If you are looking to outfit your back deck, patio or outdoor area with some new furniture this year, you might want to seriously think about building your own DIY patio furniture.
As you will see below, not only can you create sturdy, beautiful, comfortable and long lasting furniture – you can also save an incredible amount on your budget. If fact, these days, you can save a small fortune!
If you have been shopping for outdoor seating or tables lately, you probably have noticed the incredible inflation in prices. That is, of course, if you can find any available in the first place.
The Ever Rising Cost Of Outdoor Furniture – Why To Build DIY Patio Furniture
Much as with everything else these days, outdoor furniture is both hard to find, and pricey when you do. A simple plastic outdoor table and four chairs can run several hundred dollars or more.
Even the price of something as basic as a single, lightweight metal or resin patio chair can easily rise above $100.
Making matters far worse, paying those high prices certainly doesn’t guarantee it will hold up. In fact, when it comes to purchasing most outdoor furniture, you are usually fortunate to have it last more than a single season or two.
For us, that frustration was a constant battle. And it is exactly why we started building and creating our own patio furniture a few years back. Using simple but strong building materials like 2×4’s, you truly can create beautiful, cozy, long lasting furniture. Best of all – they hold up incredibly well over time!
Not only is building your own furniture extremely rewarding, it is easier than you might ever think. Even better, it can last for years compared to many flimsy store-bought versions.
Holding Up Over Time…
The outdoor furniture sets we first built five years back are all still in use. And, they remain sturdy, stable, and in great shape.
Best of all, they were built for a fraction of the cost of what you can find in stores. With that in mind, today’s article covers a whole range of 2×4 outdoor furniture projects. And all can have your outdoor area looking great in short order this year!
The DIY Answer – How To Build Your Own Outdoor Patio Furniture
From outdoor dining tables and chairs, to benches, Adirondack chairs, coffee tables, planter boxes and more, we use 2 x 4’s to create all of our outdoor furniture.
Even with the increasing cost of 2 x 4’s these days, it is still far less expensive that store-bought furniture. Especially when you factor in this furniture lasts for five or more years with ease.
As an example of cost, we used a total of (68) two-by-fours to create an entire porch and patio set of outdoor furniture. That Included a 60″ patio table with (4) chairs, (2) Adirondack chairs, (2) dual-box planters, a 48″ wide Adirondack bench, and a 36″ coffee table.
Even at a cost today of $7 each for the nicer “select” 2x4x8’s, the grand total for wood totaled under $500. You can’t even by a decent outdoor table and chair set for that these days!
Build Your Patio Furniture!
Here is a look at some of our favorite and best outdoor furniture projects below. Now is the time to get building so you can enjoy your outdoor furniture all summer long!
We do have step by step instant download plans in our OWG Etsy Shop for all of today’s projects listed below. As a big early spring thank you to our followers, today you can get 15% off any plan(s) by putting in SAVE15 in the promo code box at checkout.
You can also use this link : Old World Garden Discount to have the discount applied automatically. Now let’s take a look at the projects that can turn your outdoor space into living space!
Picnic Trestle Table – How To Build DIY Patio Furniture
This unique table really is an entirely new take on the common, boring old picnic table. One that’s not only functional, but extremely economical to create. And is it ever sturdy!
The pull out benches make it easy to enter and exit the table. For us, that was a big improvement over other tables you have to climb in and out of.
I think what we love most about this table is the trestle design. It is both elegant and extremely strong, and it just looks so much nicer than your average picnic table.
You can build the trestle picnic table from just (6) 2 x 4 x 8’s and (4) 2 x 6 x 12’s. The benches are easy to build as well, using just (3) 2 x 4 x 10’s for each bench.
- Plans Link : OWG Step By Step Trestle Picnic Table Plans
Patio Table & Chairs – How To Build DIY Patio Furniture
Outdoor eating is one of our favorite pastimes of all, especially when you don’t have to worry about the sturdiness of your table or chairs!
We built our first patio and table chair set at our original farm back in 2016, and it is still going strong today. We are creating two more sets this year for the new barn seating area, and can’t wait to have family and friends over for a big dinner.
Using only (3) 2 x 4 x 8’s, and (6) 2 x 4 x 10’s, you can create a 60″ long x 36″ wide table that is both strong and elegant. Each chair can be created and assembled with just (3) three 2 x 4 x 8’s.
We use a combination of chairs and benches with ours for even more seating options.
- Plans Link : OWG Patio Table & Chairs Plans
- Plans Link : OWG Porch & Patio Bundle Plans – 5 Plans Included!
Adirondack Chair / Adirondack Bench – How To Build DIY Patio Furniture
These chairs really are the best outdoor chairs ever! Strong, comfortable, and durable – and they last forever. We have outdoor chairs that are now over 7 years old – and they are still strong as ever.
The best part of all, you only need eight (8) 2×4’s to make a single chair. They look just as good on a porch or patio as they do around a fire pit or on a beach.
After building the chairs, one of our readers asked if we could create a matching Adirondack bench for a set, and it quickly became a favorite as well. The bench has a full 48 inches of seating length, and is more than comfortable enough for two people to sit with ease.
Best of all, with the 2 x 4 construction, it is just as strong as the chair. It takes just thirteen (13) 2 x 4 x 8’s to create, and can be easily made with basic tools.
- Plans Link : 2×4 Adirondack Chairs
- Plans Link : 2×4 Adirondack Bench
- Jr Version – Plans Link : 2×4 Adirondack Child Size Chair
Coffee Table / End Table – How To Build DIY Patio Furniture
The end table and coffee table are both great partners to the chair and bench. Extremely sturdy, there is little worry of either blowing away or being damaged.
Unfortunately, most store-bought outdoor end tables and coffee tables never seem to survive storms. But these 2 x 4 versions will! Both plans are included in one plan in our plans store on Etsy.
- Plans Link : Coffee / End Table Plans
Planter Boxes – How To Build DIY Patio Furniture
If you are looking to add a little pizazz to your outdoor living space, do it with plants! The DIY planter boxes pair up with all of the outdoor seating options and can hold flowers, herbs or vegetable plants with ease.
We plant a few with flowers around our patio to soften the space and fill it with color. In addition, we plant a few more with herbs, tomatoes and even tomatillos to have close at hand for outdoor cooking.
The plans include both a double and quad planter box that hold inexpensive 5 gallon buckets as planting containers. When the season is up, just pull the buckets and dump into your compost pile or garden!
- Plans Link : Planter Box Double & Quad Plans
So how about building your own DIY furniture this year and saving big! Here is to enjoying your outdoors this year without breaking the bank. Happy DIY’ing, Jim and Mary.
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
As always, feel free to email us at thefarm@owgarden.com with comments, questions, or to simply say hello! You can sign up for our free email list in the subscribe now box in the middle of this article. Follow us on Facebook here : OWG Facebook. This article may contain affiliate links.
