Community Brag Posts

Bathroom Sign

Submitted by jsle_bel on Wed, 06/29/2011 - 19:49

I've been wanting to create some bathroom decor....here it is!

Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Improvised Modern Patchwork Dresser

Submitted by andrea6 on Tue, 08/06/2013 - 14:56

We used MDF board for the frame, and covered the cut edges with veneer. We used Poplar premium wood from Lowes's for drawer fronts and cabinet door. We shortened the length by about six inches, and replaced the three drawers on top with one large drawer so that it functions better for us.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Top drawer- Dark Walnut, middle drawer- Red Oak, bottom drawer- Golden Oak, cabinet door- Special Walnut, frame- Bay Mist Valspar Signature satin finish
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

moira

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 08:20

Hi Andrea. I love your dresser. I wanted to ask you about staining the poplar. I have read that poplar does not stain well. Did you condition the wood first, or did you just wipe the stain on the bare wood?

Double Pedestal Farmhouse Table (small)

This table is adapted from the triple pedestal farmhouse table, so that it would fit in my dining room. I don't care as much for the curved accents in the origional plans, so I left them straight.  

Lesson learned when choosing lumber: kiln dried studs when buying 2x4's is slightly more expensive, but worth the extra cost. The cheap stuff is wet and difficult to work with, and can sometimes shrink after it dries over the course of a month. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
I used early american penetrating stain by Minwax after I treated the wood with pre-stain. The pine absolutely benefits from the extra treatment and prevents uneven stain spots.

I applied the pre-stain with a cloth and gave it 30 minutes to soak in before applying the stain. The stain went on smoothly with a cloth and dried for a day before applying two coats of satin polyurethane with a fine bristle brush.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Almost Farmhouse table

Submitted by bmccaskill on Thu, 05/03/2018 - 05:04

I choose to make the farm house table and try my hand at Shou Sugi Ban (Japanese wood burning) as a way of finishing the table. The burning left the wood with such a beautiful finish and the end grain was awesome, that I decided not to cover them the bread boards. Thank you for the plans Anna!!!!!

Estimated Cost
$120
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Shou Sugi Ban and butcher board conditioning oil
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Outdoor Bench

I started giving much needed attention to my deck and found Ana's plan for this bench. I modified it slightly to make it longer (for four seats instead of three).

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

Ikea Fort Bed

It was a fun project to work on. The hardest part was painting it and being patient enough to let it dry and giving it a second coat! It cost right around $100 to make!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farmhouse Dog Bed

I reworked the dimensions for the Farmhouse Doll Bed to accommodate my 20 lb Japanese Chin, Delilah, and reinforced the bottom to support her weight with an additional center leg and 3/4" plywood.  I used 4" foam for the mattress and fleece fabric to make her "bed spread" and pillows.  She loves her new fancy bed!

Estimated Cost
$20 if you buy all supplies new...most or all of this you can do with scraps from other projects!
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Benjamin Moore Dove White in gloss
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Utility room storage modified for skis and a freezer

http://www.ana-white.com/2014/09/free_plans/easy-economical-garage-shel…

This is the garage shelving construction method, but modified because we needed room for the freezer, there is a steel support column, and skis needed to be hung.

It's really three "ladders" of 2x4s, nailed with my framing nailer.  The rungs support the shelves.

  • The only dimensions I measured were to reserve space for the freezer, and the height of the support for the ski rack pegs.  The rest was based on the height of the things I wanted to store (coolers, etc), the width for the shelf unit was "as wide as possible" and the depth was "as deep as possible without covering the power outlet". 
    Cut to fit.
  • The ladder pair at the rear of the photo makes one shelf unit. 
  • The third ladder has rungs on both sides of the support column to stabilize it, keep the skis from banging into the freezer, and to provide a place to put the ski hanging pegs. It is also has one support for the shelf over the freezer.
  • The shelf over the freezer area stabilizes the unit side to side.  It's a good place for bulk paper storage because that is light and not heat sensitive.
  • The only truly new pieces of lumber were the 6 2x4 studs for uprights and some of the rungs.  I used all the suitable scrap 2x4s I could find before I cut into new wood.
  • Shelves were made of scrap plywood from another project, and some salvaged wood from the garden shed.  Some were previously part of my truss shelves, which were no longer needed after the workshop storage improved.  (yes, I recycle my recycled and reclaimed wood.
  • Shelves are nailed in place with finish nails to keep them from slipping.
  • You can't see them, but each shelf has a 1x4 or 1x6 board nailed to the ladder behind it to keep things from falling through the gap.
  • Ski storage is dowels inserted into a 2x6.  The paired dowels are far enough apart that the ski bindings won't whack into each other.  After the picture was taken I put an over-the-door coat hook between the skis to hang the poles.
  • The space for the folding stepstool was 100% accidental! 

It's CHEAP and EASY storage.

Two reasonable skilled people could do it in an afternoon.

Estimated Cost
$20 in new wood
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
None. I left it bare.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

TV Console

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 04/27/2022 - 10:11

Used knotty pine, and finished with Varathane using stain color “Jacobean”. Modified from a bookcase plan.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Project numero uno!

This is my first build from Ana’s plans. First I had to build the work bench in order to have something sturdy to work on. Thanks to home depot it was very inexpensive to build. I didn’t use wood conditioner and now I wish I had. I also used a 2 in 1 stain and seal. In retrospect would have used stain and then a varnish. All and all I’m very happy with the look and the stability. Even though I built it in my garage while its 94 degrees here in Florida I still enjoyed the project.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
7.50 in Lumber thanks to Home depots Scrap wood. I already had nails The stain was $6 and I have tons left over.
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Mahogany Red
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Guest (not verified)

Mon, 07/25/2011 - 05:36

Wow great looking little bench. Thank u for all of the procedure pictures it makes it so much better to visualize. Will try to make this with the hubs.

Luis (not verified)

Mon, 10/24/2011 - 21:40

Thank you for positive support. I hope to see your projects soon. Email me with any questions or to show me your projects. Ill be waiting.. [email protected] good luck

child's airplane swing

Thank you for the great idea!

I built this for my nephew's birthday.

I took the child's airplane swing and modified it to look like the character from Disney's Planes.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$40
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

JoanneS

Sun, 08/11/2013 - 05:55

This is soooo cute, your nephew is going to love it!! I love how you gave it a Disney character's face!

Jacob's Toy Box - 5 Year Old

Submitted by CTShearer on Sat, 09/05/2015 - 21:01

Our 5 year old's toy box. My son chose the colors and my awesome wife painted it. Letters are from Hobby Lobby and the lock on the left was actually my son's idea.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$40, letters $1 each
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Bear Race Car Red, we can't remember the blue's name, it was also Bear.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

DIY Leaning Bathroom Shelf

Hi friends!

Jen Woodhouse from the House of Wood here. 

Today I'm going to share with you an amazing storage solution for those of you who are renters, are looking for a non-damaging way to add more space, or just in general want an affordable storage option. I'm walking you through the entire project so even if you're a beginner woodworker, this DIY Leaning Bathroom Shelf may be a great project for you! 

Be sure to tag me @jenwoodhouse if you share photos of your build on social media. I'd love to see it!

You can get all the details for this build on my website jenwoodhouse.com 

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

Greenhouse

Submitted by Zhang on Fri, 05/06/2022 - 22:55

Greenhouse is nominal 10X20. Internal square footage 192.6 sq-ft so no permit required (< 200 sq-ft). Modifications planned:

1. No metal on vertical walls since sun light is desired at all levels. Planting will be directly in the ground as well as in cedar boxes an on shelves.
2. Let in (mortised) 1x4 diagonal bracing to provide strength since no metal will be used on the verticals.
3. Two windows in the back wall (truss). Not sure yet where to source these - suggestions please? Might build them from scratch.
4. Dutch door on the front wall so that the top half of the door can be opened in combination with the back windows to allow air flow the length of the greenhouse.
5. Metal flashing on the exterior corners just for a nice finished look.
6. Has a 6 x 6 preassure treated (rated for ground contact) perimeter foundation. All other wood ,except the diagonal bracing is pressure treated rated for above ground. Finding 1 inch pressure treated wood seems impossible.
7. Ridge poles will be 2x6 so that sloping joist hangers can be used to attach the rafter legs to the ridge poles.
8. Will have a middle truss so that two 10 ft ridge poles can be used. I believe finding a nice straight 20' pressure treated 2 x 6 would be difficult or impossible.

Will add more photos as the build progresses.

Comments

Rustic Farmhouse Table

This table was quite simple to build. The hard part was the sanding and the painting/staining. It is sturdy. I also like that I can sand or touch up stain if it is ever damaged. Most store bought tables don't have that ability since the table top is usually a veneer.
Step by Step Summary on my blog - http://thequaintcottage.blogspot.com

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
I think it cost under $50 with all the lumber, stain and screws. Me likey!
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
The base has a faux-aged paint finish. Top is Red Oak stain.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

JES

Sat, 07/09/2011 - 18:47

Your paint job for the legs is awesome. I went to your blog to look at the whole process. Great work. The colors for the legs and top go together beautifully. Wonderfjul job! :) J

The Quaint Cottage

Sun, 07/10/2011 - 17:45

Thanks! I really didn't know if all the colors were necessary or if it would turn out how I pictured it in my head, but I just posted a close up pic of the finished leg and hints of the colors show. It is as close to I could get to weathered boards without waiting years to make them.

grandeb3660

Tue, 08/30/2011 - 14:52

Would really LOVE to have the step by step for this table. Love, love, love it!

Night Stand

this project it was nice and easy to do it I had make the farm house bed then I saw this night stand and I had to have it

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$70
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
multiple colors
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Coffee Table Side Table Combo

My 2 girls  like to play board games on the floor, instead of the dining table. Which I don’t mind. But as I get older, it’s getting less and less comfortable each time. That’s when I decided that we need a coffee table to make playing board games on the floor more comfortable for everyone concerned… no matter what their age is.

But I don’t like coffee tables taking up space in the middle of the room. I love having the room nice and open without furniture sitting in the middle of the floor getting in the way, when it’s not being used.

That’s when I decided that instead of a Coffee Table, what I needed was a Side Table, that could also be used as a coffee table when needed. Either for a board game, or for when you have visitors and you need a place for coffee cups and snacks.

I think it turned out great!

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Walnut Stain plus Satin Varnish - both water based
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Simple Bed in Full Sized for our Daughter

Submitted by AmyRobert on Tue, 07/24/2018 - 17:34

We orignally planned to make the bunk set, but as we went along decided we didn't need a bunk full-time but wanted the extra sleeping space. Our solution was to make sure there was enough room under the side rails for a trundle. We also attached the side rails on with barrel nuts and bolts to make it easier to get upstairs and take apart for future moving. This was our first time making furniture. Over all, we are happy with the finished product!

Estimated Cost
Around $100 CDN. We had cedar on hand to make the posts. Not sure what that would cost to buy. We couldn't find suitable posts at local hardware or box stores.
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Behr porch and floor paint in white
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Potting bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/14/2022 - 18:53

Thanks to Ana White for the inspiration, plans, and instructions to make our own Potters Bench. We had a little help from grandchildren for the final steps. We used cedar and made it 60” long rather than 48” just for a little more useable space. After purchasing the wood, we got busy and completed the whole project in a Saturday afternoon, with just the finish coat left to apply.

This was a very satisfying project to work on and complete. We will always look at it with pride and be able to say “we built that”!

Pat & Lawrence
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Built from Plan(s)

Comments