Yep! I taught myself how to build furniture. It's a hobby that's been on my wishlist for a little over a year and I think it was these very chairs that made me want to start. I found a really cool website called www.ana-white.com and I immediately started dreaming of what I could do. She makes it look easy and doable. I caught her bug, bought a few tools and now I have furniture for my porch! Yippee!
I had to resize the original plans because they were written to fit cushions from Restoration Hardware. Lord knows I don't have the cash for that, so I resized the chairs to fit cushions purchased from Walmart. (See dimensions and cut lists at the bottom of the post)
I resized the loveseat and used Walmart cushions for the seat backs and a crib mattress for the seat.
I picked up fabric from JoAnn's (50% off end-of-season outdoor fabric. Wee!) and recovered the cushions so that it would all match nicely. Mom and Dad came into town last week (so fun!). Mom recovered the cushions for the loveseat. She did a perfect job, as always. I always realize I still have a lot to learn when I watch her sew.
My Dad is a fabulous woodworker. He gave me so many great tips about using my table saw and how to prevent splitting the wood. Loved spending time with him.
The chair design does not yield particularly sturdy chairs. Others had worried about it in the comments of the plans. And I experienced the cause for concern - after a couple of uses I had both a chair arm and a loveseat arm pop off the front. That's not good. Mom and Dad brainstormed with me and suggested some metal brackets to help hold things into place. We added "L" brackets to all of the arms.
We also added "mending braces" to the backs of all the back/seat joints. It seems to add a sufficient level of sturdiness.
I also added three more cleats to the seat of the love seat. It originally called for a cleat on both ends, but the boards really bowed in the middle. I added three 2x4s throughout to provide a total of five cleats for the seat.
I'm a bit wary still about the sturdiness of the chairs (as any chair builder is, I'm sure), but they look and feel great. Here's to hoping all of the concern is just in my head.
The old porch was such an eyesore! I hated it! While the parents were in town we tore down the screen and old railings. We still need to add the top of the railings and add some paint.
Nevertheless, I'm ecstatic about this new space. It's perfect for quiet mornings, evenings and dinnertime entertaining. It just might be my new favorite part of the house.
So, for those who may care, here are my revised cut lists:
Bristol Lounge Chair using Walmart Cushions
Seat Cushion - 24" x 24" x 5.5"
Back Cushion - 21" x 21"x 4.5"
Two 1x8 @ 21" (front and back of seat)
Two 1x4 @ 9.25" (back legs)
Two 1x4 @ 21" (front legs)
Two 1x8 @ 24" (sides of seat)
Four 1x3 @ 2" (leg attachments)
Two 1x4 @ 26.5" (sides of back)
Six 1x4 @ 21" (back slats) - .75" between slats
Two 1x4 @ 28 1/8" (arms)
Two 2x2 @ approx 24" (cleats)
Six 1x4 @ 26.5" (seat slats) - .6" between slats
Bristol Loveseat using Walmart Cushions and Crib Mattress
Seat Cushion - 27" x 52" x 5.5"
Back Cushion - 21" x 21" x 4.5"
Two 1x8 @ 45" (front and back of seat)
Two 1x4 @ 9.25" (back legs)
Two 1x4 @ 21" (front legs)
Two 1x8 @ 26.75" (sides of seat)
Four 1x3 @ 2" (leg attachments)
Two 1x4 @ 26.25" (sides of back)
Six 1x4 @ 20.75" (back slats) - .5" between slats
Two 1x4 @ 30 1/8" (arms)
Two 2x2 @ approx 26.75" (side cleats)
Three 2x4 @ approx 26.75" (middle cleats)
Seven 1x4 @ approx 50.5" (seat slats) - .5" between slats
