Monday, June 30, 2014

Ana White Fancy X Farmhouse Bench

In my last post I discussed dining room seating and how I had to come up with a less expensive plan for bench seating. Well I figured since I was able to accomplish the Crossbuck wainscoting in the dining room on my own that it was a good time to maybe try out one of Anna White's plans that I have been coveting for quite some time. If you do not know about Ana White head over to her site. She is amazing and has tons of plans that are knock offs of major brands. Plans that give you the look for far far less.
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench

I ended up picking the Fancy X Farmhouse Bench Plan because I liked the idea of carrying the X pattern of the wainscoting into another area of our dining room. 
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
After reading Shanty 2 Chic's post about making the bench I was sold and felt like I really could accomplish it. I went out and purchased my wood. The wood cost me a little under $30 but I still had to purchase wood glue which was $5 and then the Pocket Hole Screws that the plan required which were $6 each for both sizes. I ended up only using the longer screws though.
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
It took me about 2.5 hours to cut all the pieces. I was extra careful and measured twice and cut once. After I cut them all I sanded them down.
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
Next up I did what Whitney did over at Shanty 2 Chic and used the nail gun to attach the end pieces together as well as wood glue. Note I was NOT taking a pic while I was using my nail gun. Littliest snapped this one!;)
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
I went with the 63 inch bench and made three of these x braces.
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
The next step of the plan requires you to purchase a countersink drill bit. I am not sure how much those cost. I took Whitney's advice and looked into getting a KregJig. After some research I decided to contact the fine folks at KregJig and asked them if they would like to send me one for this project and they agreed! I was thrilled to say the least because if I had to purchase one that would have thrown the whole budget out the window.
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
The KregJig was not only super easy to put together but so easy to use that Oldest who is 10 was able to help out!
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
Here Oldest is drilling some more pocket holes while Mr. Front Porch looks on. I can not imagine what it would have been like to try and countersink the holes without the KregJig. I probably would have gone mad and had to redo a few pieces. The KregJig is worth the extra expense in my book.
 Though I had hoped the bench was a solo project it turned out that it really takes two people so I am grateful that Mr. Front Porch was more than willing to help me out with it after he saw there was no way I could get it done on my own.
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
Here it is all put together. It took about two hours for us mind you have had never built anything from scratch like this before. If you are use to building things then I am sure it goes much faster.
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
Next up I white washed the top with some paint I had on hand. You just dip the tip of your brush in water then in the paint and brush it on the wood. 
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
Then I used my Walnut Minwax stain over the entire piece. Let me tell you next time I will stain all the pieces BEFORE I put anything together. It was a bear trying to get into all the nooks and crannies.After staining I brought out my heat gun and used it on the top of the bench to make the new wood look like old barn wood. I always make sure to do that outside with plenty of ventilation and to not breathe in the fumes it gives off.
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench-Old Barn Wood Look
 I love how the wood came out! Looks like it has been outside weathering away for years.
From My Front Porch To Yours- Anna White Fancy Farmhouse X Bench
I am now in the process of finishing up the bottom of bench and can not wait to share with you how it turned out! Yes, I know a reveal of it would have been wonderful but it is summer and thus my boys come first.

Thank you to KregJig for helping me out on this project and Chanty 2 Chic for making it look so easy and to Anna for her awesome plan!


You can see the bench completed in our updated farmhouse dining room. 

14 comments:

  1. Stunner! Very impressive and it's beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! Your bench is fabulous!!! It's so nice that it turned out to be a family project and that you had a few happy helpers. Can't wait to see it all finished and in position at the table.

    Gigi @ Old World Patina

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good job! I love it when we can make "knock-offs" ourselves and save bunches of money! I love it:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! I am impressed that people are able to build such things!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pamela, I am so impressed that you took on this project on your own! Kudos to you! It looks like you did a great job, too. I can't wait to see it all finished and in place at your table.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, Pamela that looks awesome. You go girl!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Pamela, you amaze me! I love you farmhouse bench! Wow! I love my Kreg Jig too; it's a fabulous product! They are always so generous at Haven. It has given me an opportunity to try their items. You did an awesome job on constructing this! Thanks for the great tutorial! Love your wonderful assistant!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow Pamela!...What a fantastic job you did!!!!...and yes, the folks at Kreg are great...got some great things from them at Haven...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am totally in awe and impressed with your skills! My husband loves to do woodworking projects, but I've never attempted anything like that. And on top of that, the bench is gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Pamela, WOW! I am so impressed! Love the bench and you did an amazing job.
    xx,
    Sherry

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey girl...I'm super impressed with this! It looks great Pamela. Gotta question for ya...where did you get your heat gun from and much are they? Happy 4th!!!

    Blessings,
    Linda

    ReplyDelete

I love when ya stop by so leave me a comment if ya have some time! I always try and respond but sadly enough sometimes I am unable to return the love due to noreply blogger status.