DIY Outdoor Furniture Ideas

Haven't found the right furniture for your outdoor space yet? Curious to know where to get started and how? We have the answers for you. From tutorial videos to top projects, we have ideas to inspire you and get you started making your own outdoor furniture. Be sure to follow the popular discussions happening right now on the topic.

Folding Table Makeover With Retique It Liquid Wood

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Outdoor Furniture Basics

Choose wisely: Be sure to only buy chairs and tables that were designed to be outdoors. Don’t purchase items that will mold or get blown away.
Measure up: Measure the terrace or deck space before buying furniture to avoid getting chairs and tables that look too small or big in the space.
Set your intention: Do you intend to relax or is it a place for barbecues? Decide how you wish to utilize the space and purchase the appropriate furniture.
Color and materials: Earthy colors blend well in a garden and don’t reveal dirt. Opt for easy-to-clean materials which won’t get damaged by wind or rain.
Stay tidy: Especially in the fall and winter, clean and wipe your furniture on a regular basis to prevent leaves and mold from accumulating.

More Outdoor Ideas

Top Projects for Outdoor Furniture

Looking for ideas for DIY outdoor furniture? Find your inspiration here.

Folding Table Makeover With Retique It Liquid Wood

This post is sponsored by Retique It. All opinions are my own.My oh my I never thought I would be using a product like this! From chalk paint to milk paint to white wash, I feel like I've used it all. Then I was introduced to Retique It. This stuff is so cool! Who would have thought you could blend actual wood into a paint product. Let me show you how I used it with a folding table makeover.Every day there are new paint products on the market. Friends, this one is different. When the folks at Retique It reached out and wanted me to create a project using their liquid wood, I figured I would makeover an old dresser. But the more I thought about it, the more I decided I wanted to transform a non wood surface into a real wood surface.Hence the folding table makeover...Where do we start?Let me show you the "before" picture of my folding table.

Lindsey

DIY Bucket A/C

Upcycle a cooler into a DIY A/C.Please take a minute to click here to sign up for the Mother Daughter Projects weekly newsletter. You'll get notification about our new projects and what is up and coming.Like us, you've probably had this project pinned for some time. Anyone who has ever worked in a hot garage, in summer, in Florida knows that even a tiny hint of cold air is welcome relief! I wanted to try the project but didn't want to go to the expense and effort of ordering the needed styrofoam bucket liner that the project required. I was on the lookout for something that would eliminate the need for the liner. As luck would have it, I found this insulated vertical drink cooler that would be perfect for only $2 at a yard sale. I already had the needed plastic tubing, fan, and hole saw cutter so the expense for this project was minimal!

Mother Daughter Projects

Landscaping Project

Landscaping Project for picnic tables. I was tired of moving the picnic tables every time I had to mow. So, I came up with this project. It's easy to do and beautiful.

Melody Drinkwater Wagner

How to Make a DIY Pool Noodle Cooler For Your Swimming Pool

Relaxing in your pool and getting thirsty? No need to get out. Just fill this DIY pool noodle cooler with drinks and snacks!We want to help you DIY, so some of the materials in this post are linked to sellers. Just so you know, Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.

Alicia W

How to Easily Make DIY Pool Chairs For Sitting & Paddling

If you've ever sat by the edge of a pool, your back begins to hurt after a while. Ladies (or men in Speedos), we all know how the seat of our swimsuits gets those little pullers in them... so here's the perfect poolside solution!Here's how to make DIY pool chairs that allow you to dangle your feet in the water:

Alicia W

11 Pictures of Crazy Cool Uses for Tree Stumps

We don't know what it is about tree stumps that we love so much - maybe the natural texture, the joy of reusing materials, or the fact that they're completely free. Whatever the reason, we LOVE them, and we know you do too, which is why we collected some inspiring and crazy cool pictures of tree stump upcycles that you'd better not miss! 1. Tree Stump Planter

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Stained Glass Patio Table for Under $25

I found this glass topped table at a flea market for $5.00. I liked the height but it was too plain - it needed to be DIY-ed!

Alicia W

How to Build a Portable Slide-on Railing Bar Top / Counter

I have seen the portable railing buffet counter tops (goodness that is a mouthful! What would you call this?) floating around Pinterest for some time and I have been itchin’ to build one. I went out to buy wood and came back home empty handed because wood is expensive and I wanted to make sure that this project was a keeper before I invested money in some pretty boards. So this is my Beta project or my rough draft. Cheap wood, cheap paint and had a total cash outlay of $5. The cheap spray paint was $3 and a $2 package of screws, those two things were the only out of pocket expenses that I incurred to make this project.

Stacy Davis

Free(ish) Pool Bar Stool

Hi all! I made a stool from leftover wood and fabric I had. I am not sharing how I built the stool because it is no big deal : 4 legs, a seat and some cross bars. What I want to show you, is how it went from very ordinary to pretty nice and luxurious, well... for a deck!! :)

[re]FɄB19

Build a Pallet Sectional - Pallet Furniture DIY

You can find different creations with pallets all over the internet. From shelves, to tables, to chairs, to whatever your mind can think of. I wanted patio furniture, but did not want to spend a ton of money for it. So, we decided to jump on the pallet furniture band wagon with this 2 piece pallet sectional.I hope you enjoy this Pallet Furniture DIY

Angela East

Folding Table Makeover With Retique It Liquid Wood

Lindsey

DIY Bucket A/C

Mother Daughter Projects

Landscaping Project

Landscaping Project for picnic tables. I was tired of moving the picnic tables every time I had to mow. So, I came up with this project. It's easy to do and beautiful.

Melody Drinkwater Wagner

How to Make a DIY Pool Noodle Cooler For Your Swimming Pool

Alicia W

How to Easily Make DIY Pool Chairs For Sitting & Paddling

Alicia W

11 Pictures of Crazy Cool Uses for Tree Stumps

Hometalk Recommends

Stained Glass Patio Table for Under $25

I found this glass topped table at a flea market for $5.00. I liked the height but it was too plain - it needed to be DIY-ed!

Alicia W

How to Build a Portable Slide-on Railing Bar Top / Counter

Stacy Davis

Free(ish) Pool Bar Stool

[re]FɄB19

Build a Pallet Sectional - Pallet Furniture DIY

Angela East

Outdoor Furniture Videos

DIY outdoor furniture in video tutorial format. This is what you've been looking for.

Outdoor Table Using Pavers!

This is the EASIEST concrete table top ever! The whole build only cost $35 and we use it constantly!

Kelsey | A Dabbled Dwelling

Folding Chair Upcycle

This post was transcribed by a member of the Hometalk editorial team from the original HometalkTV episode.The next time you see a folding chair by the curb, grab it! You can turn it into the perfect game-day chair.

Mitch Couch

New Life for an Old Chair

I had an Adirondack chair which really needed help. I was going to paint it then I had another idea.

Alicia W

I Built a Fire Table Out of a Recycled Wine Barrel and Wire Spool.

I wanted to surprise my family with a unique gift so I built an outdoor table from a recycled wine barrel and wire spool. The catch was I integrated a propane burner into the project to produce a fire table the whole family could enjoy on those cool nights. Follow along and you too can build something unique like this.

Mitch Couch

Hometalkers' Favorite DIY Outdoor Furniture Projects

We've gathered our best outdoor furniture projects. Check them out!

Broken Patio Chair Rescue!!

After a long winter, the snow finally melted enough to assess the condition of the heavy wrought iron patio set that had remained outdoors.

Scarlett Butler

Herb Garden in Patio Table

This easy table modification all started because we live in cow country and where you have cows, you have flies. They drive me crazy in the summer so I am always looking for ways to deter them. The other day I was at OSH and the sales lady said that most herbs are a natural fly repellent. That got me thinking and this project was born. Now the jury is still out if this works on the flies but I love the end results anyway.

Michelle Kirstein

Faux Stained Glass: Pond in a Table

I turned my rusty old patio table into a piece of colorful art I can enjoy with my morning coffee. My beloved old table was damaged by the wind, salt and moisture of the sea near my Jaffa home, and as if that wasn't enough, it got a lot of wear from my roommates as well… it was time to make it chic again!

Michal

Upcycle an Old Patio Umbrella to a Beautiful Painted One!

We had an old faded umbrella that looked bad, but was structurally strong. We didn't want to throw it out, but knew that it definitely needed an update. With paint and time, we transformed it into a beautiful statement piece for our patio. See more pictures and details on my blog.

Ashley@Biggerthanthethreeofus

DIY Crate Stools for Toy Storage

I am excited to share with you my most recent DIY project that turned milk crates into some of the most functional little things in my house. I found these old black crates off Craigslist for $6. There are six of them, they are all identical. I brought them outside and pressure washed the grime, stickiness, and everything else off of them.

Welcome to the Woods

Changing Table Turned Potting Bench

FB Marketplace is my new favorite places to score FREE furniture. You wouldn’t believe some of the things you can come across that just need a little TLC. I recently came across this changing table its owners were ready to trash and I knew this would make the perfect new up-cycling challenge!

Rachel | Faith Hope Home

Broken Patio Chair Rescue!!

After a long winter, the snow finally melted enough to assess the condition of the heavy wrought iron patio set that had remained outdoors.

Scarlett Butler

Herb Garden in Patio Table

Michelle Kirstein

Faux Stained Glass: Pond in a Table

Michal

New Outdoor Furniture Projects

Browse our new DIY outdoor furniture projects and get inspired.

How to Build and Style a Stunning DIY Outdoor Coffee Table

In search of a simple and hassle-free way to create an inviting outdoor seating area, I came across this brilliant DIY outdoor coffee table idea constructed with just two items!This post was transcribed by a member of the Hometalk editorial team from the original HometalkTV episode.

Sarah Vanderkooy

Wicker Dresser Makeover

This is the best kind of challenge, staging for a client using what they have.This dark wicker dresser was in great condition, it just needed some love.

Mihaela Parker

How To: DIY Epoxy Table With LED Lights

This project is sponsored by Upstart Epoxy, however, the thoughts & opinions are always my own. I only share products & companies I absolutely love with yall! Build A Custom Table Top Using Epoxy Resin & LED Lights Y’all this has got to be one of the coolest DIY’s I have ever done!And it all started because of a broken patio tabletop.This gorgeous patio set was purchased a little while back & the glass on the coffee table portion completely shattered, along with my heart.Lucky for me my DIY partner in crime decided this was a great opportunity to kick this outdoor furniture up a notch with a DIY table top using wood, epoxy, & wait for it…..LED lights!

Lia with Southern Yankee DIY

How to Make an Outdoor Work Table Using 1x4's

I haven't been doing many craft projects in the past couple of years. My old work table was convert to a bar table at our outdoor sports bar. So I thought I'd just replace the top on another table that I had built and left sitting outside.It just looked like it had been weather and the top needed to be replaced. But, OH NO, nothing is that simple in Georgia.When I started removing the top of the table I realized it is now the home to thousands of termites. I HATE TERMITES!!!So I had to rebuild a whole new table for me to start crafting again.

Dawn @ Designs By Gaddis

Unicorn Spit Wood Grain Technique on a Picnic Table (video Tutorial)

How to Unicorn Spit on a picnic table. Get amazing results!If your a beginner I would advise looking into practice pieces before starting a project like this as it can take up to a 3 weeks to complete.Unicorn Spit is considered a gel stain and glaze in ONE bottle. And believe me the bottle might be small, but it can be used in so many ways and can last over a year depending on how you use it!First if you want this look you have to torch the wood. I was scared of a torch for awhile so I had my husband show me how to use it to get over my fear. It's ok to go back and look it over the next day and either sand or torch more. It's kinda hard to do it all in one day .....my hand starts hurting from holding the torch and I didn't want to drop it!