Jeny's Ideas: DIY Adirondack Chairs

Hi. My chairs are finished! (Insert happy dance here) All 6 adirondack chairs are built and stained.

Furniture planning, pricing and research started when we were planning the dock. Outdoor furniture is expensive. This furniture is going to be over saltwater and in the sun all day. Being the penny pincher that I am, I just couldn't spend a bunch of money on furniture that is going to corrode from salt water and bake all day. I decided to go with adirondack chairs. Chairs from the local stores ranged from $120 - $150 and they were not made with stainless steel hardware. Stainless steel is extremely important around salt water. The salt water will not corrode the stainless like it will other hardware. We have several neighbors up and down the canal that are having to redo their docks, stairs, decks, etc because they are falling down. The nails have rusted and gave out.

After pricing and shopping around I decided to build my own. Now, I had to find a plan.

I searched for over a month to find the right plan. Its hard deciding what will be comfortable and not too big by a 2D plan. Generally, the adirondacks with curved backs and bottoms are the most comfortable so that was a must. Also, I didn't want them to sit super low like a lot of the beach chairs do. I finally came upon Skip to My Lou's plan. Her chairs had the curves and she provided a template. AWESOME! This template was a huge time saver. I didn't have to make a bazillion measurements to get all the curves right. I just traced the template and cut. It only cost about $7 at Office Depot to have the template printed at full size.

Click here to go to Skip to My Lou's blog post about the chairs.

Click here to go to template. Print at 24" x 36"

This project is time consuming but it is fairly easy. Tracing, cutting and sanding takes some time but the assembly part goes fast. Although these can be a one person job, it is nice to have an extra set of hands around for help hold while measuring and lining up.

Here are some progress photos.

These two are loving the dock as much as we do.

I wanted to stain these a semi transparent dark blue. The goal was to have a blue tint but still see grain. I didn't want them solid because that dark blue will get super hot during the heat of the day. The chairs sat outside for several days drying before I stained them. When I put the stain on, I hated it. In my moments of frustration and agitation I forgot to take a picture. Trust me, it was bad. I decided to go with a solid color stain. Same color. Same brand. Just solid instead of semi transparent. This is what I ended up with.

I am obsessed with navy right now so I love the color but its not what I had in my head. Oh well. They look good and the contrast is great. The best part is each chair cost about $47 worth of materials, including the stainless steel hardware which is much more expensive than other materials. Thank you to Skip to My Lou for providing free plans and instructions!

My plan now is to make a storage ottoman and some planter umbrella holders.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!