Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

If you’re the type to prefer DIY projects to store-bought solutions, you might have fun building some of your own furniture.

There are lots of folks out there willing to sell you plans, so you don’t have to have a design background (or do any math on your own) in order to get a nice looking coffee table, bench, cedar chest, etc. out of the deal. Another perk of furniture you build yourself is that it’ll be made from solid wood rather than the veneer-covered plywood stuff you get from big box stores.

If you want to build your own furniture to save money, though, that can be tough unless you already have access to some good tools. Rather than buying a garage full of power tools, you might see if there’s a real woodworking shop in town that lets people rent space and use their commercial-grade planers, and bandsaws, and the like.

If you do have access to tools and a good lumber yard, then all you need is a plan you can follow. Furniture plans usually run about $10-$20.

Rockler Woodworking and Hardware has a section of books and plans you can browse through. If you see something you like, why not make it?