DIY Porch Swing by The Little Homesteader
DIY Porch Swing - Perfect for any season!
DIY Porch Swing - Perfect for any season!
Not quite finished but love the table already. Trying to decide how to stain/paint it. The Kreg jig was a must for this project. It was my first of hopefully many! I used cedar for the 4x4s and 2x6 top pieces. The 2x4s are treated lumber (only because there were no more cedar ones....apparently lumber is getting hard to get lately!!!). Anyway....thanks for the great plans and motivation for this project.
They were simple to make and the plan was easy to follow. The only modification I made was adding the 1x3 topper in place of the longer legs sticking out of the top.
Fri, 07/19/2013 - 06:36
Adding these to my to-do list for spring (yes, I plan ahead). I'm thinking of elevating and elongating them to fit around a bay window.
I made these modern Adirondack chairs for our business in Anchorage. GREAT and easy to build design by Ana - we upgraded the arms to tapered 2x6 and they're awesome!
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
Used 36 inch legs instead of 32".
Also used two 6x1 inch boards for each side of the box.
A frame chicken coop with a few modifications- metal roof, insulation and slightly larger second floor.
By Chrystal
Made this bed from Ana's plans. Modified it with rail so I can add my box spring. Cost was approximately $160 for lumber, screws and stain. Absolutely loved the plans and easy to follow or modify if needed.
Tue, 02/23/2021 - 20:12
This is gorgeous! Is there anyway you could post your modifications? Very nice work!!!
I used the farmhouse table plans, with a few modifications. I made two benches to go along with it. This was my first big wood project and I'm pretty proud of it. My daughter bought her first home and needed a table custom sized to her space so this was perfect. I love all of Ana's plans, so easy to follow.
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.
Thu, 07/02/2020 - 11:29
Great job! We are getting ready to build a coop for our chickens which arrive in 3 weeks!
So I've always wanted to build a Murphy bed. And by always I mean since I first came across plans here that made it look so simple. It ended up taking me a while to do because my job has me working 6 days a week so I was only able to work on it for short chunks of time.
I ended up utilizing a few different plans and mashed them together to build a full size murphy bed. The shelves are the support legs when the bed is down. The "hinge" mechanism are heavy duty 360 degree seat swivels.
All-in-all it turned out WAY better than I expected with only some minor issues throughout the construction process.
Next up is a twin xl Murphy bed with a murphy desk attachment that will serve as a craft table when up.
The concept of hidden boot storage at the back is genius!!! I knew as soon as I saw your plan that I needed that in this space! Thank you so much for what you do!
Fri, 01/22/2021 - 11:42
May I ask how you would assemble if you wanted the hinge in the back as in this picture?
Thank you.
Wed, 08/25/2021 - 04:51
Hello, can you tell me how to find the plans for the Mudroom Closet makeover? I’m interested in doing the one pictured on this page.
Thank you
I started off with Ana's plans and kinda went rogue from there. The idea of creating those curved back legs scared me so I thought I'd sacrifice an Ikea dining chair and use it as the legs. When I ruined one of the legs I decided that I'd come too far to back out and that I must continue. I adapted many conventional methods to make the settee but I'm super pleased with the outcome. For the full step by step on how I completed the settee, please check it out here Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
I made this outdoor chair by looking at a variety of plans and designs from Restoration Hardware and other stores. Check out more info on the project on my blog link. Thanks for looking!
Modified from our twin sleeper chair plan, this amazing hinged sofa bed was built and shared by #tinybuilderau
Built the nested grill station just in time for the 4th. So much fun building this, thanks Ana so much for the inspiration! Chris
I built a set of these chairs based on Ana's simple modern outdoor chair. I wanted it to match my front porch which I built a few weeks ago. Thank you for the plans.
one of my first ana white plans was a cedar outdoor table and chairs that I was never 100% happy with but never the less lasted ten years before yesterday when I decided to undo all the screws (I didn't use glue on this one and it wasn't a kreg project - probably why I wasn't happy with it!).
I transformed those simple benches and table into four stools (varying heights for various members of the family) as well as a cedar planter. So the wood was 100% from the previous project so there is a lot of variance in the stain.
I sort of merged the adirondack stool and the farmhouse counter stool patterns as I didn't do both a bevel and a mitre cut I just a 5 degree mitre for the legs.
I used 1x3 and 1x4 for the legs and joined them together to make an L (I saw this on another brag post on the site) because I wanted to reuse the wood that I had leftover from the bench.
I put together the entire project using glues and brad nails but I will be adding some extra screws for longevity.
for the top, I took a 1x4 and traced a slight angle out of the top based on that of another stool I had and cut it out with a jig saw, to make the seat a bit more comfortable than the flat seat on the farmhouse stools. They are very comfortable and this was such an easy mod!
Built a full size loft bed for my kids but wanted something safer than having them climb up and down a ladder so used the Camp Loft Bed plans to add the platform and stairs. It is much easier for the kids. Going to finish by covering the platform and stairs with carpet.
Wed, 10/02/2019 - 09:51
I really like how the platform is only half way so the stairs are inset, this is very smart and good use of space.
Best looking greenhouse and great size!
Mary McLachlan