One night I was pondering the future, particularly bunk beds. With our two girls in a tiny house, I was dreaming up plans for their future sleeping arrangements. I was looking into all sorts of designs; from fancy $10,00 Rap Star’s daughters’ bunk beds, all the way down to the simple 2×4 plank style. Searching for a nice design I could copy that would look great, but also inexpensive to make.
And then I stumbled upon Ana.
It was love at first sight. She captured my heart with her fantastic (and free) knock-off furniture designs. Everything for every room. Any furniture you are looking for- she has a plan. From that day on, I have dreamed in wood. Her site has inspired me beyond belief, now the wheels turn constantly as I am always planning my next build.
Ana White is known for taking some fantastic $2000 Pottery Barn bedroom set
This:
(Farmhouse Bed, Pottery Barn)
and recreating it for around $120.
This:
(Queen Farmhouse Bed, Ana-White.com)
And she has quite the following too. Many DIYers like myself love the process, but love the pricepoint even more. It is worth every drop of blood, sweat, and glistening tear to make something with your own hands that comes out beautiful, functional, and affordable. I have never lacked the confidence to tackle a woodworking project, but rather, the complete know-how of carpentry. After pouring over this site and reading the simple instructions, I convinced myself that I could do it. And guess what? It really wasn’t that hard.
So I made a list of things I wanted to make. I started with the smallest project and finally decided to make the picture ledges I had always wanted (The ones from Pottery barn that cost a fortune). I had looked online at making these myself and found that it would cost more to buy the fancy hardware that Pottery Barn uses than just to buy the overpriced finished ones at the store, so I gave up on my dream.
Then Ana shows up with her $10 ledges.
So here’s how easy it was. I started with (4) 1x3s and (2) 1x2s. cut them to length and put them together. I screwed and glued the 1x3s together, and used my nail gun and glue to attach the 1×2 to the front of the ledge.
Filled the holes and gave them a good sanding.
Then I dragged them in the house and threw them on the kitchen counter and proceeded to stain them (it was still February when I did this, so it was too cold to stain outside. So I set waxed paper on my counters and *carefully* stained them with mahogany stain).
And Voila!
I screwed them straight into the studs (well, I only found a couple) and finally had a place to put some family pictures. I love the look of the pine boards, they look rustic and modern at the same time.
It’s those finer things in life…
You did a great job with those. I love her site but haven't taken the plunge and created anything just yet.