September 6, 2015

How to build a laundry basket sorter {an Ana White DIY project}

which could also be known as.... home projects take 74 times the amount of time you think they should.



I've oooohed and aaaaahed over Ana White's website for a few years.  She shares highly detailed building plans for any project you can think of - and they're all completely free!  CHA CHING!  Before we got married, Michael built me a bed.  The plan was modified from Ana White and y'all - it.is.gorgeous.  {See the plan here: http://ana-white.com/2009/11/plan-love-farmhouse-bed-now-with-arch.html}  This is the bed the day we put it together in our room.  Ignore the messiness - we were consolidating households.  And also, we actually live in our home.  It will never, ever get mistaken for a show home... and I'm okay with that.  Even with covers all askew, the bed is prettttty incredible.  I love the stain color and I know that my husband {then my fiance} worked long, late nights to complete this bad boy.



I have never actually built anything from an Ana White plan, though.  I haven't built many things period, let alone whose plan they were from {even though my mom bought me that fantastic pink tool set...}.  Don't get me wrong - I have pinned many, many plans... I just hadn't ever gotten brave enough to tackle one.  In our current home, the laundry room is basically a closet off the kitchen.  There isn't laundry storage in the closet/laundry area, so when I fold the clothes out of the dryer I usually have baskets stacked randomly in the hall/kitchen.  When we looked at the new house {and it's humongo laundry area}, I knew I wanted to add a laundry basket sorter like I'd seen on Ana White.  The plan for this laundry shelf is that you can make the whole thing from one sheet of plywood {cute AND cost-effective?! yes please!}.

Photo Source: ana-white.com
The plan for the laundry basket sorter can be found here: http://ana-white.com/2012/03/plans/brook-laundry-basket-dresser-4-tall-and-lengthwise.  The photo shows three units together.  I modified mine to hold 3 baskets {so it's counter height} and to have shelves instead of just wood sliders along the sides.  It still only took one piece of plywood.  The plan says it is "starter level" - I can now tell you that our definition of easy is apparently different.  The laundry basket sorter wasn't particularly hard to build, but it was more complex than I anticipated.

The basic steps:

Step 1. Buy one sheet of plywood; cut to size {The Lowe's workers cut it down to roughly 1/4 sheet size so it would fit in my car.  Hubby helped me trim down the pieces from there.  It was now that I used a chalk line for possibly the first time.  Also, I do not wearing suggest shorts and flip flops while you're cutting lumber... just saying.}


Step 2. Go back to the store for screws when you realize you don't have the right size {okay, hopefully you won't need this step}.

Step 3. Paint, paint, paint.  I decided to try Ace Hardware's cabinet paint in the base white color.  It is self-leveling and has great reviews online.  I didn't follow the can instructions and skipped the primer.  This meant I had to put several coats of paint on to get the finish I liked.  I also had to touch up the paint at the end of the project... white paint and dirty hands don't mix well.  I used our new basement and spread out the pieces so they could all dry.  TIP: Use small wood blocks or painter's pyramids under the wood pieces to avoid the paint pooling.   Live and learn, y'all.


Step 4. Put the pieces together.  This thingamabob that holds the pieces together was SO helpful.  I definitely need to get some more of those... as soon as I figure out what they're called.



Step 5. Touch up the paint {as needed}.  It was needed.  I'm glad I painted this small project before I painted a more major project with white paint.  I'm not huge on white paint.

This will eventually go in the laundry room, but the laundry room is not finished yet.  For now, the laundry basket sorter is in the basement/workshop for extra storage!