DIY Outdoor Bench: Stylish and Simple on a Budget
Build a stylish DIY outdoor bench with this easy tutorial! Perfect for your garden, patio, or backyard, and budget-friendly too. No nails or screws required!
Skills Required: Beginner. You’ll learn how to make a bench the easiest way possible. I believe the most difficult part of this DIY project is using a table saw, which isn’t really hard (take your time!).
Every porch or outdoor space needs a bench, at least that’s what Steve and I decided the other day. Actually Steve has had the concept for this beautiful bench in his head for a while.
He had looked around at garden benches and wanted to make something without screws and hardware . . . completely with adhesive.
Yet he had some other qualifications as well – the bench had to be modern, inexpensive, load bearing (no falling apart please), and look great. We also wanted it to be an easy woodworking project so anyone could do it.
This DIY outdoor bench project meets all those qualifications and more!
Here’s how this bench came about. It was quite a coincidence that we were flipping through a Williams Sonoma Home catalog the other day and found this Larnaca Outdoor Coffee Table that looks somewhat similar . .
yet has one BIG difference. The Larnaca coffee table costs $1,295, while Steve’s version is $35. Now, ours is outdoor seating while the Larnaca is technically a coffee table, but the idea is the same. You can always modify the size of this DIY outdoor bench to fit your desired specifications.
So here’s how to build this bench, with a finished size of 16″ high x 40″ long x 13.5″ deep. You’ll find that building a bench is much easier than you think! Here’s how we built this piece of furniture.
Gather These Supplies
- Regular 2 x 4s – pine, not pressure treated (see Cut List below; also you may want to use pressure treated wood if your bench is going to be exposed to the elements, though it is more expensive)
- Exterior grade Liquid Nails or Titebond III (or other construction adhesive made for wood)
- Bar clamps
- Thompson’s WaterSeal and Stain (Nutmeg)
- Paintbrush
- Rag
- Table saw
- T-square – or something to make sure edges are square
- Hand held belt sander with a 80-grit and 120-grit
- Sanding blocks – 80-grit and 120-grit
- Surface protection – cardboard box, tarp, etc
- Optional – drill and four feet if you don’t want the bench to touch the patio or ground directly
Cut List – you might notice that the measurements don’t quite add up – this is because the ends were milled off and sanded to get the resulting finished size bench.
- 33.5″ long (five pieces)
- 40″ long (four pieces)
- 16″ long (ten pieces)
- 12.75″ long (eight pieces)
We already had a rain here so I also wanted to show you how well the stain works – the water just pools on top and comes right off . . . no soaking into the wood!
We hope you enjoy our DIY outdoor bench! The printable tutorial is below. Also I keep getting questions about the planters – I did make those as well! Find them here.
DIY Bench
Equipment
- Bar clamps
- 1 Belt sander
- 1 T-Square
Materials
- Regular 2 x 4s – pine see cut list in notes
- Wood glue we used Titebond III
- Thompson's WaterSeal
- Rag(s)
- Sanding block 80-grit and 120-grit
- Cardboard box or other surface protection
Video
Instructions
- Using the table saw, “mill” the 2″ edges of every piece of wood so that you get a very square edge (as opposed to the rounded edges that come on a 2×4). This will give your bench a more modern look.
- Cut the pieces of wood according to the cut list in the notes. Keep in mind, these measurements produced a finished bench that is 16″ high x 40″ long x 13.5″ deep . . . AND a little extra was left for the milling and sanding process. If you want to customize the size of your bench, you’ll need to adjust these cut lengths.
- Use your pieces to create a box joint. Place a 40″ piece of wood on the ground, with a 33.5″ piece in the center. On each end, you’ll place a 16″ long piece perpendicular to the other two pieces, as shown in the photo above. Make sure everything is even and as flush as possible (and use a t-square or other item if necessary to for a right angle), then glue into place and clamp.
- Add Liquid Nails to the wood, setting it up in your pattern as shown in the final image then adding clamps to hold it together. Remember that you’re doing a modified box joint, so you’ll have one long piece of wood, then one short piece, then long, then short, and so on.
- Once your bench is full assembled, keep it clamped and let it dry overnight.
- Undo the clamps and sand with the belt sander to get everything even. Don’t forget to sand with the grain! Sand until it’s completely smooth and flat. Do this on the legs, too. Then wipe away all of the sanding dust.
- Use stain to paint the bench. Applying stain is relatively easy. You can use a brush, paint it on, then wipe it off. Seal with Thompson's Water Seal.
- Add furniture feet to keep your bench off of the ground. Drill a hole, insert the foot, and repeat on all four corners of the bench bottom.
Notes
- 33.5″ long (five pieces)
- 40″ long (four pieces)
- 16″ long (ten pieces)
- 12.75″ long (eight pieces)
- organize the pieces of wood without gluing FIRST so that you understand how the bench goes together;
- begin at one end of your bench and start assembling with the Liquid Nails, using the clamps as placeholders as you go along;
- continue add Liquid Nails, wood, and increase the size of your box clamps until the bench is fully assembled
What do you think? If you have any similar projects or if you’ve done something like this and would like to share your tips, we’d love to hear them in the comments! Thank you!
If you love DIY benches, I’ve got another one you’re going to want to check out: Crate and Barrel Inspired Entry Bench. AND if you want to see another inspired knockoff we did – check out our West Elm DIY coffee table. We made it for $45 . . . original price of $999!
The instructions were great; I applied the stain last night… I will give it a few days to dry before adding the sealer. Lots & lots of belt & orbital sanding.
Glad it worked – thank you for the kind words Floyd!
Love this! Hope to build it in the near future. Love the planters next it too! Are those diy too?
Hi Michelle! Thank you for the kind comment! Yes they are, that post is here:
https://diycandy.com/paver-planter/
Hello from Greece!!!
Very nice bench! I was wondering about the number of boards you said you used.
If i sum up the cuttings and if i’m correct…you used 6 2×4 8ft and not 4 as Steve said.
Correct me if i’m calculating something wrong cause we use metric system not inches and feet.
8ft=96inches?
How did you cut the boards? For example did you cut one board 33.5, 40 and 16?
Can you provide me with the exact cutting per board?
Thank you very much!!
Hi Giannis! I’ll double check the measurements but here’s the cut list:
33.5″ long (five pieces), 40″ long (four pieces) – for the top
16″ long (ten pieces), 12.75″ long (eight pieces) – for the legs
That’s exactly what we used and we confirmed it!
Hello again!
Maybe i didn’t make myself clear!
I see the cut list, but can you provide the cutting per board?
I mean the board is 96 inches, is this correct?
If i sum up all the pieces (one each) is 102.25 inches
So how did you cut each board?
Thank you one more time!
Hi Giannis! It’s hard to answer that question because depending on where you go, the boards come in different lengths. You need about 50ft of wood total. You can get 2 x 4s here in 8 foot, 10 foot, 12 foot, 16 foot lengths. Which does your store have? Honestly I’d take the cut list to the store with you and have someone there help you out based on the board lengths. If I give you the cuts for 8 foot boards, you could go to the store and only 10 foot boards are available and then it’s no help 😀
OK understood. BUT…if you’re saying about 50ft, then there is no way you used 4 8ft’ 2×4…this is 32ft correct?
Maybe you used 4 12ft?
Where exactly are the 12.75″ used? or is that just leftover?
This website should help you: https://jonathan.overholt.org/projects/cutlist
I got below after selecting all lumber upto 10feet.
Board Count:
1x 48″ (4′)
5x 120″ (10′)
120″ board = [2] 40″ + [1] 33.5″ + [2] 40″ + 0.375″ cut losses + 6.125″ excess
212
120″ board = [2] 40″ + [1] 33.5″ + [2] 40″ + 0.375″ cut losses + 6.125″ excess
212
120″ board = [1] 33.5″ + [1] 33.5″ + [3] 16″ + [1] 33.5″ + 0.5″ cut losses + 3″ excess
1131
120″ board = [3] 16″ + [3] 16″ + [3] 16″ + [3] 16″ + [3] 16″ + [3] 16″ + [3] 16″ + 0.875″ cut losses + 7.125″ excess
3333333
120″ board = [3] 16″ + [4] 12.75″ + [4] 12.75″ + [4] 12.75″ + [4] 12.75″ + [4] 12.75″ + [4] 12.75″ + [3] 16″ + 1″ cut losses + 10.5″ excess
34444443
48″ board = [4] 12.75″ + [4] 12.75″ + 0.25″ cut losses + 22.25″ excess
44
Never give this cut list to my wife or she will know I bought more lumber than I knew I needed again. One piece at at time and I’ll have that second garage before she knows it. 🙂
The wood alone would cost around 360€ (402$) in Europe. And I did check the price for (cheap) pine wood. Wood seems incredibly cheap in America Oo
Hi D! Yes, it’s very inexpensive here. Sorry that it’s so expensive there! Is there another substitute you could use that would be cheaper? Another suggestion – recycled wood from pallets, etc. I don’t know how readily available that is there either :/
No way. Where do you live? In Denmark i Can buy The Wood for €27
One of the pics below step six looks like there is some wood filler or putty being used at the joints on top. Is that correct? If so, did you stain the putty with the nutmeg stain? I did not see any listed in the supply list. Great job with simple materials!
Hi Scott – that was just to fill a few accidental boo-boos in the learning process . . . you shouldn’t need it! But if you do, yes, you can stain it 😀 Thank you!
just want to say this is ‘freakin’ awesome. And yours looks much better than the inspiration picture. Now if only I could get someone to make me one!
Thanks for the information, my wife and built it with some left over cedar and pine, turned out pretty good. needed to let the liquid nails cure longer than overnight, as began sanding and it came part, so re-clapmed and let it set a few days and all was good. cutting the the ends of the boards with a chop saw would have been great, instead i used a hand circular saw, not so good. had to do some extra sanding as the cut not square. as usual the right tool for the job saves time and work. ripping the sides as seen in the pictures posted (blade close to guide) does seem akward and not as safe as one of the other readers pointed out. i read that after i already did it the way pictured. i hope those who try to build this can learn from a few of my mistakes. i finished with cabots natural color 3000 deck and siding stain. sanded with 220 and sttel wool between coats, applied 4 coats and really brings out the natural wood colors, great stuff. enjoy
I’m making this today and integrating some of jay’s suggestions. love it! I’m going to make a matching console table, both for our contemporary entryway. 🙂
Thanks for this post! My husband and I just made this as a console table behind our couch. Everything is clamped and ready for sanding tomorrow. May I ask what stain brand and color did you use? The color would be perfect for our family room.
Julia, I know it’s almost a yeah and a half later but I was also looking at using this for a console table behind the couch and had a couple of questions…
How tall did you make yours? Did you have to do anything extra to compensate for the added height or was it still stable?
Thank you!
You’ve done a lovely job on this one guys. I really like that chunky look. I’m often amazed & appaled at the prices some people / companies ask for furnishings like this. A very good tutorial & with the extra tips from your other readers anyone can safely make this. I’ve Pinned this for future reference as I make all sorts of wooden stuff myself, benches among them, just not so chunky looking…… not untill now that is. Wish you luck with all your future DIY’S & thanks for a great job 😉