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Great picnic table by Steve White

I was super inspired by the "iTable" which I am also going to build... but combined the idea with an idea I saw in a fancy home decorating magazine (a jigsaw puzzle stool).... took a lot of fiddling to come up with a 'universal puzzle piece' but in the end it worked out!

We needed to convert our exercise room to a bedroom for our granddaughter visiting from England.

I added additional support inside the legs as I wasn't keen on supporting the rails simply with glue/ screws. This allowed the weight to transfer to the floor directly from the rails. Of course, it was all glued and screwed or nailed. Otherwise I followed the plans found here.

The fenial‎ treatments are antique "looking" door knobs from a national hobby store. To secure them to the uprights, I drilled a whole that was just under the width of threaded rod couplers which were the thread size for bolt from the knob. I tapped with a hammer so the coupler would wedge into and down the whole. The couplers were purchase from a hardware store.

This was an after work project. (2.5 hours) Easy build. This bench is exactly to spec of the plans. This is a great little work bench already planning to build a couple more.

I made two of these...one for each daughter.

I am enamored by the Simple Outdoor Table that is usually featured on the homepage. This was my second project, and in hindsight, I it took several weeks to finish working at night because I made several mistakes that required some problem solving. Naively, though, I studied the plans, borrowed a saw and got to work.

I opted for two benches to save space on the patio when not in use. As you can see in the picture of the bench tops, I opted for a smaller spacer (1/16")because it improved the looks dramatically, but that left me with a gap. There will be a skinny slat in the middle of each bench.

I also opted for 3/16" spacers on the tabletop which required one more board than was scripted. That is much easier to account for on the table then the benches.

You can see from the stacks of lumber in the garage, assembling is the easy part! I hope to never see the words, sand, stain, and seal in sequence again. I also learned a few difficult lessons when it came to using the Kreg Jig, which was new to me.

Now that it's done, though, I am very proud of the outcome.

I enjoy making birdhouses and log cabin style is my favorite. I make the logs by setting my saw to rip 3/4 pine at 3/4 so I have 3/4 square strips. I then decide the size of my birdhouse and cut the logs accordingly. I also "wittle" on them a little to make it look more authentic. I simply then just stack, glue and nail one row at a time. You can use 1/4 poplar for the roof but I ripped pine at 1/16 and cut shakes with my utility knife and glue them on one at a time (there are 104 on this roof).

This is my new couch ,that I built with my husbands help,I could not find a one piece cushion in my area but, I did manage to find individual cushion.I am no expert , but I am learning as I go.

I had my seed starters sitting on a TV stand by my sunny window, which was as ugly as it gets (see before photo...). So, I built this little console for my gardening stuff to sit on while my seedlings are growing. It turned out being the perfect size for what I'm using it for. I only modified it slightly, by adding end pieces to the top (just subtracted 6'' from the length of the top pieces and measured the width of the top to decide the length of the end pieces. I also used pocket holes to attach my bottom shelf pieces and the top shelf pieces, instead of nails. I've never done a 2 tone piece (I love the look of stained wood) so I was nervous about painting over the wood...but I'm really really happy with how it turned out! It was easy to make, and mine was done in an afternoon. Thanks Ana!!

My kitchen drawer wasn't as deep as the one in the tutorial, so I had to use 1x2 hobby poplar instead of 1x3's.  I can't wait to do more drawers!  It's been more than 6 months, and the drawer is still neat and organized.

Wood X Bench with Storage

After spending weeks lurking on the site, I decided to go for it. I have no real experience doing this sort of thing, so everything was a learning experience. I had to invest in a lot of tools but the materials only cost about $100 ($50 in pine from local home store + ~$50 in other materials).

I live in a small apartment, so my workplace was less than ideal. I did a lot of sawing and sanding in the space you see so I made a HUGE mess, but I didn't really have any other choice.

I'm really pleased with the outcome. It isn't perfect, but it doesn't have to be. There are gaps in the planks on the table top, but I can live with it. I didn't follow the plans exactly in order. I built the table top first which allowed me to add removable legs for when it comes time to move. Instead of screwing the legs, I hung hanger bolts and did a nut/bolt setup (as I type this, I realize this was not a necessary step - I could have bolted the legs instead of screwing them in per the stepwise instructions, which would have been easier. Alas, what's done is done!). The picture shows two sets of nuts per bolt, but this is only because I had extra bolts and this ensure that I don't lose them.

I plan on finishing with a polyurethane and building the benches but that will be in the future. My advice to anyone on the fence is to just do it. It's easier than you think and if it doesn't turn out exactly perfect, no big deal. My project goes to show that even with a tiny Chicago apartment, as long as you're willing to make a mess, it can be done. Good luck, thanks for reading!

*sorry my photos are aren't right-side-up - just tilit your head :)

My husband built this for one of the recruiters in his station for his retirement from the Army after 20 yrs of service.

I built one bench originally, but quickly decided that I had to build the complete set. I painted the base of the table and the benches with Valspar Duramax Barnwood and the table top Valspar Duramax custom matched to my garage shutters. The only part of the project that I really needed help was carrying the table to the patio. 

Thanks again Ana (and Brook) for a wonderful plan!

Simple but beautiful!

I needed 3 stools for my kids to eat breakfast at the counter. These were perfect.

I already owned the fabric so I only needed to purchase the wood and the foam. I made it entirely out of furring strips so it was really inexpensive.

I took me a couple of hours to build and sand all 3.

Modified version of the Ana White Triple Pedestal Farmhouse Table. Table top is made of 1in alder while the base is made of construction grade 2x4 and 2x6 lumber.