sheet. However they did have a smaller thickness for $22.00 per sheet & was only a 1/32 inch thinner. I plan on topping all my surfaces with some ¼ inch tempered hardboard later on so I knew it would work. That also left me adjusting my screw size to mount my brackets. Due to the reduction in thickness of the plywood all my #8-1 inch screws needed to be adjusted to ¾ inch so to not screw through the ply. I also hit the molding isle to nab some pieces to use as furring strips to use under the shelves before attaching the brackets. This way I can sand each strip to match before mounting to make sure it lined up flat with the center top. One more thing; where it says “drill 1/8 inch hole in brackets make sure you use 1/8 inch pop rivets. I barrowed a pop rivet gun & was handed some rivets as well. Popped two & they had to be trashed because the rivet size turned out to be 5/32. So I stepped up in drill bit size & it all worked out. As I said, I’ll be topping it with some ¼ inch hardboard. I also plan to run it’s own electrical with an outlet on each post. I hope you all enjoy & this can help!

Expecting our second child, my wife and I decided to do away with our guest bedroom and combine it with our office. The only problem was our queen bed took up way too much space and it didn't get enough use to justify the sacrifice. We looked at the wall bed options available for purchase and decided they were way too blah and very expensive. I then found the "A MURPHY BED YOU CAN BUILD, AND AFFORD TO BUILD" post on Ana's website (thanks for the inspiration)! 

 Using cheap pine boards, plywood, door hinges, vinyl upholstery and stain I constructed the wall bed you see here. It really wasn't that difficult but facing it took the most time. To give the boards a more rustic look I used a utility knife to shave off the edges/corners and stained them with the Minwax American Walnut water based stain and the Minwax White Wash Pickling. When this started we thought we were going to have to settle for something unattractive and less than desirable. Seeing it in our office now, we love our new bed and actually think it makes the room look much better!  I didn't keep track of costs, but it couldn't have been more than $150.

With another baby boy arriving in August, my one and three year olds are moving to a "big boy" room. My oldest decided he wanted a bunk bed and as they both are obsessed with tractors, when I saw the "John Deere Tractor Bunk Bed" plan, I was sold.

We would be needing a twin sized bunk bed though not a toddler. I used the classic bunk bed plans and simply modified them to suit our needs. I moved the ladder to the front, added a rail on the bottom bunk and added a small ladder to the side for my one year old to climb into the bottom bunk.

Once the the frame of the bed was complete, I added the tractor accessories. A couple of storage cubby shelves with fabric baskets for toy tractors which act as stairs up to the ladder and make the tractor bucket at the front. Also, the wheels which are made from joined 1x6s as I find plywood hard to sand and paint to the quality of finish I like. A cab & roof from 1x4s framed together. A side mirror that I decoupaged a picture of another tractor on. I used push lights for the headlights as well as a reading light above each bed (they're on timers so they'll turn themselves off). A steering wheel (play equipment access from toys r us). Also, I built and mounted by the head of both beds a "flat wall book holder" so they would have somewhere to store a few books.

My boys and I are fairly new to building so I spent a lot of time planning and measuring to ensure it would all come together in the end. It paid off because it all went smoothly (even with "help" from my boys). It's not perfect but they're very happy with the result. We also built a John Deere themed "Just my size closet" and even finished with over a month to spare before the new baby arrives! :)

Just want to say a quick thank you to Ana both for the amazing plans and also the inspiration to take on these projects. The time spent with my boys building as well as the resulting treasures are priceless and I would have never realized what we were capable of had I not stumbled upon your website and been so inspired by you and everything you've accomplished. Thank you!

This was an easy project to complete in an afternoon that does not require any advance woodworking skills

This is a wishing well I made for my sister for her wedding. It will be used during the wedding for people to drop "wish you well" cards into and afterward she can use it as a planter in her yard.
I followed ideas from multiple plans here on Ana-White.com, but I didn't follow any specific plan. Mostly I followed tips and instructions for cutting angles, drilling pocket holes and some finishing tips. This is the first "big" project I've done and I"m quite proud of it.

With everything, it measures 44.5 inches high. The well measures 21 inches across and 15 inches high. The roof measures 22.75 inches by 23.75 inches.

I hope y'all like it. I worked hard on this! :)

Thank you, Ana and everyone who contributes to this site. It's been so much fun and I've got lots of ideas for more stuff. If I was any good at all at Google Sketchup I'd put up the plans but I'm not. If anyone could help me with that, that would great. :)

Have a great day!

Luv your site. Took your bench swing plan and modified it a bit (shortened depth) and then created a small pergola to hang it from. Just need to stain/poly to finish it off. Thanks for your plan and website it is very inspiring.

Yes, my husband and I share our bedroom with 6 dogs and an occasional cat (or 4). Our older dog (Petra) has slept on our bed for over 10 years, and she's getting too old to jump anymore. We didn't want her to feel like she was getting kicked off the bed, so I made Petra her very own bed at the end of ours so that she wouldn't feel left out. I was inspired by MurdaRae's dog bed (http://ana-white.com/2012/06/doggie-daybed), and thought it was genius to use a toddler/crib bed. So I went looking for plans on Ana-White, and came up with a mixture between a couple of twin bed plans. I love that the plans are easy enough to modify my sizes, and come up with exactly the custom solution that I need. This was my first big project using Bri-Wax. The last one was kind of a disaster when the wax changed the stain color to something not-so-great. With this project, I learned to wait at least 2 weeks before attempting to wax it. I was blown away with the results. It is a beautiful subtle satin finish that feels great to the touch. Plus, I can easily touch up all the dog fingernail scratches that will inevitably occur. When I re-assembled the bed in my bedroom, I actually nicked it in a few places. No problem -- slap on some more Bri-Wax! My Bri-Wax was 11 years old, and pure liquid. I tossed it in the fridge (per Bri-Wax's recommendation), and it was as good as new. The only real problem I had with this project was leaking sap from one of the 4x4s. I'm still fighting this today. In talking with Rustoleum/Zinsser reps, they said that no sap could penetrate their "Seal Coat" shellac product. After 5 coats, the sap is still penetrating, but only if I turn it on it's side or upside down. I'm still baffled. I made the mattress cover out of a dog blanket, and made the cushions from some remnant fabric (suitable for dogs and weekly washing), so this was a fairly inexpensive project. It was a success because Petra slept in her bed from the fist night and loved that she had all the room to herself, and no boston terrorists (I mean terriers) attempted to bother her.

This was my first EVER wood working project.

With that being said, it took me more than just an afternoon.
I used cedar, and all the materials on the cut list had to be sanded , since I didn't like the roughness of the cedar.
I also made the box 4x8. I didn't take into account that that would require a minimum of 48 inches for the top planks. So, some of my top planks are shorter.

I also wished I had a little more instruction from which side to screw the screws in. May sound a little needy for some of you, but I never did anything with wood before. The instructions simply read attach top planks to arm rests (or something int that manner) and I wish it would have told me from which side to screw in (or give me a picture). Looking at some of the brag posts helped a lot.

Because its larger size, I decided to make the seats 3 top planks wide (and also the back rest) and made another middle cover piece to bridge the additional gap when both seats are folded down.

Also, the cedar was VERY expensive, and all the screws, hinges, and handles almost cost me as much as the wood.

The sand to fill the box ran us another $80 (for good plays and), but that was because we made it so big.

All in all, a rather pricey sandbox, but worth it because of the large custom sizes, and the cute little seats.

Pictures show the sandbox without sand, and with some of the handles still missing. I also still need to fill the holes.

Will add a picture of finished box filled with sand when it is available.

I modified this a tad from the original plans to suit my needs. I will eventually be adding a platform with attached slide and swing set.

Plans were easy to follow. My store didn't have 1x8's so I stacked 1x4's and used my Kreg jig to join them together and then I added extra bracing.

I had seen this on Pinterest a couple years ago and thought it was the coolest thing! Io excited I was able to build it myself!