We are huge fans of Ana White. We love her style and well-written building plans. She’s one of those websites to visit if you want to dream and drool.
Why do we build our own furniture to begin with?
- It’s pretty cheap in comparison to the price of lots of other furniture out there.
- It’s good quality. Obviously, it’s only as good as you make it. But if you care, it can last.
- It’s really fun. (By the time I was done with our first project, I asked if we could buy a fixer-upper a couple streets over. The answer was no.)
- We don’t school-at-home. We homeschool. That means our kids are in the mix and getting experience by participating. If they can learn to build what they want or mend what they have, these are projects beyond the value of furnishing our house.
Not Handy?
Yeah, me either. Still. But thanks to Ana and my patient husband, I’ve made progress. That’s why we’re so excited about this woodworking course Ana White has put together to teach the basics of woodworking. If you’re new to woodworking, she can get you started. If there are gaps in your abilities, she can help! Our entire family agreed to sign up immediately! It’s a good thing she tells us what to build. We’d never agree if we had to choose one of her amazing designs.
That's not an affiliate link to Ana's new course. We just appreciate her creating the course so we decided to share. Go sign up for Beginning Woodworking. It can also serve as a homeschool shop class credit.
Read on for Ana White projects we’ve built so far.
3 XL Twin Beds
We used Ana’s Essential Bed Frame as a starting point. And we made our own headboard design that bolts on so that it could be removed for moving.
Don’t judge Ana by the basic flat headboard. She has plenty of fancier options.
Sofa
Wife told Husband their family needed a new [livingroom] couch because the family was too big for the old one. So for their anniversary, Husband bought Wife the wood to make this sofa and printed out the plans. Aww, so romantic. Lucky for Husband, Wife had fun, and they made it to the next anniversary. Eventually, they got the inside couch, too.
We keep the outdoor one sanded and resealed every year or two. So it’s still got plenty of life left even though it battles the intense Florida sun most days.
https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/2x4-outdoor-sofa
https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/one-arm-2x4-outdoor-sofa-sectional-piece
Treehouse
We started with the Modern Kids Treehouse plans.
Our kids wanted a treehouse at their grandparents’ for the longest time. Our HOA wasn’t too keen on us putting one up on neighborhood property. Something about the roof not matching. . . Anyway, come Covid, we had more free time and felt more urgency. The grandparents agreed, and the project was underway. Being in the South, we had Cypress instead of Cedar planks available. And they were certainly thicker (too thick?) But the kids enjoyed the build and have had plenty of great times in their clubhouse. . .as have the adults, too.
You will notice, we had a few changes to size due to the space between trees. Larger porch. If we were to build it again, we'd make the roof higher, and build a larger frame for it to sit on.
Bookcase
We used ShelfHelp by Ana White to design our large homeschool bookshelf. ShelfHelp is a great tool, a calculator really, for helping you figure out measurements quickly and easily for a basic space. You can see how one row of ours is taller to hold those larger children’s books. Others are exactly the height for 3-ring binders. The top holds special books displayed on their sides or paperbacks that aren’t read as regularly.
At the time of building, ShelfHelp also delivered the wood precut. That feature isn’t available now.
Dream Next Project
There are always dreams. More places to visit, more books to read. In our life, we also have furniture and building dreams. Here’s one. Doesn’t it make you want to add it to your dreams, too? Mabye we'll do it after we're done with Ana's Course. Wonder what lumber will show up for the next anniversary.
