Community Brag Posts

Modern Adirondack Chair

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/19/2022 - 03:24

Easy build, turned out great. Our first project like this. We built 4!

Comments

Window seat built in

Submitted by daliae on Sat, 09/17/2011 - 20:19

I made this two years ago in my daughter's room, before I got to know Ana's site. This was my ever first carpentry project. It took me 4 whole days to finish. The whole wall is like a bay wall so I had to custom make the built in. Also – I did that when my husband was out of town so in order for me to be able to lift all the pieces from the basement to the second floor, I made it of 4 pieces. When my husband came back home he thought I paid someone to built it.

I made it out of 2x4’s and plywood. I trimmed the bottom with a trim.

One day I will add drawers and the cushions are in the making.

Estimated Cost
100 $
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Primer and two coats of Valspar high gloos White Dove from Lowe's.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

nhoffer

Thu, 06/11/2015 - 20:20

Do you have more pics of the finished product...especially where it meets the angled wall? I don't have a table saw (yet) so I'm trying to figure out if I can handle this without one. :(

Entry Mirror (from The Handbuilt Home)

Submitted by Linda7 on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 14:48

My sister and brother-in-law recently moved to Albuquerque and purchased a home with a wonderful view of the Sandia Mountains. I built them the mirror from The Handbuilt Home (p. 36), and they hung it in the entry hall. The reflection in the mirror is a gorgeous view of the mountain range out of their large living room windows. Because this was not a rustic build, I used better pine boards, sanded very smooth.
Thank you to ANA for the great plan (and book!). Also a great big hug to JOANNE and TRACY for responding so quickly to my query regarding attaching the mirror to the frame. I ended up having the mirror company attach the mirror with silicone because I was afraid mirror clips would mar the smooth, shiny surface of the wall. We also covered the back of the mirror with craft paper, contact cemented to the frame to protect the mirror silvering.
This was a fun build, and my sister and b-in-law are very pleased with it.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Around $75.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Express Color "Crimson", two coats, followed by four thin coats of gloss poly, sanding between coats with fine grit.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

JoanneS

Tue, 10/01/2013 - 18:11

Linda, your mirror looks fabulous! The finish is just gorgeous, and I love the hardware you used. Beautiful build! :)

Linda7

Tue, 10/01/2013 - 18:20

Thanks for the nice complement, Joanne. I really do appreciate your help!

Garage shelving unit

We made this peace 12 feet long, the hardest part was to find straight boards at home depot and adjust the feet because of an uneven garage floor. It was my first big project and hubby helped so I can't take all the credits :)

Estimated Cost
$126
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Unfinished
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

2x4 sectional

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 02/26/2023 - 05:49

After building my workbench and some shelves to organize my makeshift wood shop, I went online to find practical first projects. Stumbled upon the Ana White site and really liked the simplicity of the pieces and the thoroughness of the plans (cut list, pictures, etc). Had the wood dimensioned at a local lumber yard and started building. Upon completing the first bench - sealed with a tinted Thompson’s water seal - found a local upholster to make the cushions. Now to find a place to put them that the wife approves. Build already approved by the pup (see last photo).

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

sectional and chairs!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/03/2023 - 13:57

my husband and I used your plans for the sectional, end tables and chairs I made the pillows thanks so much for the designs we love them

Comments

Back Yard

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/15/2023 - 08:32

This is my homemade backyard inspired by plans from Ana. Used Ana's previous post to build all pieces. Stained in Mission Oak and bought pillows from Lowe's. Succulents from a local nursery.

Coffee Table
2 piece lounge
2 chairs
Ice chest
Planter Box

Comments

Planters

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/26/2023 - 07:47

Hi Ana. Been a fan of yours. My name is Ed. Wood working is my hobby. And its always nice to look at your plans, and put my own spin on it. My wife wanted a planter for our deck. So I tweaked your plans and made them a little bigger. I Also built her a herb garden too. With these new planters; it should put a stop to the rabbits eating everything.

Thanks for your inspiration.

Comments

Complete Full Sized Hailey Bed and Storage System

This project was our largest build to date, but the outcome was definitely worth the sweat! The build went relatively fast between my mom and I. I had a little problem assembling the tower bases, but we'll blame the 108 degree heat on my inability to figure out where to place my Kreg holes! I included a picture of how I did the tower base, in case anyone else runs into the same issue.

To accommodate for our base boards we added furring strips to the wall to bring all of the pieces flush. The hutch is secured into the studs with multiple L-brackets and so are the towers.

Finishing was very time consuming, but we'll worth the end result and look on my daughter's face! This system provides an incredible amount of storage. Thank you so much for the plans Ana!

Estimated Cost
$350
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
*All visible edges of the MDF were sealed with a mixture of white school glue & water, sanded and repeated until they were smooth.
*3 very light coats of Zinsser oil based primer with a foam roller, sanding between each coat
*2 coats of Behr Hi-Gloss lacquer in off the shelf white. Finishing was definitely the most time consuming part of the project.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Barn Door Garage Storage

Submitted by MommaBlue on Wed, 10/09/2019 - 07:13

I adapted this build from the Barn Door Entertainment Center plan.  Like most families, our storage space needed some major help!  We had minimal space to work with and all sorts of awkward things to store (rollerblades, helmets, etc).  I measured how deep I needed the shelves to be to fit our helmets and pretty much built around that!

The open shelves are great as they allow easy storage spots for the kids to reach - the doors are great because they allow me to hide the stuff that just never seems to get organized!  And the best part?  The sliding barn doors!  I park next to this thing so not having a swing out door was a major win for me!

I left the center of this piece open so I could fit a stand I already had in our garage, which allowed for a “charging station” for the cars!  Our garage is rustic theme so on this piece I went with standard common board for the walls and shelves and built the trim and doors from cedar.  The entire piece is stained with Minwax Provincial.  

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
300
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Provincial
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Faux Fireplace with Storage

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/28/2019 - 16:33

Went with a black, high gloss finish which I sanded down with 220 grit sandpaper to soften the look. Cut up a birch tree from the backyard, back-lit the logs with two strands of orange Halloween lights from the dollar store (we drilled a hole in the bottom back for the plug for the lights).
Added a remote extender so we don't have to open the front middle door in order to operate our streaming devices.
Love to be able to decorate this for the holidays--can hardly wait for Christmas!

Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Black high gloss
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Farmhouse Hall Tree

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 11/29/2019 - 20:43

I made this hall tree for my daughter for Christmas . I am a beginner with woodworking and this is the first piece of big furniture I have made.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$140, but i used an expensive chalk paint on it
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Valspar Chalk paint and minwax cherry wood finish. I put 2 coats of the stain on the seat and sides . the chalk paint did not cover well and took 3 coats .
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Custom Bookcase Wall

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 11/16/2023 - 09:19

These bookshelves are modified from the Extra Wide Console Bookcase Plans from your website. They were constructed using 3/4 inch plywood for the bookcases, 6” MDF boards for the cup cubbies, and 1/2 inch plywood for the shelves. Purchased a jig from Rockler to drill the 1,000+ shelf holes and built the rolling ladder from oak using the plans and parts from Rockler. What began as a plan for a simple bookcase morphed into selling the dining room furniture and converting the room (which we had only used once in over 2years) into a library that we enjoy every day!

Built from Plan(s)

Rustic X Desk

Submitted by bozarthm1 on Sun, 04/19/2020 - 07:57

I built this L shape desk based on Ana White's rustic X desk plan. I would not have attempted this without her guidance. Love how this turned out, probably the nicest project I've ever done. Thanks Ana!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Tops are Watco Dark Walnut with wax finish, prime and paint the legs
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

mfromo

Tue, 05/26/2020 - 09:34

This is awesome! My son and I are looking to build an L shaped desk for him and this looks to be the one. Any thoughts on how I would mount a computer tray beneath? Think there is enough clearance below the 2x4 without hitting knees?
Thanks!

Entry Way Bench

Built this plan and it came out amazing. I used a sheet of siding for the back to really bring out some grains!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
100
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Matte white bher paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Cedar Patio Table w Hidden Coolers

Submitted by Goldy272 on Tue, 04/22/2014 - 08:04

We needed a new patio table for our deck and I loved this design. I made it out of cedar which worked beautifully and made a few small tweaks:

- Needed it longer and wider so added two more 2x4's to the middle and added 2x6 end caps (as another poster had done).
- I did not add the holes to the cooler covers for uniformity, they slide in and out very easily.
- I used 4x4's as the legs and constructed the table skirting around it. This is a very sturdy design.

Built some benches for seating and they worked out great.

Overall I loved this build and it was fairly simple. Stained with Penofin deck stain (red label) and a spar varnish for protection.

Hope you like it!

Estimated Cost
$320
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Stained with Penofin deck stain (red label) and a spar varnish for protection.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Goldy272

Thu, 04/24/2014 - 07:43

Thank you! Local lumber yard that had great stuff. I will say though that I had to get some additional pieces from Home Depot and their cedar is fairly nice too. Beware though, they don't have true 1x cedar (at least here in St. Louis) it's more like 1/2 inch think.

Goldy272

Thu, 04/24/2014 - 07:43

Thank you! Local lumber yard that had great stuff. I will say though that I had to get some additional pieces from Home Depot and their cedar is fairly nice too. Beware though, they don't have true 1x cedar (at least here in St. Louis) it's more like 1/2 inch think.

coleyld10

Tue, 07/08/2014 - 20:00

Really well done with the two-tone stain. What particular colors of Penofin did you use? I'm working on a similar build and would like to use your color combination.

jmilkeris

Mon, 05/04/2015 - 10:06

Do you happen to have your lumber list? I'm not the greatest with add ons, LOL! If you happen to have a step by step that's even better.
Thanks,
Jennifer

Modern adirondack chair

Submitted by ksymon77 on Mon, 05/25/2020 - 08:16

Ana thank you for these plans! My second ever woodworking project and love adirondack chairs.
Perfect for my small Brooklyn backyard :)

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

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