DIY Wood Furniture to Use in Your Home

With limited store hours still lingering throughout the country, hitting up your favorite furniture store to nab those missing pieces your home so desperately needs might still be proving tricky. If you can’t quite align your schedule to the hit-and-miss open doors at the store, it could be time to stretch those DIY wings a bit and see what you can create all by yourself (or maybe with a little help).  

The Shelf

The easiest first step into DIY furniture. Make-your-own-shelving can take many forms, but the very simplest is by using premade brackets and attaching a basic board. Brackets come in various styles and sizes, so select whatever aligns with your home aesthetic. Next, you’ll need a properly sized board to fit your intended space. Take measurements to determine how many brackets you will need to properly support your shelf, as longer boards may require a third mid-way brace to hold the weight. Finally, decide whether you prefer a rough, unfinished look (the fastest approach) or something more polished. Paints and stains are available in any color you can imagine, so the choices are truly endless.

The Table

When it comes to DIY tables, the quickest way to a new coffee, dining or end table is to find one that is already built. This is where garage sales and Facebook Marketplace come in handy. Oftentimes, you can find tables on the cheap or even free of charge if you are willing to transport. Peruse your local yard sales or social media channels to find the right size to fit your needs.

Once you have the new-to-you piece in hand, check it over for any required repairs (broken boards, loose screws, etc.) and complete the necessary fixes. Next, you will want to sand the furniture down using either a sanding pad or power sander depending on the piece’s size and condition. If the current paint or stain is not able to be sanded away, use a paint stripper to remove any remaining color. Once your table is prepped and ready to receive a new coat, determine if you would prefer oil vs water-based stain and select the appropriate color. If you are not interested in seeing the grain of the wood and prefer to use paint instead, review The Spruce’s rundown on paint types to choose what works best for your project.

The Living Wall

Bringing the outdoors in has become all the more necessary in these days of quarantine, and completing a living wall is one of the coolest ways to green up your living space. For a simple and quick fix, utilize an old wood pallet. Good Housekeeping offers a short video providing step-by-step direction on how to do so. Once you’ve located the pallet, all you need is landscaping fabric, a staple gun and potting soil to get ready. You will want to select plants that are conducive to the vertical space the planter provides, and respond well to either the shade or sun that exists in the location you have chosen. These walls can not only serve as fresh décor, they can also provide nourishment as various edible plants thrive in this type of planter, as well.

The Bookshelf

With all this extra time at home, a lot of us have filled those hours by reading, and now all those additional books need a good home. Enter the DIY bookshelf. There are a couple easy options for quick turnarounds, namely the wood crate bookshelf or the spool shelf. Both of these builds utilize existing products that can be easily manipulated to form unique furniture for your home. DIY always goes faster when the project starts out half-way done, so either of these choices are a great bet for those with limited skills or time.

For those of you who feel confident in building from the ground up, though, there are plenty of vloggers out there who can show you how. Check out Shanty 2 Chic or Ana White for DIY plans and step-by-step instructional videos to light your way to a new bookshelf or any other piece of furniture you can imagine.

As the world begins to open back up, you may very well find yourself longing for the comfort of home again sooner rather than later. Why not take some time while you still have it to spruce up your living space with one of these affordable DIY masterpieces you’ll absolutely love coming home to?