Community Brag Posts

Roll Away Workbench with Miter Saw Insert

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/11/2024 - 10:43

Modified these plans slightly for my needs. I kept the table saw open for easier dust collection and only had one side of shelving on the other bench to allow for storing larger items. I can’t get over how much storage in a small space you get with these and how multi functional they are.

Cedar Planter for Pole Beans

Submitted by swhitead on Mon, 07/20/2020 - 10:41

Increased width of box to 46" by using 8 fence boards instead of 3. put base at 12" down, lined box with landscaping fabric to hold dirt. Created trellis with 1x2 boards with 10" long corner braces, spaced screws 6" apart around edges and weaved cotton thread to create the trellis. Used 12" scraps of 2x2 to create a "slot" inside the center of the planter to support the trellis. Added container mix and green pole beans started in egg cartons earlier in the spring.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$35
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Seasonal And Holiday

Simple 2x4 Potting Bench - Modified

I was intrigued by Ana’s Simple 2x4 Potting Bench. The project seemed simple enough and it would be used as a means to clean up clutter in the garage. My main focus was to make it semi-portable and weather resistant. Instead of using 2x4’s for the corner posts, I used 4x4’s to accommodate casters. I also shorted the length of the posts by 4 inches to compensate for the height of the casters. To provide extra rigidity I did a dado for the 2x4’s that connect the front and rear legs. In retrospect, I wish that I did not dado the legs because it made it more difficult to attach some of the shelf planks. I painted the frame green and left the shelves and backboards clear for beautiful contrast. My wife is ecstatic with the result.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Benjamin Moore Environ Green paint for the frame and Minwax Polycrylic for the poplar shelves and backboards.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Modern Dorm Mini Refrigerator Microwave Cabinet

Submitted by rachelcb on Sat, 07/31/2021 - 12:35

I changed plan to make deeper. I also modified the bottom trim and top. I put a ball bearing soft door drawer guide on modern door so it can slide back and forth. I feel we need more modern plans on here but with a bit of creativity and using plans you can make anything. I have never built anything before. I love General Finishes Milk Paint in Snow White and I brushed rolled it on (sanded between 3 coats). It’s basically self leveling and leaves a nice matte finish. Used door glide in picture bought from homedepot in the 24 inch and that’s how wide door was and it was 36” tall. Door glide I only used one on top of the door not on bottom as well. Door piece of fiberboard with just strips glued on and quarters spacing them correct.

Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Dorm mini refrigerator microwave cabinet
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Train & car table

Submitted by Jrich on Thu, 04/25/2013 - 12:58

We customized the train table a bit and laminated the top into one solid piece so that we could paint a car map of our neighborhood on the underside. It's heavy! But with two boys in the house it's never really on anyways! :)

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Tung oil
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

mswendsen

Thu, 03/06/2014 - 22:26

I was wondering how you made it possible to lift and what the process was to do the map? I am wanting to do something like this for hot wheels for our friends son so he has something to play with when they come over.
Thank you

Simple Plant Stand

Submitted by mtairymd on Fri, 05/01/2015 - 12:32

Build Instructions:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Garden-Plant-Stand/

The plant stand allows you to grow edibles in a compact vertical space. We use the planter to grow herbs and edibles on the deck close at hand to the kitchen and the grill. In the containers we have mint, pineapple sage, marjoram, oregano and two other types of sage. The plants that like the most sun are placed on top. The lower levels of the plant stand are used for more shade tolerant plants; however, they still get plenty of light. For growing the plants, self-watering planters were chosen. Other planting options are a rain gutter system, individual pots, wood boxes, etc. The stand can be easily constructed from excess lumber or pallets

Estimated Cost
$20
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Sideboard and floating shelves

Submitted by knollgf on Tue, 12/05/2017 - 20:35

My wife wanted a piece for our dining room. This was a easy weekend project. I had to modify the size to fit my space. I decided to use red oak for the top. It was more expensive but is a much harder wood with a nicer finish. I made the hardware myself from aluminum flat bar. 

Estimated Cost
$200-$300
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Flat white base
Espresso top
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Full Farmhouse Bed with mods

Submitted by Kingsamui on Thu, 12/14/2017 - 16:29

Made the standard full farmhouse bed with storage, but did a couple modifications. 1) Didn’t use drawers, but wanted closed, not open cubbies. I made the drawer fronts and then attached with full overlay hinges and magnetic catches do they open from top down like a horizontal cabinet. 2) built the slats as two, one piece slat frames which sit on the cleat so that they can easily be removed for the extra long term storage between the cubby boxes. Just lift mattress and the two pieces of slats and lots more space. 

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Red Mahogany Stain and semi-gloss polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Red sideboard

I modified the plan for the planked wood sideboard so it wasn't so large. I also took out the middle door and made an open area with shelves and a stemware rack.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
I used a sanding sealer, then painted dark red. I topped it off with two coats of matte poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Pallet laundry bin

Submitted by LARMO on Fri, 07/20/2018 - 18:09

Built for our laundry room with pallets radiator cover  and casters attached to bottom all purchase from a local thrift store, with matching recycle bin.

Estimated Cost
$20
Finish Used
Natural
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Garden outhouse with composting toilet

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 07/16/2022 - 17:48

The cool thing about Ana White plans is they are straightforward to modify to use materials you have on hand. Everything but the frame is either leftovers or from the barn.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Outdoor Daybed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 08/08/2022 - 21:06

What a great project!! My private outdoor space is amazing. Thanks Ana!!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

DIY Greenhouse

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/03/2023 - 16:02

Thank you so much for the plans. We enjoyed building it. We love it!!!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Sandbox with Built-In Seats

Submitted by Loral on Wed, 05/09/2012 - 15:32

This is a fun project even for beginners. If you have an interest in building a sandbox, and have some tools, I'm sure you can make this easy enough!

I used 2" X 10" wood for my sides instead of the 1" as the plans call for. This gives extra strength and more depth. When you use 2" wood, you will have to turn your 1 X 4's the other way to match the 47½" width, because with the added width of the 2 side boards, your new width is now 49¼". It's not difficult, you just have to match your 1 X 4 X 47½ boards to the proper width. It will turn out fine, they just won't match the plans or pics of those using 1 X 8's for sides.

Sorry, I'm delivering this to my grandson's house for his birthday present, so no sand, but use landscaping cloth under this sandbox, then fill with sand.

One other thing, I'm toying with the idea of matching the angle the backrest is at and re-cut new pieces of 7½" arm rests. I think that may look a little better than the rectangle blocks.

My added pics are as follows:
1. The side boards all cut, and sizing up the frame.
2. All other boards are cut; I laid them out for fit before screwing the pieces together.
3. Using a square will help you keep everything at the correct angles. Also note in this picture and the next where I used two ½" pieces of wood I ripped to keep the ½" spacing uniform. Just rip any wood to the ½" width, make 2 pieces and butt against the next board on both sides, then screw them down. Makes it VERY easy to keep a uniform gap.
4. This picture shows me using the same "spacer" when putting the hinges in place. The red arrow points to the wood spacer.
5. The first bench is complete, and working fine!!

With the wood I used in my project, I used 2½" self tapping deck screws for the frame and attaching the 1X4's to the frame; I used 2" galvanized for attaching the 1X4's to any 2X4's; and for the hinges, I used ¾" wood screws. Using these sizes prevented the screws from coming through the other side.

I bought everything needed in this project at Lowe's and it was under $90 in costs; this is all the lumber (upgrading to 2 X 10's), hinges, screws, and handles.

Estimated Cost
$90 - Everything purchased new at Lowe's
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
This is a gift, so I'll leave it to my daughter and son-in-law to use fence or deck stain to match their house. All pics are un-toned raw pressure treated lumber.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Lady Goats

Wed, 05/09/2012 - 16:25

I was just going to tell you how to add a brag blog when I saw that you'd already done so! YAY! Your sandbox looks awesome! You guys are all making me wish I had a tolerable yard to put a full-sized box in!!!

Loral

Thu, 05/10/2012 - 13:49

Yeah, you made the plans easy to follow. It was a lot of fun. I spanned it over 2 days, but still was only around 4 hours of work.

I'm considering cutting the "arm rests" at an angle to match the slope of the back rest. I may play with that this weekend.

Thanks for all the help!

Also, what did you use to make the sketch type pics for the plans? I know you mentioned something about not knowing how to put the hindges on them. If I can help, I can probably do it for you in PhotoShop.... Just let me know.

Thanks again!
Loral

We made 4 snowflakes

I really loved these my son 13 and me made 4 to hang on our fence they turned out so great! The nieghbors thanked me becuse they get see them everyday!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Foldable Farmhouse Table 2

I recently published my first foldable farmhouse table last week here: http://ana-white.com/2013/06/foldable-farmhouse-table The first one I made was very heavy because I used 2x6 tops and 4x4 legs. I decided to make another one that would be lighter and easier to transport. The plans are basically the same just instead I used 1x6 for the top and put 2x4s together for the legs. I also shorted the length by about a foot. The only issue with making the table shorter length is that the legs don't fold completely flush. You could easily make the legs short enough to fold flush, but then the table was a little too short from the ground up for us. The same as before I simply used kreg joints to join the top boards together. I then made a 2x4 frame and attached it to the bottom. I made each of the legs separately by joining 2x4s together and sanding everything down. Everything was stained before putting the legs on using Miniwax Dark walnut stain. I used 2 coats of Miniwax water based clear coat to seal it. A notch was cut out on each of the bottom 2x4 supports on the legs and I glued in a small piece of wood cut to size. These are so I can put in a 2x4 support board under the table so that the legs do not fold in on themselves when it is standing up. The legs are just attached using door hinges you can buy in packs in the hardware section. Be careful when screwing into the 1x6 top not to use too long of screws or else you will over screw and have them come through into your table top. Table design was by Amber Veatch Designs and photographed by Andi Mans Photography

Estimated Cost
120.00
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Sand to finish and then used Miniax dark walnut stain followed by Miniwax water based clear coat.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Freddyflis

Tue, 07/07/2015 - 06:41

We have built something very similar and we have a good bit of wobble at the top, even though the stretcher down the center of the table is holding solid in there and secred with clasps. Were thinking of some sort of sliding pin into the top of the leg to the apron. Anyone run into this before?

Seasonal And Holiday

King Shiplap Headboard.

The Beauty Queen described a headboard with shiplap and sort of cottage style. I modified the Ana White plan to fit my needs and the wife’s taste. I used the preprimed shiplap and 1x material from the big box store so it was a little more expensive but still very reasonable. Then I made side tables. 

Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Marquee Semi-gloss enamel in antique white
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner
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