Build your own outdoor sectional out of 2x4s! This plan is for the One Arm Sofa.
Want to build your own DIY couch?? Grab the free plans and learn how to upholster it yourself here. It's easier than you think!!
Buying a sofa is the natural way when you need a large and comfortable piece of furniture in your living room. But how about building a sofa? Yes, it's a new idea, but it's gaining momentum as DIY makers churn out creative new sofa designs that are simple and fun to build. These DIY sofas use materials from your local home center, and you don't have to be a veteran carpenter or upholsterer to assemble them. 1. DIY Two-Piece Upholstered Sectional Couch. The motivation behind this DIY sofa was...
Helping to transform your house into a beautiful home you love with DIY tutorials, woodworking plans, home improvement, & decor on a budget!
Looking for a thin and stylish table to put behind your sofa? This DIY console table is a simple build you can complete in a weekend!
Want to build your own DIY couch?? Grab the free plans and learn how to upholster it yourself here. It's easier than you think!!
This beautiful DIY daybed is budget-friendly and simple enough that even a beginner can build it. Full step-by-step tutorial plus video.
After we finished our DIY deck back in March, it became even more apparent that we needed more outdoor seating. The only seating we had at the time was a round patio table with 4 chairs. Initially, we looked around for sectionals, but everything we liked was at least $2,500. Then we came across some plans to build your own outdoor sofa from Ana White...for around $50 in lumber! The cushions are the most expensive part of this project, but even so, we were able to build 3 sofas for under $800 total. Here is the original Ana White sofa design that we modeled our sofas after: Ana White Outdoor Sofa Plans It's a great basic design, but I wanted to modify it slightly by adding a couple more 2x4's for extra back support, as well as some 2x2's under the arm rests for more detail. We also built our sofas to the size of our cushions, so we used one less 2x4 on the seat bottom. Our sofa seats ended up being about 23.5" deep. Here's a comparison of the original vs. our sofa: I assumed the most difficult part of this project would actually be finding cushions that we liked in our budget, so we decided to pick out our cushions first & then build the sofas to those specific dimensions. Ideally, I wanted something in the grey family, but the few grey cushions I came across were either too brown, too thin, or too expensive. We ended up going with the IKEA KUNSO cushions in black instead: Here are the dimensions of our cushions: Back cushion dimensions: Width: 24 3/8 " Depth: 17 3/8 " Thickness: 7 1/8 " Bottom cushion dimensions: Width: 24 " Depth: 24 " Thickness: 4 " The entire sofa was built out of pine 2x4's, with the exception of the "X" detail under the arms - which were pine 2x2's. We did not use treated lumber for this project since I planned on staining & sealing the sofas - so we saved a little money by going with regular pine AND the lumber was also not as heavy since it wasn't treated. If you can afford to build with cedar, that is the way to go for outdoor furniture (since we were on a budget we went with pine). My dad helped us build the first sofa, but then we were on our own for the remaining two. Before we added the "X" detail: Another change we made was to the top 2x4 on the back rest - we decided to attach the 2x4 vertically to give the back a little more height and notched out the ends to fit on top of the arm rests: Here are the sofas after we added the 2x2 X detail under the arms: For extra support, we also screwed in two vertical 20" 2x4 supports on the back of each sofa: *UPDATE* Here are some more detailed photos of the back of the sofas from April 2020: Once all three sofas were assembled, I filled the holes with exterior wood filler & gave them a light sanding all over. I focused on the edges - particularly around the arm rests. Next, I gave them all one coat of semi-transparent stain & sealer in the color Pewter by Rustoleum: The stain is subtle in person (and even more difficult to tell the difference in photos), but the stain sort of reminds me of that gray driftwood Restoration Hardware look. I could have done a second coat of stain, but I was honestly exhausted & just wanted to be done. You can see the stain the best in this photo: Ana's original lumber list only calls for (11) 2x4x10' boards, but because of our modifications we ended up needing to buy the following for each sofa: (12) 2x4x10' (1) 2x4x8' (2) 2x2x8' Here is the final approximate cost breakdown: ONE SOFA: $65 lumber + $180 cushions = $245 THREE SOFAS: $195 lumber + $540 cushions = $735 We also spent $37 in stain, so our total cost was about $772 ($735 + $37). Please keep in mind there can be other costs involved depending on what materials, tools, or stains you already have on hand. We already had the screws we needed (mostly 2 1/2" & some 4" galvanized screws), sandpaper, wood glue, and tools - so all we needed to purchase was the lumber & stain. Overall, we love the sofas - they are comfortable & very sturdy! Since I didn't give step by step instructions, please let me know if you have any questions on our building process. We also ended up building an X-base dining table for our new deck as well. I will write a post on how we built that in the near future... Thanks for reading! Mel
The outdoor patio is by far our favorite corner of our new house. It is the perfect space to drink coffee, do yoga, answer emails… All the things really! We wanted to create a functional space that also had cozy vibes so we decided to go with a sectional. Originally we were going to buy an outdoor
After we finished our DIY deck back in March, it became even more apparent that we needed more outdoor seating. The only seating we had at the time was a round patio table with 4 chairs. Initially, we looked around for sectionals, but everything we liked was at least $2,500. Then we came across some plans to build your own outdoor sofa from Ana White...for around $50 in lumber! The cushions are the most expensive part of this project, but even so, we were able to build 3 sofas for under $800 total. Here is the original Ana White sofa design that we modeled our sofas after: Ana White Outdoor Sofa Plans It's a great basic design, but I wanted to modify it slightly by adding a couple more 2x4's for extra back support, as well as some 2x2's under the arm rests for more detail. We also built our sofas to the size of our cushions, so we used one less 2x4 on the seat bottom. Our sofa seats ended up being about 23.5" deep. Here's a comparison of the original vs. our sofa: I assumed the most difficult part of this project would actually be finding cushions that we liked in our budget, so we decided to pick out our cushions first & then build the sofas to those specific dimensions. Ideally, I wanted something in the grey family, but the few grey cushions I came across were either too brown, too thin, or too expensive. We ended up going with the IKEA KUNSO cushions in black instead: Here are the dimensions of our cushions: Back cushion dimensions: Width: 24 3/8 " Depth: 17 3/8 " Thickness: 7 1/8 " Bottom cushion dimensions: Width: 24 " Depth: 24 " Thickness: 4 " The entire sofa was built out of pine 2x4's, with the exception of the "X" detail under the arms - which were pine 2x2's. We did not use treated lumber for this project since I planned on staining & sealing the sofas - so we saved a little money by going with regular pine AND the lumber was also not as heavy since it wasn't treated. If you can afford to build with cedar, that is the way to go for outdoor furniture (since we were on a budget we went with pine). My dad helped us build the first sofa, but then we were on our own for the remaining two. Before we added the "X" detail: Another change we made was to the top 2x4 on the back rest - we decided to attach the 2x4 vertically to give the back a little more height and notched out the ends to fit on top of the arm rests: Here are the sofas after we added the 2x2 X detail under the arms: For extra support, we also screwed in two vertical 20" 2x4 supports on the back of each sofa: *UPDATE* Here are some more detailed photos of the back of the sofas from April 2020: Once all three sofas were assembled, I filled the holes with exterior wood filler & gave them a light sanding all over. I focused on the edges - particularly around the arm rests. Next, I gave them all one coat of semi-transparent stain & sealer in the color Pewter by Rustoleum: The stain is subtle in person (and even more difficult to tell the difference in photos), but the stain sort of reminds me of that gray driftwood Restoration Hardware look. I could have done a second coat of stain, but I was honestly exhausted & just wanted to be done. You can see the stain the best in this photo: Ana's original lumber list only calls for (11) 2x4x10' boards, but because of our modifications we ended up needing to buy the following for each sofa: (12) 2x4x10' (1) 2x4x8' (2) 2x2x8' Here is the final approximate cost breakdown: ONE SOFA: $65 lumber + $180 cushions = $245 THREE SOFAS: $195 lumber + $540 cushions = $735 We also spent $37 in stain, so our total cost was about $772 ($735 + $37). Please keep in mind there can be other costs involved depending on what materials, tools, or stains you already have on hand. We already had the screws we needed (mostly 2 1/2" & some 4" galvanized screws), sandpaper, wood glue, and tools - so all we needed to purchase was the lumber & stain. Overall, we love the sofas - they are comfortable & very sturdy! Since I didn't give step by step instructions, please let me know if you have any questions on our building process. We also ended up building an X-base dining table for our new deck as well. I will write a post on how we built that in the near future... Thanks for reading! Mel
Plans and video tutorial for building a modern DIY daybed with a mid-century vibe from plywood and basic building materials. Create a upscale looking daybed inexpensively.
How to make a DIY Couch that Folds Out to a Bed Last week when I posted about of our DIY couch that turns into a sofa bed many of you requested detailed plans so these are for you.Below is an overview of how we created our couch from scratch. If you would like detailed plans, I have cre
This beautiful DIY daybed is budget-friendly and simple enough that even a beginner can build it. Full step-by-step tutorial plus video.
First making furniture out of pallets was ingenious, then it was trendy, then it was kind of a cliche. But just because pallets have suddenly become the DIY furniture-making material of choice — with a few unfortunate results — doesn’t mean there aren’t good ideas out there. But before we get going, a caveat! Be very careful which pallets you use in your projects, as some of them may have come into contact with dangerous chemicals.
Whether you are trying to spruce up your kitchen, bedroom, living room, or entryway, here are eco-friendly wood projects you can do today.
