Showing posts with label wood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wood. Show all posts

Monday, January 13, 2014

DIY Pottery Barn inspired Entryway Bench- My 2nd Ana White Plan

So in my post about the finishing off the shelves in the closet, I had a picture that showed one of my other recent DIY items...an entryway bench!!! And here she is basking in the afternoon sunlight...

This is made from another Ana White plan, the "Large Rustic X Bench" plan to be exact. See, I have always been in love with this plain, yet easy to personalize entry from Pottery Barn's website.

(picture source: Pottery Barn)

So you know Pottery Barn's benches are somewhere around $500....and I personally don't wanna spend that kinda dough on a bench that will be more of a decorative item....or any bench for that matter. I decided this would be another fun woodworking project....and an excuse to buy a jig saw. I mean a project is a total win if you get to use power tools, right!!! Who's with me?? Ok, anyways...After doing my research and weighing price versus quality, I landed on the Black & Decker Smart Selections Jig Saw and a set of high quality Bosch T-Shank Blades. (PS I've used this thing so many times now....and I love it!)

I won't go into the details of the plan since Ana White lays them out plain and simple for you HERE, but I will show you a pic I took during the "tricky" step #4.

Per Ana's website, "What you will need to do on the end cut at two different angles, is first mark out the 60 degree angle from the top corner (when imagining the board in place on the bench). Also mark and cut the bottom angle. Then cut these angles and fit on the bench. Center the bottom on the stretcher. Then mark off where the top overhangs the top of the bench and clip off. This cut does not have to be perfect – you will just need to make sure it sits lower than the top of the bench." So using a protractor, I marked my angles. Then I rigged the board on my miter saw. See the pic below...I have the board clamped onto the front of my miter saw. I couldn't figure it out otherwise. Either way this worked.

And here is my bench after Step #6 before I attached the leg pieces or the bench top. This lets you see where all I put the pocket holes.

And here's a look at it before any sanding or wood filler.

After filling all the pocket holes and anywhere "wood meets wood" with wood filler, I sanded down the whole sha-bang with my sander.  I also used the sander to round off the edges to keep things from looking sharp (I thought about routing it, but I couldn't justify buying another power tool for a bench). And that wonderful little sander was also used to put some character notches into the wood. This will keep it from looking extra new.

I then put a coat of LowVOC Kilz primer on it. And lightly hand sanded it again.

A few coats of Satin Black Enamel Paint and a coat of Minwax's Satin Polycrylic....because both of those I already had on hand.....and then called her complete.




Here it is in my entryway....and one day maybe it will look like the Pottery Barn inspiration pic....when I get brave enough to put that amount of holes in the wall around this.


For now, I am happy with this....blank entry walls and all. I mean progress is progress, right??? No matter how long it takes to get there.

Linking Up to the following parties:

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

DIY Clothesline Frame- My 1st Ana White Plan

You guys are probably all familiar with Ana White, right? You know the beautiful DIY girl from Alaska who so sweetly shared her furniture plans on her blog...and then what seemed like overnight has turned into a world famous sensation and now has a book....and is totally awesome..and is building a momplex (mothers duplex) for her MIL and mother...you know her right? Well, I have fallen prey to this girls-can-build-stuff craze. And guess what??? It's fun! I mean I guess that makes sense though....I love all things crafty and creative...so why not making stuff from wood. 

Ana's website and plans are beginner friendly. I started by going to the plan catalog on her website and sorting by starter and beginner projects. I looked through them all before deciding on Clothesline Frame. You can download the PDF of the plans from HERE. Ana apparently made and used this plan on her book tour. Her book tour didn't bring her anywhere near me (boo!), so I am glad this plan was also on her site.

And here's my finished product:

LOVE it! There's no need for me to go into detail about how I made it, because you can just snag the PDF plans right off Ana's site. But here's the changes I made:
#1- I did not use furring strips. I used whitewood. The whitewood is about $1 more than furrings strips at  my blue store. I do not know the orange stores prices. I chose white wood over the furring strips because all of blue's furring strips had rounded edges. I wanted crisp edges. Plus the white wood had more interesting character.
#2- My Kreg Jig was set to 1/2" setting and I used 1" pocket hole screws
#3- I didn't use any wood glue. Its a picture frame so the screws I thought were more than plenty hold.
#4- I sanded, stained with Minwax Dark Walnut, and then used Minwax finishing wax. 
#5- I used medium sized jute rather than twine. I liked the look of it better. I found it at Wally World....along with the mini clothespins.

 I plan on adding sawtooth hangers to the back to hang it. I also plan on adding "wall bumpers" to keep it from scratching my walls when I change out the pictures. I will take an updated picture once I hang it. 
Linking Up to the following parties:


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