It officially feels like summer at our house. And now that we are spending most of our time outside, we needed a bit more seating for our patio.
Since we are loving our outdoor sofa, I decided to make some kids chairs to match. So I partnered with Kreg Jig and their new project plan site BuildSomething to bring you the free build plan for these easy DIY kids patio chairs.
Then to round out all the seating, I also created these matching outdoor chairs for adults and these outdoor chaise lounge chairs. And now we have the plenty of seating for lazy days in the backyard!
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Now that the living room and stairway are “mostly” finished, I am focusing my attention on our backyard. We have been living with a make-shift patio for about 6 years now. We had the area leveled and some road-base played down to keep it from being just mud.
It’s been working okay, but I am dying for a real patio. However, I am not letting my lack of patio keep me from making the backyard of my dreams.
The kids love spending every waking moment outside. I love that they are not wasting away their summer watching TV or playing video games.
And whenever I have a break, I love to relax outside and watch them play. We have been enjoying our new sofa, but still needed more seating.
About 6 years ago I made 6 little Adirondack chairs and painted them to look like a rainbow. My mom confiscated 3 of them (she keeps insisting I just left them, but I remember her threatening bad things if I took them).
We had 3 of them at our house, and they were left out in the elements all year long. This spring, they were just falling apart and I decided it was time to make new ones.
I decided to make 4 chairs, even though we only have 2 kids, because 3 were never enough. It’s so nice having extra little seats whenever we have friends over (and most of our friends also have 2 kiddos).
These easy DIY kids patio chairs were also made a little bigger to accommodate my growing children. I can actually fit in the chairs (surprisingly), but they are a little short to be comfortable for too long.
Then we created the perfect seating area in our “patio” area. The sofa and kids patio chairs surround our fire pit so we can enjoy lot of family fun this summer. The kids are beyond ready to light this thing up and toast some mallows!
But even if we are not cooking over an open fire, the seating area overlooks the grass and our little garden so I can relax and watch the kids play.
Matching Adult Sized Outdoor Chairs
We loved our kids chairs so much, I decided it was time to make an adult version!
These outdoor lounge chairs match the modern Adirondack look of the kids chairs, but are large enough for any adult. They are deep enough for comfy lounging all day.
Or for some serious relaxing, I also made a matching chaise lounge chair!
These outdoor chaise lounge chairs have and adjustable back so you can relax at 3 different angles or lay it totally flat.
Kids Patio Chairs Build Plans
I have partnered with Kreg Jig and their new project plan site BuildSomething to bring you the free build plan for these easy DIY kids patio chairs.
The Kreg Jig makes these chairs super sturdy and super fast & easy to put together. You can have an army of little chairs in an afternoon (unfortunately the painting takes way longer than the building).
Click here for the free build plans.
And click here for the chair back template.
And bonus, they are super inexpensive to make. For 4 chairs I only needed (6) 2x2s, (8) 1x3s and (2) 2×4 boards. Add in a few Kreg screws and some outdoor paint and my patio chairs only cost $15 each.
And I have lots of leftover outdoor paint for the kids playhouse I am building next!
Thank you to Kreg Tools and their DIY project plan site BuildSomething for sponsoring this post. I only recommend products that I use and love and all opinions are 100% my own. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
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Do you ever sell your chairs put together? I am not very handy.
I can’t find the template. I clicked on the link at the bottom of the directions and it just brought me to the house of hand made website. I’m almost done building the chairs but need the template.
Sorry about that. I don’t know what happened to it when they moved things to their new site. I have added a link to the template in my post, just under the link to the plans.
Hi, I’m looking at the plans and it says at the bottom that there is a template but it doesn’t appear to be there, it’s only two vertical lines, is there a full template available? thanks. The plans show one and a half wide wood but the materials doesn’t show any one and a half wide wood, only 2×2, 2×4 and 1×3, have I got something wrong? I’ve also cut the back legs with a 37 1/2 degree angle but when I put it together it’s 4 inches short of the 15 inch front leg.
Love the looks of the chairs, thank you, I’m a bit stuck but I can’t wait to make them.
@mike turner, Have worked it all out now. would still be nice to have a plan to download.
As a follow up to my prior comment, I did in fact use Kreg’s recommendation regarding using the jig setting and screw associated with the thinner of the two woods being joined (3/4” jig setting and 1 1/4” screws) and this worked much better for me. For extra security I also added a third pocket hole when joining the 2×4 to the arm rest. Just posting this in case someone else wants to go this route. Thanks!
https://learn.kregtool.com/learn/why-material-thickness-matters/
Another quick tip – be very careful when screwing through the back rest support into the arm rest, as this board thin and prone to splitting. Drawing a line from the horizontal center of the arm rest board to where you will drive the screw rather than eyeballing it may prevent splitting.
Hi Kati, thanks for sharing! I aspire to so many of your projects!
I’m having an issue with loose joints in step 2 and 3. Is it possible that the instructions should indicate a different jig setting and screw length? All the tutorials I’ve seen for joining wood of two different thicknesses seem to recommend going with the depth of the thinnest material (so using 3/4” setting on the K3 and 1 1/4” screws). Do you know why this recommendation is different from your instructions?
https://sawsonskates.com/pocket-holes-joining-different-thicknesses/
I’d love to get some clarity on this from an expert if you have a minute to explain. This is only my third pocket hole project, so it’s always possible there are issues with my execution! Thanks so much!
@Natalie,
Sorry, the Kreg Jig R3* not K3. In my understanding some of the other jigs (like the R5) are designed to be set to the length of the screw rather than thickness of the wood.
Hi, excited to make these chairs! Wood is cut now trying to figure how to kreg jig 1 1/2in holes without going through the side of the leg. Help please! 😬
You need to set up the Kreg jig for the thickness of the wood you are drilling through. If you are drilling into a 1x board you set it for 3/4″ thick material and if you are drilling into a 2x board, you need to set the jig for 1 1/2″ thick material.
@Kati,
Thanks for your reply back. Unfortunately the instructions don’t make that clear for someone newer to the Kreg Jig. They specify 1 1/2” wood depth which leads you to the 2 1/2 pocket hole (which I unfortunately already drilled). They are super cute chairs but instructions could be more specific to help stop mistakes for newbies. Thanks for the plans and for helping figure out the problem! I will give it another whirl.
I love these chairs! I made 2 of them for my grandkids.
Thanks Lisa! I hope you grandkids love them 😉
Hello you have made some beautiful chairs. Cant wate to paint some.
Thanks Barbara! Enjoy.
Im looking to paint my outdoor chairs, and just love the fabulous colors and i’m hoping you could tell me colors.
Hello Kyle! The chairs are painted Aqua Rapids and Kumquat by Behr. Love how they turned out! Have fun painting.
How much paint did you buy?
I bought a quart of each color but had plenty of leftover to use on other outdoor projects.
Such great plans, and how awesome that they only cost $15 to make!
Thanks Jenny! I love how they turned out and so do the kids 🙂
These all chairs look so amazing, i’ll try to paint some chairs for my kids, they’ll very suprise and happy. Thanks for this useful post.
Thank you Thomas.