I found Ana's website in my search for the desk plans, and in the process found many other wonderful plans I want to try. My goal is to make a sawhorse desk for my new home office. I need to learn all proper woodworking skills, however.
Therefore, I decided to start with this birdhouse project, which was a joy for me since I have a fascination with photographing birdhouses wherever I go. I also have fond memories of making birdhouses with my mother when I was a little girl. She did all the cutting and nailing, and I sanded and painted.
This project brought back happy memories, and my mom got a kick out of seeing photos of the finished results.
In addition, today I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph my own birdhouses!
Estimated Cost
$3 per house for the wood
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
I used a combination of paint I had on-hand, all Valspar. Most of the paints were Valspar Ultra Paint & Primer.
Paint colors for the birdhouse on the left are called: Country Heather (blue), Bittersweet Stem (beige), brandywine (terracotta), and Pistachio Ice (green) for accents.
The colors of the house on the right also included Country Heather, Bittersweet Stem, and Pistachio Ice (again for accents). In addition, Buttered Hazelnut was used for the walls and roof.
I completed most of the painting prior to assembly, adding only accents such as hearts and windows post-assembly.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project
Comments
jhavinga
Thu, 05/22/2014 - 16:34
Thank You Ana.
Thank you for sharing all of these awesome projects. I was always hesitant when it came to wood, but now I cant seem to stop!
JGoates
Tue, 06/10/2014 - 08:13
More about your finish
How exactly did you achieve this finish? sand first, paint second, sand again and then stain?
In reply to More about your finish by JGoates
jhavinga
Wed, 06/11/2014 - 13:43
How I got the finish!
(You can do all this before or after your project is put together or not.)
Be sure to do a test piece before hand so you can see exactly what your getting :)
The first step I did once the head board and foot board were put together, was to sand any sharp edges or corners. I liked mine rounded and worn looking. I did not sand anything else.
Second step is to paint 1 even coat of a basic white latex paint.
Third step is to sand away some white paint. because we didnt sand it before hand the grains in the wood will be very bumpy. so the paint on the grains will sand off while the paint lower than the grain will remain. makes sense? hopefully i explained that right!
Fourth step is to now wipe on the stain of your choice. I went with Dark walnut. It stains the paint a bit bringing the white to a gray/brown tone. and stains the wood dark walnut so the grain patterns show up dark.
Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck!
jbogan15
Thu, 01/29/2015 - 07:49
sanding
What grit of sand paper did you use to sand off the white paint? and did you sand it by hand? Also, for the dark walnut stain, did you wipe off immediately or leave it on for a bit before wiping? Beautiful bed, I want to achieve this look!
In reply to sanding by jbogan15
jhavinga
Fri, 02/06/2015 - 09:15
Hi jbogan15, thank you!
Hi jbogan15, thank you!
For sanding I used a palm sander with 120 grit to get the job done a bit quicker, than went over lightly with 220. When staining I actually just dipped a rag in the stain and would wipe the stain on. =)
Good luck!
Justin
kosborn
Fri, 01/27/2017 - 11:05
SIde rails
Love this look! Exactly what I am trying to achieve...A few questions about the side rails. How high did you connect them to the 4x4 posts and exactly how did you connect them? Did you use brackets or screw right into the posts? Thank You!
barkleyl
Thu, 09/05/2019 - 15:07
Mattress height
I have seen several beds from Anna White. I was wondering if the frame require a box spring mattress or not. If not, are the beds lower than what a traditional mattress and box springs are. Thanks !