Hey there! Living in Texas, Fall is the BEST time for us to spend outdoors! One of the big reasons we picked the house plans that we did, when we built our house, was the balcony! I dreamed of a giant comfy sectional – the kind I see in expensive magazines – and of course my goal has been to build it! I finished it just in time – the weather has finally cooled off and this space is becoming my FAVORITE place to spend time!

DIY-Outdoor-Wood-Sectional

Not every space is built the same so I wanted to come up with a seating solution that could fit all spaces! I came up with this modular sectional that is SO easy to build.  Every piece is basically a box and you can add a backrest or leave it off and there is a corner piece to create a sectional!

Today, I’m sharing the basic box seat with the optional backrest and of course, I have the step-by-step tutorial for you to follow as well as FREE Printable Plans!  You can click HERE or the image below for the free plans!

click-for-free-plans

*You can find the plans and tutorial for the corner piece HERE!

Now, let’s get to it! I built this for outside so I chose cedar boards.

Ryobi-18v-miter-saw

To start, I used my Ryobi 18V miter saw to cut every piece. This is a great saw that runs off of the same batteries as all of our favorite Ryobi 18V tools. It’s small enough to move around with you and doesn’t take up very much space. Whitney and I actually used it on a hotel balcony when we had to cut pieces for a class (shhhhhh 😉 )

seat-cuts

I made the 2×3 cuts for all of the boxes that I wanted to build.

drill-pocket-holes

Then, I used my Kreg Jig K5 to drill pocket holes (you can find the Kreg Jig HERE on Amazon). You can refer to the plans for the pocket hole location and you can see them in the cuts picture above.

assemble-seat-frame
seat-frame
add-center-support

I attached the frame of the seat first,then added the center support piece.

attach-legs-to-seat-frame

To finish the seat frame, I just attached the legs.

add-legs

Frame = DONE 🙂 Easy enough!! Now for the slats!

attaching-slide-slats

I began attached the side slats first.  To make spacing easy, I used scrap 1/4″ pieces as spacers.  Start at the top of the seat making the top slat flush with the 2×3 frame.  I attached them with Gorilla Wood Glue and my Ryobi 18 gauge Airstrike Nailer (1 1/4″ nails for this).

side-slats-attached

Work your way to the bottom and you will have about a 1/2″ gap between the last slat and the end ground.

attach-front-slats

The front and back slats are easy.  No spacers needed, just line the slats up with the side slats, glue and nail in to place.

attach-end-top-slats

The top slats are last! I attached the front and back slats first, making them flush with the front and back slats (you will cover the slats so that you only see the top slats).

attach-top-slats

I used my 3/4″ cedar scraps to space the rest of the slats out and attached them with wood glue and my nailer. Nail these into the center support, as well.

seats-without-backs

Here are the assembled boxes! (The corner box is a different size that I will share plans to next week). At this point, you can leave it as-is or add backrests!

I opted for backrests 😉

back-posts

I cut the posts first

attach-back-posts

Then attached them to the back of each box with 2 1/2″ spax screws. The screws will go into the 2×3 legs inside the box.

attach-slats-to-back-posts

Then, I added my slats.  Begin at the top of the backrest and attache with wood glue and 1/4″ nails. I used 3/4″ spacers and attached 5 slats.

back-rest-attached

That’s it!!!! I wanted to keep the natural cedar look so I just applied 2 coats of Varathane Spar Varnish all over and called it a day 🙂

how-to-build-an-outdoor-sectional

I found a great deal on deep seat cushions at target.com.  I used my Red Card so I saved 5% after the sale price and got free shipping. I did design the seats based on the cushion measurements but they are pretty standard measurements and should fit a variety of cushions.  Just make sure to check dimensions if you choose different cushions and modify the plans accordingly. You can see the cushions that I purchased HERE.

diy-outdoor-sectional

I have mine set up to have two boxes create a coffee table that can double as ottomans

DIY-Outdoor-Modular-Seating

or they can be arranged to create a chaise lounge end

DIY-Outdoor-Seating

or this set up 🙂

DIY-Outdoor-Couch

or this!

DIY-Outdoor-Chaise-Lounge

You could even create an individual chaise lounge, or two, for a small space!

more-modular-seating-options

There are so many possibilities, even without the corner piece!

how-to-build-an-outdoor-sectional

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this space now! And, if I get bored with it I can always rearrange things;) This seating works great with our without cushions and another cool thing about this type of seating is that you can build a little to start and add to it as your budget allows! I’ll be back next week to share the corner piece plans!

Happy Building!

Ashley and Whitney Blog post signature
Become a VIP Insider
Stay up-to-date on all the new project, free plans and new products available for you!

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

82 Comments

  1. Hello, Thank you for this great design. I’m pretty sure I’m going to try it but I don’t see the dimensions for each box. I may have missed it but I want to measure my space and I’m thinking each is 2’x3′?? Can you direct me to the overall measurements, not just the cut of each piece of wood please? Thank you!

  2. Hello! We are looking at making this– I was wondering how many of the modular boxes the quantity of materials listed in the plans make– was that just for 1 box?

  3. Your page is so filled with ads these days its almost unbearable. I mean I understand you get revenue from this but there is a point where people stop coming to your site because of all the ads.Hopefully you are getting paid nice for all these. intrusive ads

  4. This is really nice but I’m wondering……do the cushions slide around. I don’t see anything that holds them in place or am I missing something?

  5. I can’t find a weather treated 2×3 around me, my husband says I need weather treated, what a about 2×4??

  6. HI, I am very interested in building this. Seeing as it is 5 years after the post, I am unable to get the dimensions of the cushions to purchase from target. The links don’t work and neither does the item number. Could you possibly let me know the cushion dimensions? I would really appreciate it!

  7. I can not find treated 2×3 wood anywhere ? can I use a 2×4? How much will it throw off the dimensions or how much will the wood weather outdoors if I don’t use treated wood for the 2x3s

  8. I’m getting ready to start this project… I see a lot of comments requesting the cushion size but no answer… The link on target is no longer available but I’m sure I can find cushions if i have the proper dimensions. Is the finished cube 24×24?

  9. I wish I would have looked for cushions before building this. Target no longer sells the ones listed above and I have had no luck locating any. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

    1. I’m showing that there are other colors available. Scroll down on the target page and it will show you other options. Looks like there is a pale green color available. It’s the Hearthstone cushion.