Building a piece of furniture is rewarding. Whether creating a simple bookshelf for your office or making a couch. Constructing DIY furniture is fun. However, fun only takes us so far. You may wonder – is it worth my money? Is building furniture a waste of time?
In this article, we will help you navigate through this decision.
Building your own DIY furniture is definitely worth it. However, value is different for everyone. Before you begin building your own furniture, ask yourself three things: do I have the time? Do I have the money? Do I have the resources?
As you read below, you will begin to unravel this mystery. Hopefully, you’ll be able to make an informed decision.
Can You Build Your Own DIY Furniture?
You can definitely build your own furniture. The better question is this – can you build your own furniture? The answer is yes.
Here’s why.
Making furniture can be as straightforward or as complicated as you’d like. You can build a piece of furniture with just a hammer, a saw, and four nails. You can also make furniture with a whole shop of professional tools.
Here’s where the decision comes into play: what kind of furniture is practical to build with my tools? In the sections below, we will go over several things that will help guide your decision.
Let’s begin.
Pros of Making Your Own Furniture
Alright, let’s break down the benefits and disadvantages of making your own furniture.
Here’s a list of benefits:
- You learn new skills and gain confidence
- DIY furniture makes great gifts
- You can save money
Let’s unpack these.
When Making Your Furniture, You Learn New Skills
Learning something new will bring all sorts of happiness. Not only are you stretching your creativity, but you are working with your hands and solving problems with your mind.
The skills you learn while building your furniture can then be translated to other things, like fixing your store-bought furniture or making repairs around the house.
This article explains 100 DIY repairs you can make around your home.
With new skills comes confidence. And confidence translates into every area of a person’s life.
DIY Projects are Great Gifts
If you give your mother a simple wooden bench, she’s likely to thank you for the gift politely. However, if you make your mother a bench, she will rave about you to her whole book club, and you’ll become her favorite child.
When we make something for someone else, even if it’s a simple birdhouse or coffee table, the person receiving the gift is very touched. Knowing that someone took a significant amount of time out of their day to build them a gift truly blesses people.
Learning to build DIY furniture will open up all sorts of gift ideas. Often, something homemade really is the perfect gift.
Building DIY Furniture Can Save You Money
If you have the time, building your own furniture can save you lots of money. You can use a lot of tricks to make something that looks fancy and expensive for very cheap.
A great example is this outdoor bench. The builder says they made the bench for around $40. Guess what? They show an example of a very similar store-bought bench that costs over $1100! That’s a $1000 savings.
Alright, now let’s go over a few cons of DIY building.
Cons of Building Your Own Furniture
Of course, nothing good comes easily. You will need to fight a few battles to get the most out of your DIY furniture adventure.
Here’s a list of three downsides:
- Time spent
- Frustrating to learn
- Overspending on tools and materials
There they are, now let’s delve into these.
It takes Time to Build your own Furniture
The Eiffel Tower wasn’t built in a day, and your DIY project will likely take some time as well. You will need to plan, then execute. Often, the planning portion of a project will take longer than the actual building.
If you’re an impatient person, like most of us, then you’ll need to train yourself to take things one step at a time. Rushing things will just make you frustrated and more likely to quit altogether.
Building something will always take more time than clicking “buy now” with your thumb on Amazon. So, before you begin DIY furniture, you’ll need to decide if you have the time to see the product through.
DIY Projects Can be Frustrating
There’s no reason to sugarcoat the medicine – when you build something on your own. You’re going to become frustrated at some point. This is more true of beginners; however, even advanced builders and woodworkers face frustrations.
Before you begin building your own furniture, mentally prepare yourself for the inherent frustrations of creating something.
If you choose to persevere through any frustrations, then you will be rewarded with the satisfaction of overcoming obstacles – and a beautiful finished product.
It’s Easy to Overspend on Tools and Materials
Yes, building your own DIY furniture can and should save you money. However, it can be easy to purchase things you don’t need. Especially for beginners, who might not know what they do and do not need, walking into the hardware store can be overwhelming.
As a result, the beginner DIYer begins to throw everything their sight touches into the cart. I might need this. Maybe I’ll need that. Was this on the project list? When they go to the checkout, their bill is way more than they expected. I thought DIY furniture was supposed to be cheap.
There is a way to avoid this phenomenon. Planning.
Before you go into the hardware store, try to have a list of materials needed. Make sure you have your project planned and diagrammed. This way, if you get stumped, you have a guide. This prevents the “I think I might need that” situation.
As a beginner, you must weigh your desire to make your own furniture against the equipment you already have on hand. You can probably afford to make something simple; however, when you start to create something more advanced, you will need to invest more time into the project or spend more money on tools.
If you’ve decided you’re ready to overcome these obstacles, then read below for a quick guide.
How to Start Making Your Own Furniture
This section will explain how simple it can be to make high-end-looking furniture very quickly and inexpensively.
For a complete beginner, there are several things to consider before getting started. We provide a list below.
Three things to consider:
- Learn the basics
- Start simple
- Make a plan and break it down
Learn the Basics of Building your Own Furniture
Furniture will be viewed by you and anyone else who happens to enter your home. You want the chair, deck, or table to look as good as possible. This starts with learning a few fundamentals.
You can’t make a clean table without knowing how to make clean cuts. Similarly, you need to practice making exact measurements. There’s a technique for using a drill correctly. There’s a technique for hammering a nail.
Before you begin your project, practice a few of the skills you’ll need on some scrap boards. The practice may seem tedious, but it will save you time in the long run.
See this article on basic woodworking skills everyone should know.
Start with Simple Projects
If you’re new to making furniture, don’t push yourself too hard. Remember what we said about projects having frustrations? Well, if you try to fly before your wings are fully grown, then you’re going to fall flat on your nose.
When planning, take the time to match the project with your skillset. Sometimes it’s best to start with building something simple. Completing the project will boost your confidence and prepare you for a more advanced build in the future.
Here are 25 simple projects to get you started.
Make a Plan
Plans don’t control you; plans free you. Making plans help you save money and time, and they will make your overall project experience more enriching.
If you’re a beginner, you should make a plan to get better at building furniture. A few great ways are to read books, watch videos, learn from an experienced friend, and take courses.
You can take online woodworking courses. These classes will walk you through the process, making it easy to get a head start in the DIY universe.
If you plan for success, you will find it.
Conclusion
Building your own DIY furniture will be worth your time. There is nothing like getting into the grove as you construct a project. And if you mess up, who cares? You can always try again.
Make a plan and stick to it. This will help you save time and money. If you have the desire to make DIY furniture, then give it a try. Start with something small and then work your way toward more advanced projects.
Don’t be afraid of failure. If you fail, you learn. If you learn, you succeed.