Community Brag Posts

Narrow Cottage End Table

Submitted by mom of 4 on Tue, 07/30/2013 - 16:21

I built matching side tables using Ana's Narrow Cottage End Table plan. I changed the height to suit the arms of my furniture. They fit our tight space and look fantastic with our existing wood pieces. Very easy to build, even the drawers! I used a router to finish the edge on the drawers, to make them stand out a little more. I learned to put my pocket holes on the outside of the drawer, since the back one is in the back, and the front one is covered by the separate drawer front piece. A Kreg jig makes this a very simple project. Also, I sanded my boards before assembly, then did touch-ups before finishing the project.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$50 total for two
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
One coat Minwax Ipswich Pine Stain. One coat Minwax finishing paste, hand rubbed.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Crib for new baby!

Submitted by ry12345guy on Tue, 03/13/2018 - 13:01

From a pine tree in the back yard to a great looking crib that will hopefully stay in the family for generations.

We had to take down a pine in the back yard to make room for a barn so I had it milled into lumber for future projects. I was able to get the majority of the lumber I needed from that tree, everything except for the 4x4's and 2x6's. I got what I thought was pine but after staining it I quickly realized that it was not (maybe hemlock?). The grain didnt match at all so I had to track down some new wood and remake the pieces. Boy was that frustrating! I also bothered myself to hide as many fasteners from (finished) view as possible. It made the project a bit more involved but the finished product made it all worth it. 

Estimated Cost
$80
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax Stain- 1/2 Red Chestnut 1/2 English Chestnut mixed (to match dry sink converted into changing table).
Minwax Polyurethane- Clear Satin (2 coats with a light sanding with a scotch pad between coats).
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Yellow Queen Headboard - First Project

Submitted by jbl02a on Sun, 06/19/2011 - 18:41

My first woodworking project. Found the instructions very easy to follow. Took me a couple weeks because I only had a few minutes to work on it at a time. Biggest issue was I happened to have picked up a few warped boards.

Estimated Cost
$75
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Behr primer and paint in one. Color is "Honey Pot."
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

square planter

Submitted by gale on Thu, 08/01/2013 - 11:40

My first project! The legs are shorter than in the plans-my fault for not reading thoroughly before I printed just the cut list and headed to the store. Still, I love it. I used the Square Planters with Finials plan for this. Painted it with a stencil in place, then stained over that. Also used a kreg jig.

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
paint: glidden, stain: minwax, clear coat: rustoleum water based spar varnish
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Console table

Submitted by Jparfrey81 on Sat, 03/17/2018 - 13:16

Console table built for clients 

Estimated Cost
$50-60
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Varethane dark walnut
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Headboard Bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 04/23/2022 - 19:22

My first attempt at making a headboard bench.  

by Kent!

Farmhouse Dinner Table

Farmhouse Table Plans. 8ft long, Antique Walnut Stain. Absolutely adore!

Estimated Cost
$75
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Antique Walnut
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Rachel Horschler (not verified)

Mon, 12/10/2012 - 10:11

Thanks for posting the pictures!! This is really close to what I had in mind!

My California King Dream Bed

Submitted by bgoff3 on Fri, 08/02/2013 - 23:43

I've always wanted a Cali King bed, but balked at the one to six thousand dollar price tag for the showroom models. This one is an excellent, straight-forward build with little modification needed from the plans given. The lumber yard staff was great at selecting high quality stock once they knew to what end what the pieces were going to be used, so utilize their expertise. Tolerances are fairly tight on this bed, so measure carefully, and more than once. With the addition of the four posts and canopy frame (also provided on www.Ana-White.com ), and a Stearns and Foster luxury plush mattress from Costco, I've more than got my money's worth. Indeed, so will my children. it's heirloom quality.

Estimated Cost
$250.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax mahogany red was applied with a foam brush in consecutive coats, NOT wiped off (as doing so gave the wood the appearance of being a bit too distressed), and five coats of Polyurethane (two for the posts and canopy) were applied with a bristle brush.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

rustic x coffee table

Built this for our living room. It's strong enough to withstand the daily rigors of a 4 and 5 year old. I built this last year, and have done several more since then. 

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

Comments

Scrap Lumber Cart

Submitted by jlsomers on Sun, 04/01/2018 - 16:16

For the past few years our family has been enjoying building together.  Our garage became a dumping ground for all the scraps and it got to the point where the piles became unmanagable.  We build this cart from almost 100% scraps.  The only piece that cost a bit where the casters, but we wanted to ensure that we could move the cart around in the garage  so we purchased the most heavy duty ones at the big box store.  This project took about one hour a night for a few days.  Very pleased with how it turned out.  Now that we have our garage back we can get back to building.  

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

Library Book Cart!

Submitted by vpihoney on Mon, 06/27/2011 - 07:14

I built the library book cart to organize all my toddler and preschooler's books. What we were using just wasn't cutting it; the books end up being scattered everywhere. I love the idea of a pretend library cart (I used to work in one...), and the kids can feel like they have the library in their room! They're playing "library" as I type!

This was an easy build. I used 1 1/4" screws for the 2-in castor wheels for 3 out of 4 screws per castor where I had enough depth. I also used wood glue. For the 4th screw per castor, I used 1/2" screws. This was mainly due to being all I had on hand...not sure if it was correct. We'll see if the wheels hold up with the weight of all the books! Other than those changes, I followed Ana's plans.

Oh, and I managed to create handles without really knowing what I was doing! They turned out OK. I tried two different methods for each handle, but basically used a drill, chisel, and jigsaw and then sanded, sanded, sanded after I made the cut. I think I can do better next time!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
30
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
I used a spray primer in white and then painted a leftover semi-gloss finish in an eggshell color using a roller and paint brush.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

tonjacoy101

Mon, 06/27/2011 - 09:13

Your library cart looks great! Good Job. My daughter loves playing with hers too, and the best part is how easy they are to put away :)

Leaning Desk and Shelf

Submitted by davefletes on Mon, 08/05/2013 - 10:29

This was a lot of fun, and wasnt to difficult. I modified the existing design, and increased the size. It will be painted once my son decides on the color.....

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
For my oldest son.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Mimi's Faux Mantle

So I LOVE this mantle. I totally can't take any credit for this project. My sweet hubby built this for me for out anniversary to go around a gas heater in our living room that I just couldn't stand to look at anymore. We recently purchased our home and inherited an old, not-so-attractive, gas heater. I couldn't stand it any longer, I wanted something to go around it to decorate ;) So here is what we have! I LOVE IT!!! 

Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Industrial-Style Dog Feeding Area

Submitted by bdel on Fri, 04/13/2018 - 13:38

We built this feeding area to complement the plumbing pipe open shelving we installed in our dining room. The shelves for the bowls are mounted to the wall (use anchors or screw into the studs) and the water bowl stand is free-standing. This new setup takes up much less space and is easier to clean around than the usual mat and bowls on the floor.

 

We built the shelves and water stand from reclaimed wood - each shelf is 8.5" x 22.5". The pipes are spray-painted in flat black. 

 

Tips: 

 - trace around your bowls on your piece of wood and then cut the holes out smaller than the circles you drew so that the bowl edges rest on the wood and hold the bowl in place.

 - to get a silky-smooth surface on the wood, after waxing and buffing, do a final buffing with extra fine steel wool.

 

See link to blog for details on the build and more photos.

 

 

Estimated Cost
$50 - $100 on plumbing parts depending on how many "bowl shelves". $10 in wood. Spray paint, stain, furniture wax.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Jacobean stain, MInwax dark furniture wax, extra fine steel wool. Spray paint - Rustoleum Flat Black.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Outdoor Sectional

I have wanted an outdoor sectional for our Atrium for a really long time, but I didn't want to spend the thousands on it that Pottery Barn/West Elm Charged. I built the entire sofa for $220, which is less than the cost of one armless piece from west Elm. (To get the pieces that I built from West Elm it would have cost $1116 which includes the extra delivery charge, but not tax or shipping.) I also sewed my own cushions to save a little extra dough (even though I'm a TERRIBLE sewer) for aprox $29 a cushion. (Their cushions are $59 a piece!) I also used leftover stain and poly that we had from some window trim we had freshened up a few weeks prior. So, total, I saved myself about $1000!

I mention that this project is probably a week long project, but that is only because there are so many pieces. In reality, I probably made one part of the sectional per day, including all of the sanding, staining, and poly.

I'm so proud to have such a beautiful piece to lounge around on and entertain this summer while still keeping a budget!

Estimated Cost
$220 for Sofa, $115 for the cushions
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Varathane Gel Stain in Dark Walnut plus Varathane Premium Spar Urethane as the sealer.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

britskie

Thu, 07/07/2011 - 23:51

This is just beautiful. I love how you used pillows for the backs instead of matching cushions. I've been planning on building this for over a month now. I think I'm definitely going to use your cute pillow idea.

Awesome job!

LGmontana

Wed, 09/17/2014 - 19:37

Hi, love the look of this! The links to the plans seem to be broken or missing... Any chance you could repost the plans?

Thanks!

Console table/shelf/thingy

I gave away our piano and needed something to fill it's spot. I also needed some storage. I knew right where to look and eureka!! there it was, the Simple Rustic Modern Console plans.

It was inexpensive, easy, quick and perfect!! I modified it to the height I wanted and added some dividers for baskets and a bottom shelf as well.

Loving it!!!

Estimated Cost
30.00-40.00 depending on the size you need
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
I used Minwax Polyshades but I hated the way it gooped up in spots. I had to sand and redo but in the end was satisfied with the way it turned out.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Picket Fence Bed with Storage

Submitted by lewg on Sat, 08/29/2015 - 18:20

As you can see, the theme is a little different then the original, but the storage remains! Because of the room I actually made the side drawers the full length of the bed, and put false fronts on the end. 

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
White Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate