Community Brag Posts

Rustic Console Table

Made from scrap lumber. Used a multicolored pattern instead X. Also took out the 2x2s on the shelves.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Console table

Submitted by Kplum on Mon, 11/05/2018 - 17:32

finally done

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Outdoor Tables and More - Thank You

Submitted by rhogle2000 on Thu, 08/04/2022 - 09:04

Thank you the inspiration!
I'm a retiree and beginner woodworker, through your videos I used leftover lumber and Trex decking from new deck to make two side tables, coffee table, and a bench.
Thank you so very much!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

First Furniture Console

Submitted by cjohnston on Sun, 08/07/2011 - 14:10

This is my version of the Balin Console, presented by Ana White.

I used knotty pine for the wood and finished the piece first in two layers of walnut stain.

Over the stain, I painted two layers of Vast Sky blue by Sherwin Williams.

To finish it off, I used a polyurethane satin finish varnish--two coats.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$200.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Stain the piece with a dark colored oil based stain--2 layers.

Rub a candle on the corners and edges where you plan to sand to give a distressed appearance.

Coat the piece with 2 layers of polyurethane paint.

Use fine grit sandpaper to sand edges to give a distressed vintage look. The candle wax applied to the stain will protect the wood from the sandpaper--sanding will only remove the paint layer and leave the stain layer intact.

Cover with two coats of a satin finish varnish to protect. Make sure there is plenty of drying time between the varnish layers--2 days +
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

debandtom25

Fri, 08/12/2011 - 04:38

It's a very impressive looking piece. It would catch my eye if I saw it in someone's house. Great job!

windjamer812

Thu, 03/22/2012 - 23:25

You did a wonderful job on this project. It looks like it came straight from a 1930's country kitchen.

Easy Peasy Workbench to Get the Job Done

Submitted by logansam54 on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 16:14

This bench was made from the plans for the Workbench to Get the Job Done....and we did get it done. About $50 in lumber and a few hours work. The only change we made is we used 3/4" plywood for both shelves to only use one piece of ply. Next to paint it turquoise! Thanks to my friend Richard Ramirez...he did most of the work! Next I'm going to make 2 more not as wide and without the bottom shelf so I can roll my shop vac under one and my trash can under the other.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Final finish will be paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Medickep

Sun, 09/01/2013 - 06:45

If I may make a suggestion, you could screw a 2x4 flat to the back, which willow you yo drills holes across it for screwdrivers, chisels punches and what not!

Camp Loft Bed with Stair, Junior hight.

We had a really great time building this bed. Even our son could help (kinda). A very easy design and evan simpler to follow. We hit a small snag when makeing the deck, only cause we did'nt know we had to gap the 2x4s...but it was easily fixed by adding one 2x6. and taking away one 2x4. The plans state its not weight tested...well i am a larger woman and it held me just fine. ^_^ Our son loves it! He is five years old and this is his first big boy bed. When i saw his little face light up it was worth everything. Thank you for the great plans and for the family time we enjoyed as we all joined into this project.

Estimated Cost
The lumber i would have cost us $80 at home depot. (we got a discount from a friend so the lumber cost us $20.) with you only cause prices fluctuate and you don't want to be caught unprepared. we bought 5, 50 pack of screws at about $5 each....I'm sure you can find them cheaper...The paint we used was from wal-mart. At $11 a gallon and supplies, paint would come out to $20. All around $125 is the price you will spend spent on making this bed. But i suggest looking around. in our town we have a used building supplies store and several other resources that cut costs.
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

DIY Snake Puzzle

Submitted by mtairymd on Fri, 11/16/2018 - 14:37

This is my take on the classic wooden snake puzzle.  Purchased ones generally range in size from 2" cubed down to key chain size.  This one is 4.5" cubed.  Although time-consuming and somewhat mind numbing, it wasn't very challenging to build. However, you will need to pay attention to the build and assembly instructions.

 

Drawings & Build Instructions: https://www.instructables.com/id/Wooden-Snake-Puzzle

Solution: https://youtu.be/JpehfwloYIE

Estimated Cost
$5
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint and Oil
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

My very first woodworking project!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/12/2022 - 07:31

Just bought myself a miter saw and this was my first ever woodworking project... had a lot of fun putting it together. I opted to build the back the same as the sides rather than just putting the piece of plywood as suggested in the plans (and shortened the length of the drawer accordingly), so I could add a surge protector/usb port with extension cord in between the trim boards since the outlet placement in my bed is horrible and requires pulling out the bed from the wall anytime we need to plug something in. Took a bit longer than anticipated, with never having built anything before, but now that I know what I'm doing I expect the 2nd one to go much quicker!

Comments

My wife's new Craft table

Submitted by MattB on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 23:29

This is actually my third project from your site Ana.

I acctually decided to make this table ten inch wider since my wife has a loooooooot of crafts :)

This project took a little longer then I thought.
It was my own fault!!! I thought I would safe some time and get some of the wood cut buy the clerk at Home Depot. That turned out to be a really bad idea. Most of my cuts were uneven and even after I gave the clerk the exact measurements, a few of the boards were up to 2 inches too long. At the end I had to buy two more boards because I had to cut peaces away to have straight edges.
Lesson learned!!!

I love building wood furniture. And I already got my next plan from your site that I'm going to build.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$160
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Valspar-Dove tail white(Eggshell)
Behr- Surfer(eggshell)
2 coats of clear Polyurethane Semi-Gloss
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Guest (not verified)

Wed, 09/07/2011 - 04:18

awesome job! im in the middle of making one of these at the moment. but just to be a tad different i have put a small cutout hole on the top, theres a little bin that sits on the shelf under it, so all i have to do when ive finished with all my paper cuts is swipe it down the hole! hehe how nifty. oh and where did your wife get the black cricut machine?? lol

Display Cabinet

This is similar to a display cabinet I found online. I got the dimensions and created my own version. We added a under cabinet light to the top to give it a little bit of an elegant look. We changed it up from the original one by adding beadboard to the back and the door inserts. The shelving on the top and bottom are adjustable for different sized display items.

Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
This is sprayed with latex paint and antiqued with briwax light brown color.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Balustrade Coffe Table in Driftwood Gray

Restoration Hardware inspired balustrade coffee table.  

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Driftwood gray (weathered gray, whitewash, ebony)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

In reply to by Ana White Admin

Wilsonorahem

Mon, 01/02/2017 - 15:31

Thanks!  I've made a dozen of these over the last few years for friends and paying customers.  One major modification that I've made is to use tongue and groove instead of pocket holes.  I also use a sliding breadboard end to allow for wood movement.  If not, you get cracking and separation during the various seasons.  I can try to take photos to include in the plans during my next build if you're interested.   

j9keller

Tue, 10/27/2015 - 15:52

I love the stain. Could you give details on how you got the looK? Thanks!

In reply to by j9keller

Wilsonorahem

Mon, 01/02/2017 - 15:33

Sorry for the delay.  I never got notifications for these comments.   I use minwax gray first.  Then I whitewash using whatever white paint I have laying around mixed with water.  Finally, I dry brush with minwax ebony here and there to add depth. 

melissafontes

Thu, 09/15/2016 - 11:42

Could you please tell us how you did your stain?  I have a table ready to stain and would love to achieve this color.

Our new Christmas Tree

Submitted by skyzen on Sat, 12/08/2018 - 10:42

Thanks for the Tree Shaped Wall Shelf plans. I modified the dimensions to match my space on the wall and used 1x2 to make the frame. This replaced our traditional Christmas Tree this year and looks great on the wall. Thanks a lot.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$10
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Truss Beam Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 08/21/2022 - 16:47

I can't believe I made this table myself!! Thanks so much Ana for your plans. It's super sturdy and oh so pretty! Yay!!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

A Home for Some Orchids

I built this with some scrap mdf, and 1x3's. I offset the shelves, and voila! A modern shelf to go with our eclectic, yet very modern decor. It also gives me a nice display for some of my orchids. I love this shelf!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Kona Brown
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Work bench made from old junk

I built this work table from some old junk that was going to be thrown away - a church pew, a wooden box light fixture and some plywood that was in my parents' garage. I didn't follow any specific plan, I just had an idea of what it needed to look like from some work bench plans I saw on Ana-White.com. It cost me nothing to build it. I even re-used the old steel screws from the church pew. It's not very pretty to look at, but it is sturdy and it will be a great space for me to store my tools and work on future projects. Thanks Ana White for your awesome website and for inspiring me! I never would have thought I could take some old junk and figure out how to built something like this. It's an awesome feeling!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$0
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
none
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Braden Entry Way Drawer Bench Hutch Remix

Submitted by Nomareel on Thu, 10/29/2015 - 07:21

I took the plans and modified it for my family needs.  We have bigger items such as instruments and such so we took out the divider.  My wife really wanted doors, so we watched a few youtube videos on how to make shaker style doors.  Took me a little over 2 months to finish the whole thing. 

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Gel Java Wood Stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Shim Queen and Side Tables

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 12/26/2018 - 19:07

I used a six inch reveal of the shims on the head and foot board.  I used a nail on the hidden shim end and glued the thick or visible end to avoid having holes.  It was completed a year ago and is holding up very well.

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax PolyShades Antique Walnut topped with three coats of Minwax Polyurethane Clear Satin.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Recessed cabinet

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 09/02/2022 - 14:14

My bathroom has very little storage space. So during our recent remodeling of the room, I decided to add this cabinet. Changed the plan a little to make it recessed in the wall. I love how it turned out!

Comments

Pallet Crates as Halloween Decor

Submitted by Lady Goats on Sat, 08/13/2011 - 20:54

I started to build these crates as storage for my oldest daughter's room, but I never got around to finishing a second. Halloween was coming on fast and I had about 8 pallets in my backyard. I debated tearing them apart and building another crate, or using them to create a graveyard.....

The graveyard won, and I ended up doing a picket fence, a casket and headstones with the pallet pieces. The crate fit right in to the decor, so it has now become a halloween decoration instead of a storage solution for my daughter's room. It even got a lid!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
free
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
absolutely... NONE!
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

perry22

Thu, 05/02/2013 - 20:47

Today starting from the left, there is the gated entrance to flats, a new building (shop, garage & mini cab office) the flat roof building is still there but remodelled (chemist & ladies garments) the other buildings have been demolished and replaced by flats. The houses on the far corner of North Street are still there, with Prince Regent pub next door behind what was the island urinal in the middle of the road and tree. Water Damage Restoration Oceanside CA

perry22

Wed, 05/15/2013 - 21:06

I dont think Blue will be a good option as it will make the room look dull. You anyways have a brown toned sofa and a brown floor. So do not go for blue. I suggest if you want to add color to your room add a rug, change your sofa upholstery and that should work. You may not need to paint the wall. Infact add some posters and paintings. All this will add color to your room. carpet cleaning Downers Grove IL

Hot Wheels Wall Tracks wall

The Hot Wheels Wall Tracks are designed to stick to your wall, but ours kept falling off. My husband hates putting extra holes in the wall, so what to do? Build your own wall!
I just used 2x2s as side supports, kreg jigged 3 leftover 1x16 pieces of plywood from another project (if I were to do it over again, I would use one piece of plywood to make a smoother surface) as the wall, and screwed the 2x2s onto scrap 2x4s as the base. I added some 'L' angle pieces as supports at the bottom where the 2x2 join the 2x4s to ensure that that the sides would not start to lean over time... The overall size is about 5 feet across and about 4.5 feet high - I wanted something big enough to fit our wall track pieces on, but not too big...
We painted the wall with chalkboard paint, so we can draw on the background as desired, then mounted the various wall track components on using screws. Voila - wall tracks without messing up your wall. And, the wall is easily movable too.

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
chalkboard paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Secretary/Storage cabinet

Submitted by Kirch3333 on Mon, 11/02/2015 - 05:39

Inspired by the Tall Secretary with mail slots but with my own twist/needs incorporated in it. Finished with pure white satin paint.

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Pure white Behr satin enamel paint, finished with Varathane Matte Soft Touch Polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate