This post contains affiliate links. For more info see disclosures.
Happy March everyone! With the weather warming up in New England I CANNOT wait for spring! That is if we stop getting snow just for it to melt the next day 🙁 It’s incredibly frustrating, but I DO live in New England so I SHOULD be used to it…but I’m not!
Why do I love spring!?!?! Because it means fresh air, spring cleaning, new buds on the trees, and MOST of all that summer is on its way. Spring can be warm here, but can also be quite muddy. Summer always brings me joy, because I’m like a salamander basking in the sun 🙂 Summers here are special because everyone loves being outside with their favorite company enjoying each other and the weather (believe me when I say it doesn’t last long!).
While warmer days are coming and winter is coming to a close, what better way to daydream than with a little DIY inspiration for your deck or patio?!?!? These sofas are PERFECT for warm weather gatherings – they can fit a bunch of people, are easy on the wallet, don’t take a ton of time to construct, AND can be tailored to your exact needs! What have you got to lose!?!?
When my husband and I moved into our first house we had high hopes and expectations for all the projects we were going to do to make our house a home. No one could contain this girl’s crazy Pinterest addiction! One of those projects included tackling the backyard. Unfortunately, we never were able to enjoy our yard: ( Our backyard had a man-made river flowing through it (NOT intentional), we couldn’t fence it in for the pups due to the water issues, and we didn’t have a deck or patio because we were trying to “save money”. Eight months after moving in, none of our original plans had been started and we were working all the time just to pay for other homeownership expenses. At this point we were also having serious conversations about whether or not we wanted to sell the house. When we finally decided to cut ties and find a more established home one of our top priorities was a large yard with potential (and no water problems). The dogs needed an area that could be fenced in and we wanted some sort of entertaining space that we could gather and grill on. Once we found our new home, I became a Pinterest junkie once again! The difference? Our new home now allows us enough time and money to do these projects!
So getting down to it – have you ever heard of Ana White? If not and you love DIY projects you are seriously missing out! You’ve got to check out her website – you’ll be mesmerized and entertained for hours! Initially I was going to make this sectional, but I thought making two individual sofas would be better overall in the event that I wished to do some rearranging. For her entire step-by-step tutorial with drawings click here.
This post contains affiliate links. For more info see disclosures.
What You’ll Need (this is per sofa)
11 – 2x4x10″ (you can use cedar if you want – I used regular 2×4’s and used waterproof deck stain to treat it)
2.5″ self-tapping exterior decking screws
wood glue
sandpaper
sander
measuring tape
mini pocket hole jig (I struggled with buying this due to it being a uni-tasker, but it’s seriously the best thing ever and so worth the money! I’ve used it for so many projects!)
Cut list
9 – 2×4″ at 72″
13- 2×4″ at 25.5″
2 – 2×4″ at 28.5″
Some words of advise for this project – cut all your boards ahead of time. This project does not take a lot of time and goes faster with all of the boards pre-cut. When working with 2×4’s it helps to pre-drill your holes to prevent the wood from splitting. It will also be easier and go more smoothly when you get to drilling in the screws. If you have two drills, you can have both set up (one for pre-drilling, and one for drilling) so you don’t have to keep changing the bit.
If you bought cedar lumber and don’t plan on treating it then all you need is to assemble. If you are like me and wanted a certain look and went with the cheaper lumber, it is way easier to paint or stain the legs and seat framing before the seat slats are installed. It’s much harder to treat the seat framing once the seat slats have been installed. I used Behr Premium Semi-Transparent Waterproof Stain and Sealer in chocolate. It’s great that it’s waterproof so the wood is protected and when it rains it dries quite quickly!
Since it was middle of summer/early fall when I made these last year, I got these cushions from Home Depot for super cheap (I think it was over 30% off!?!?!) and saved some money!
I bought lighter colored cushions to contrast with the wood and to be able to add some color with accessories!
Here are both sofas together! Hopefully soon I will have a vision board to share with you for the rest of the deck. We are hoping to add some additional lighting, an outdoor area rug, coffee table, and some more pillows! Maybe even a planter (if I can keep it alive)! Stay tuned for that post!
What projects are you excited for this spring or summer? I’ve definitely got a bunch I’d love to accomplish!
