DIY Outdoor Sectional Instructions – Make this outdoor sectional with easy to find materials. This is the perfect piece of outdoor furniture to add comfort and the look you want for your backyard or patio.
My name is Rachel and my little slice of blog heaven is Thrifty Inspirations. Today I want to share with everyone a huge project my husband and I recently finished all by ourselves! Our super comfortable outdoor sectional!
I got the inspiration from an Ana White Project Plan “Simple Modern Outdoor Sectional”.
If you have never been to Ana White’s blog, I forewarn you, you will be inspired to madness. Back-breaking, muscle-aching, paint-covered madness. I wanted to keep with her style but make it a little more within our budget so we use 2″x4″ lumber instead of 1″x4″ because they were about half the price, and let’s face it, it’s always all about the price.
Here is what we did:
If you are looking to use 2x4s as we did you will need to make the following adjustments:
Armless section:
2 @ 24 1/4″ (Seat Side Aprons)
1 @ 18″ (Seat Front Apron)
2 @ 22 3/4″ (Seat Supports)
2 @ 24″ (Seat Sides)
6 @ 17″ (Seat Boards)
2 @ 13 1/2″ (Front Legs)
2 @ 27 1/2″ (Back Legs)
1 @ 24″ (Back Top)
2 – 2×4 @ 21″ (Seat Back Board & Seat Back Apron)
Corner section:
1 @ 24 1/2″ (Front Apron)
1 @ 18″ (Seat Front Apron)
2 @ 22 3/4″ (Seat Supports)
2 @ 24″ (Seat Sides)
6 @ 17″ (Seat Boards)
2 @ 13 1/2″ (Front Legs)
2 @ 27 1/2″ (Back Legs)
1 @ 24″ (Back Top)
2 – 2×4 @ 21″ (Seat Back Board & Seat Back Apron)
Corner section:
1 @ 24 1/2″ (Front Apron)
2 @ 23″ (Seat Supports)
1 @ 24 1/2″ (Side Apron)
1 @ 24″ (Side Seat Board)
6 @ 20 1/2″ (Seat Boards)
2 @ 13 1/2″ (Front Legs)
4 @ 27 1/2″ (Back Legs)
2 @ 21″ (Back, Short Top Apron and Seat End)
2 @ 22 1/2″ (Back, Long Top Apron and Seat End)
1 – @ 24″ (Short Top)
1 @ 27 1/2″ (Long Top)
1 @ 24 1/2″ (Side Apron)
1 @ 24″ (Side Seat Board)
6 @ 20 1/2″ (Seat Boards)
2 @ 13 1/2″ (Front Legs)
4 @ 27 1/2″ (Back Legs)
2 @ 21″ (Back, Short Top Apron and Seat End)
2 @ 22 1/2″ (Back, Long Top Apron and Seat End)
1 – @ 24″ (Short Top)
1 @ 27 1/2″ (Long Top)
I recommend cutting all of your wood first so that you can get the most out of each board.
Then, using Ana’s project plan assembly instructions we built each section one at a time. I built two of these sections by myself. I do not recommend this! My back hurt, hands hurt, head hurt, knees hurt. You name it, it hurt. The worst part was that they weren’t even sturdy and we had to go back and re-screw a bunch of sections where I just couldn’t hold it properly by myself to get it nice and tight. Get help! After we went back and fixed those sections we got a rhythm going (I made the pilot holes and he screwed in the screws) and it was much smoother sailing.
Once you have all of your pieces assembled you will need to use wood filler to fill all the visible holes.
Then sand smooth.
Once all of your pieces are puttied and sanded it’s time to paint 🙂
Line them up like a little sectional army. I recommend using a paint sprayer. It will require fewer coats and shorten your painting process from an entire day to less than two hours. However, if you do not have access to a paint sprayer you can certainly paint by hand with a brush. You may want some company though! There are a lot of angles on this project! I chose to use a Behr Exterior Latex paint in Coffee Bean.
I allowed each piece to sit in the sun (it was a beautiful day for painting) for several hours before reassembling all the pieces. Once they were good and dry it was time to put them back together!
Want to see what the power of pillows can do?
Pa-pow! Pillows!
The cushions/pillows were actually the most expensive part of this entire project. They were a Costco deal… I love me some Costco deals! I had looked for a very long time online for 24×24 cushions with little to none in my price range. You can also head to AMAZON HERE to find outdoor pillows that you may like!
My Total Cost Breakdown:
Lumber – $87 (I had about 8 boards left-over and made 6 sections)
Screws – $13 (I used regular exterior wood screws)
Cushions/Pillows – $213 (this was obviously the most expensive part)
Paint – $0 (I had a whole gallon of brown exterior paint leftover from a tiny project)
(It would have cost me ~$30 had I required purchasing the paint.)
Total Cost: $313
Items I used that I already had on hand:
Wagner Power Painter Plus (Paint Sprayer) – Find it HERE
Dewalt Orbital Sander – Find it HERE
Rigid “10 Compound Miter Saw – Find It HERE
Ryobi 18V Cordless Drill (kit) – Find It HERE
Elmer’s Wood Filler – Find It HERE
Behr Exterior Satin Paint in Coffee Bean
What I prefer to do is buy 1 tool per major project and borrow everything else from neighbors and friends. This will cut your costs significantly while still allowing you to gear up your garage at your own pace making it much more likely you will acquire the tools you need in the future!
All said and done, we absolutely love it. It’s super comfortable and plenty big enough for us both to lay out completely stretched with our laptops and just relax. It will be perfect for a summer BBQ too!
Thanks, everyone!
XOXO,
Rachel
The length of the front apron is wrong for the Arm/Corner chair. It is listed as 24-1/2, but it needs to be 23″.
My husband and I have been looking to purchase patio furniture for our deck. After seeing this, we know exactly what we are getting. Wood. We re going to try this because it looks simple enough and its customizable. I’ll get to choose how I want to decorate and paint it. Plus, the price looks way better this way. Thanks for a wonderful idea. Fingers crossed we pull it off.
Have fun building it!
i just wanted to let you know this is a great idea. We had a pool deck that we neede to take down. I recalculated measurements to fit the decking and we were able to repurpose the deck! They turned out great and were very easy to put together. Thanks for a great idea!
So good to hear!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing the good news! 🙂
I was just wondering what the bottom of the chair looks like. There are no pictures of how it is assembled and I don’t want to attempt something above my knowledge base. Yours is beautiful. I am hopeful I can do this.
Thanks
There is a link to the original plans included in the post. It has nice diagrams on how to construct the seats. It is an easy project to put together and they look great.
How many 8′ 2×4″s did you buy?
Made this over the weekend and I love it! Just need to paint and put the cushions on. Thanks for all the measurement conversions!!
We did have a problem with the corner section… the long top apron and seat end(the 2 boards that go in the middle of the long back) needed to be 24 1/4. Not 22 1/2… but besides that everything was smooth sailing!
To answer some other peoples questions… we made 3 armless sections and one corner seat and used 20 1/2 96” 2x4s
The great thing about this project is that when we move and have a bigger outdoor living space we can just build more pieces to add to it… and its so simple! This was our first big building project and after everything was cut and sorted it only took us about 40 mins per section. Not bad at all.
Yay Catie! I am making one for our backyard next weekend… Thank you for stopping by!
Hi, did I hear you right!? Are these for the outdoors? I think it is tooooo Lovely for outside. I’m loving it. Great job!
This is awesome! Plus I saw the cushions at Costco today. Thank you for your post.
We got enough wood to make the cut list in your site, followed Ana White’s plans and I have to say at first I was so excited!! $35 in lumber at Lowes and I had all the cuts you listed and I would have a patio set?!!! Then in the end it was one corner piece and one chair 🙁 Going back to get more lumber lol…
Do you know the name of the fabric used to make the cushions in the picture above and what size throw pillows were used also, I’m making my own. Thanks I love the sectional, I made a partial one for my balcony.. 🙂