How to easily make your own furniture without knowing anything or learning much. Lazy hacking approach to furniture.

1. "Lego" Approach to Making
Your Own Furniture
how to make furniture
without knowing anything
or learning much

2. TL;DR
blocks+boards+screws+imagination

3. Why Do It?
brag points
cheaper
exactly to
size

4. You can make almost any furniture with:
a) blocks of simple cheap shelving (more on that later)
b) pieces of wood (cut at the store or easy saw at home)
c) fasteners (such as screws, nails, and glue)
kids love seat office desk

5. Blocks
simple cheap compact shelving
sold in multiple stores
Closetmaid Stackable
Storage Organizer,
$20 at Target ClosetMaid
Vertical organizer,
$14-$16 at Target,
HomeDepot,
$12 at Walmart
ClosetMaid Cubeicals®
2 Cube Organizer, $20
at Target
What you're looking for
 1, 2 or 3 shelf shelving
 horizontal or vertical
 usually in storage section of
the store
 under $25
 Walmart, Target,
Home Depot, Lowe's, etc

6. Boards
rectangular pieces of wood
Which wood?
 MDF & particle board are cheapest, but can be too heavy for
big projects
 Plywood is better
 Pine is cheap and light wood
How?
 Pre-cut in the lumber yard to your specifications (Home Depot,
Lowe's, OSH, etc)
 Jigsaw (a cheap & compact saw) at home

7. Fasteners
You can put pretty much anything
together with
nails glue screws
* or a combination thereof for true staying power

8. Example: Kids Love Seat
1. Put together one block (12x12x24in)
2. Set it down horizontally (24 will be the length)
3. Cut a rectangular board (24x23in)
4. Glue it to the back of the block, then use 3 screws per side to reinforce
the connection (screw wood to wood, not wood to back panel)
5. Spray paint (or not)
6. Throw small pillows or fold a blanket to form the seat
screws

9. Example: Guest Bed: Why
I needed a guest bed that would be:
a) not too expensive
b) pretty comfortable
c) temporary
(used 2-5 times a year)

10. Example: Guest Bed: What
The "Lego" Pieces Used:
 7 "blocks" I already had (you actually only need
5 for this project - 4 corners & middle)
 5 pre-cut 11x77in pine boards at Home Depot
 the nicest "rollable" IKEA queen mattress
 rug gripper at Walmart

11. Example: Guest Bed: How
1) Put together shelf blocks, set them
face down in the corners & the middle of
where the bed will be (queen size is
60x80in). Cover the backs of the blocks
with rug gripper (to prevent boards from
sliding)
2) Cover with 5 boards, and cover the
boards with rug gripper (to prevent
mattress from sliding)

12. Example: Guest Bed: How
It takes about 5 minutes to
set up and 7 minutes to
deconstruct
When the guests are not here, the bed
becomes a shallow shelving unit (with
mattress and bedding stored in the
closet)
Whoa, where did the bed go?

13. Example: Guest Bed: How
It takes about 5 minutes to
set up and 7 minutes to
deconstruct
When the guests are not here, the bed
becomes a shallow shelving unit (with
mattress and bedding stored in the
closet)
Whoa, where did the bed go?

14. Other Ideas
coffee table
set two horizontal blocks as
far apart as you need to
create a table as long as
you need, cover with a
board, screw it into the
blocks; paint or stain the
board
extend shelves
build several vertical blocks to match the
height of existing shelf unit, screw them
together vertically, set to the side of the
existing shelf (10-30 in), attach precut
board shelves (e.g., by gluing small
sticks to the sides of the existing shelf &
new vertical shelf), for stability consider
nailing a thin panel behind both units to
hold them together
couch
similar to kids love seat, except construct more blocks, e.g., a letter U
with the sides the length of one horizontal piece and the bottom of U
with 2 or 3 horizontal blocks; screw them together in the right shape;
attach a back board; cover with a board to form the seat area; top with
futon mattress and throw pillows

15. More Resources
● Community of people who hack IKEA furniture:
http://ikeahackers.net
● Ana White DIY Furniture Plans (for inspiration)
http://ana-white.com
● Your head!
Have fun!