Community Brag Posts

Thanks Ana, I no longer "Think I Can"- I KNOW I CAN! : )

I found these amazing tables that i fell in love with! so i decided to take matters into my own hands! i adjusted the measurements to fit my needs and style, and after we purchased the wood, i got to cutting! with a little help from my daddy the project came to life in no time! now i have furniture for my living room that i can completely appreciate and adore forever! i was amazed at how easy this was and how beautiful! and for the price?! theres simply not a store to beat it! and i love all the compliments i get on them and the surprised reaction when i tell people i made them myself! i still plan on building the console table to match!

This is my second project. I used all pine. The top is stained special walnut then added poly acrylic sealer and the bottom I sprayed with Rustoleums heirloom white. This one was a lot of fun and I love the result. Since this picture, I added corner brackets sprayed with Rustoleums oil rubbed bronze (my fav-so good!).

This was my first wood project ever. No prior experience and no tools. I started really from scratch. Thanks to Ana's website I mustered the currage to take on this project. Thank you! 

I just want to leave a few tips for anybody that is an absolute beginner with wood working - things that I have learned along the way.

- First mistake. Practice your cuts with the circular saw before you get to used it. The offset of the blade thickness will puzzle you initially. Maybe I should also mention.. there is a certain way to hold a chisel. You got 50% chances of doing it right the first time :))

- The hardest thing for me was to find lumber that was in decent condition, not too wet, fairly straight and at low cost. I spent many hours in the big stores searching trough their stock. In the end one single board was a little too wet and soon after I was done is started to warp a bit. I did expect that and I used it as breadboards to prevent bowing along the tabletop.

Be aware that if your board is wet, most likely it will curve across width, especially if the section is cut through near the center of the tree. Looking through the section of the board, the outer rings are going to shrink more that the inner rings creating a bow that will push the center outward. See picture.

- If you want your boards to join perfectly you sould take them to a wood shop and get the sides straighten. Doing it by hand it will not get them right and it will take to much of your time.

At the shop you could also plane them and get them at the same thickness. I preferred to leave the imperfections on the surface of the boards but I wanted the same relative heigth along the edges, so the tabletop would be smooth across but not perfectly planed. If you are planning on taking some of the thickness off with a palm sander it will take you a week of sanding; the better solution is either using a belt sander or even a cheaper way is to get a Sanding disk that you use with a drill machine. See Diablo Sanding Disk Kit. It worked really fast for me removing material in the desired areas.

- Get some good quality Poly. It will give a professional look to your tabletop.

I tried the wood conditioner and then I stained the under tabletop with the Weathered Oak finish but I did not like the result. I let it dry and I was still not happy with it. I decided to leave the natural color of the wood and use only Poly.  Some of the better brands are Arm-R-Seal or Old Masters. I applied 5 coats of General Finishes Poly with slight sanding in between.

I hope this helps.

I also finished the bench that comes with the table and they look incredible.

The cuts/assembly takes about 30-40 hrs in total (for a beginner). The finished product was done in about a month after starting lumber hunt and tool gathering. Worked on it whenever I could and some weekends.

Dan

With the condition of our inherited 6-sided picnic table in my mind, the idea of these picnic benches was too appealing to ignore!
I gave away our old picnic table, and bought some cedar 2x6 from the lumber mill down the road. (He had a pretty good price so I used 2x6 for everything)
I decided to make them 6feet long instead of 4, and with an overhang of 8 inches rather than two I was able to avoid making a third leg set.
I got everything cut and gave it all a coat of stain before I assembled anything and then screwed the boards together with cedar deck screws.
I discovered when I had the tabletop bolted on that the 2x6 caused some issue with the tilting, so I had to go back with a handsaw and trim the front top corners of the back legs so that the table could tilt to the bench mode.
I'm still puzzling out why I have a bit of play in the top when it's bolted in either configuration...
Now if only this chilly rainy weather would quit so we could put them outside and start enjoying them!

This was one of the first big DIY projects for my husband and I in our new home. It took us one weekend to complete. The $150 cost includes all supplies: even paint, rollers, wood filler, etc. My husband wanted to get pedestals for our front loaders because he is so tall, but after pricing it out, it would have cost around $550 with tax to get the red LG pedestals. The $150 was definitely worth it and I feel more confident that we can tackle more DIY projects like benches for the deck :) It's not perfectly made, but it's perfect for us.

This couch was super easy. The 2x4s cost about $30. The cushions were a little higher at $160 for all, but can't complain when spending so little. I bought the cushions first to assure the size would be adjusted correctly. It took about 30-45 minutes to put together. I say it's a weekend project because of the stain and sealer. Then the wife wanted a chaise also. I decided to make it an ottoman so it's a chaise when she wants and an extra seat when we have extra company. I went with the color Kona for the stain and applied clear satin spar urethane 3 times since it was raw wood initially. Excellent project that really completed my outdoor space!

This was my first project, so it took me a while to make since I had to figure out what I was doing. But, it was so much fun and I'm excited to make more!

I sent your plans to my dad, who built a table for my daughter. She loves it! And it goes perfectly with her AG tent.

This was my first project from Ana's website! She does such a wonderful job making the plans easy to follow for the novice builder.

I really needed a rustic coffee table for my new living room. All of the retail stores expect you to pay hundreds of dollars for a table less than half of the quality. I am so happy with how the table turned out! I already have a list of other furniture that I want to add to my home. Thanks so much for all you do, Ana!

Thanks for the joy of this project! Our family of 5 just got a new kitchen table, and everyone pitched in to build it. 

I used the Hailey plans with the following modifications because there's no such thing as TOO sturdy.

Instead of 2x4s on their own, I used the leftover lengths of my 2x6s for legs, joined at the corners (Kreg pocket hole screws) with 2x4s for a chunkier look and a very stable bed.

I made the legs 5" taller than the plans called for. Otherwise, the bed simply seemed like it would be too squat for my tall son.

For the casing/trim, which is pricey, I went to the Habitat Re-Store and found two matching pieces for $3.00 a piece.

I deviated from the plan by adding the trim last, after the headboard was otherwise complete. I had considered painting the casement, but decided to leave it all wood-tone, and I'm glad that I did.

The furring strips at my local big blue box store were so terribly warped that I used pine boards instead. This increased the overall price, but decreased frustration and time spent sanding. I work slowly and deliberately as it is, always worried about mis-measuring, so anything I build takes twice as long as anticipated.

With every project I undertake, my wood filler shows and my budget exceeds the amounts in plans and other brag posts. The bed and headboard combined cost me about $230 to build. That's still a great budget, but $80 more than I'd hoped after reading Shanty 2 Chic's inspiring details.

The stain on this bed is Minwax Provincial 211, and I used three coats of Minwax's water-based poly.

Best of all, my husband and I carried this bed from the garage, up the stairs, around the corner, and into a bedroom while it was fully assembled with legs. (He lost the bet on that one, saying I'd regret wood-gluing it all together ahead of time.)

I built this for my daughter's room.  It is my second build.  It is the perfect size for her room.  I used chalkboard paint for the top surfaces.  The knob is from Lowe's.  Thank you Ana White for providing these fun plans!  I am excited to start my next project!!!  

Needed an end table, left out the x's on the sides.

I built a smaller version..THank you so much Ana for the plan. This one is only 2 ft tall and 22.5 inches wide..Perfect size for my 2 year old.
I added a hook to hang my daughter's doodle and on the other side, I added an aluminum tin(wrapped in a scrapbook paper sealed with mod podge) so she can put her magnetic letters/numbers on there. Added this little crayon holder as well. :-)

The ongoing saga of our cruddy old kitchen is finally over, for the most part. We attempted the quick fix and failed and now with a little time, knowledge and cash we think we finally got it right. Our ceilings are lower than the average house so we couldn't buy stock cabinets. We custom made everything and added some accessories. All thanks to Ana-White!! You are so awesome!!

For more photos etc... just visit:

http://buckleyjournal.blogspot.com/2013/07/kitchen-reno-redo-20.html

I made this bar several years ago after returning from a deployment to Iraq. I used the spillway as a convenient location for some of my military award coins. At this point I had little in the way of skill so it is rough but everything else being equal, it turned out just fine for the garage man cave.