I am coming to you from this wonderful Saturday, which is not part of my regular schedule. However, it is all for a great reason… I am sharing Easy steps to make DIY plywood kids chairs with storage, aside from this project being simple, full of storage for my littles and their stuff, also crazy low cost; it is also part of a bigger DIY challenge!
Myself and a group of bloggers are helping Remodelaholic kick of their plywood week by sharing plywood projects! So you will be able to see all of the inspiration at the end of this post as well as all next week on Remodelaholic. The it’s plywood but pretty challenge blew me away with all of what was created. The best part is that plywood is so cheap to purchase I am sure mot of these projects are insanely low cost for what is created.
Plywood is one of those great DIY products to use because of the low cost. Also the how easy it is to work with. For this project I decided to make two chairs with storage for my boys’ bedroom. The lines of the chair will be straight and the cuts for the wood will be simple. This complete project was created with 4 sheets of plywood that are 4ft x 20 inches wide and paint. That is it!
My desired end results for this chair is something that can sit on the ground, store toys or books in it, and be comfy for my kids. Also be able to withstand being jumped off of, shoved around, used as a fort builder apparatus and possibly even some relaxing done on it. One chair ended up being 20 inches high in the back and 20 inches wide and 1/2” thick, this allows room for the little ones to relax in.
I began by marking the plywood into the cuts needed. Using a table saw for all of the cuts.
In the end each chair has –
- Three 20”x 20” boards (for the back of the chair, seat bottom, and bottom of the chair itself)
- Three 7”x 20” boards (for the bottom sides and the center. This makes the storage cubbys on bottom)
- One 2”x 20” board (the top connecting piece for the two backs)
- One 12”x 20” board (that is at a slight angle for the back of the seat to be comfortable)
The angled back board can be done flat, it technically is not needed. You can build this with the one back piece that rests against the wall and have it work as the back rest as well. I wanted to add a small amount of storage. The back portion could also have been cut without the angle, or with more of a angle. It is really up to preference.
With all of the boards set out on the floor I decided to paint them and then put it all together. This made it easier to paint the cubbys on the bottom without having to do contortionist moves to get in all of the crevices.
I used a paint sprayer, but simply painting them with a paint brush will get the job done too. I did two coats of each side.
Picking a pretty navy that matches a few other furniture items in Caleb and Gavin’s room.
To put the wood boards together I used a screw. The key to this is getting one that is not wider than the plywood is, otherwise you will strip the wood. When I am working with thinner wood like this I like to drill a hole into the wood before the screw goes in, helping the wood to not split. Then when the screw is going in, once it is almost flush with the wood slow down so you can see if there is any splitting that is happening.
To start putting the boards together, I started from the ground up. Started from the bottom and now we’re here! The chairs will have one board on the floor which encloses the cubbys. Then attach the two side boards and the one center board.
Next assemble the back. First, attach the seat to the back. Then attach the small top board to the back board that will lean against the wall. Finally attach the angled board to the seat and the small top board. Use what you need to align it all. Notice the oh-so-professional propped up seat with the wood? You do what you gotta do.
Here is a close up of where it is all screwed in. Once it was all together I did have a lot of small touch ups with the paint. Using a paint brush and painting over any screw holes. You can see them slightly with the finished chair, but they are not noticeable. If you are a legit perfectionist you can get wood putty to cover the screws, sand it down smooth and then paint over them.
Here is the back and the seat being attached to the bottom cubby boards. The chair was pretty much made with two separate pieces and then brought together. In the happiest plywood marriage I ever did see.
Guys, it is done! My kids all had to try out the chairs while they were still in the garage, they were antsy to get comfy on them!
There is a blank wall in the boys bedroom that these fit perfectly on. They are compact enough to not take up any of the much needed play space.
I love that there is storage on the bottom as well as some in the back. It gives my kids lots of options to set things. Because this is a shared bedroom each of them having a place to set a few of their special items is important. They have a shelf in their bunk beds, and a side of the closet, but these chairs give them a little more options to organize their items that are special to them.
I made them low to the ground, and they can actually be pushed around the room. Which makes these even more functional than I had initially planned for. Dale and I have sat our not-so-kid-sized butts on these and there was not even a creak with them. Having the center board helps support the seating perfectly.
Confession time, sometimes for this blog I “style” a shot. I set items around the project I am sharing to show it off the best. Most of the time I leave it as is because it works out so well. Once I brought these into the room my daughter Nora started grabbing decorations, books and toys to put into the storage space. This was almost all set up by her. Maybe in a few years her and I will run this blog together, she has the love of decorating just like her Mom!
We recently got the kids small tablets that they can stream music on from our Google play subscription. My kids have grown up with decorating the house and music in the house. There is music on all the time here, I just love it so much. They have inherited that love as well, playing instruments and having dance parties. We have kept their small music tablets in our room as their was not a safe spot to keep them. The back of these chairs work perfectly for safe keeping of electronics.
These DIY plywood kids chairs work perfectly in their bedroom! Kids always need storage options, always.
Here is my crew showing off how the scale of these chairs are. My kids are 9, 7 and 5 and they all three fit comfortably with the chairs pushed together. Also, this is one of my favorite pictures of my gaggle of kids, always with their head in a book!
Leave it to my youngest to make himself even more comfortable. He is the one that throws off his shoes the second we walk in the door and oftentimes changes into his pajamas to be extra comfy. He has no patience for sitting in a chair, laying down is always best.
These were cray easy to make! I know a lot of people feel like making furniture it so daunting, but chairs like this can be made really easily because of the simple design of it. Keeping the cuts simple, measurements even helps this project be pain free. I hope you found these Easy steps to make DIY plywood kids chairs with storage useful! Using plywood and making them yourself allows that ever important cost to stay low. I decorate my home, but I definitely do not spend a lot of money doing so!
Now the extra fun part, you get to see all of the other amazing creations that others made using plywood. What was your favorite? If you have done a project with plywood you can share it on social media and use the hashtag #plywoodpretty so we can all see your creations!
outdoor sectional sofa | Remodelaholic
mini barn door for a crawl space | The Cofran Home
handlettered “hello” sign | Lemon Thistle
easy TV tray | Practical and Pretty
rolling storage drawers | Happy Go Lucky
mid-century modular lego table | The Created Home
entryway bench | Woodshop Diaries
farmhouse sign | Our Crafty Mom
mid-century daybed | Paper Daisy Design
produce bins | Anika’s DIY Life
plywood accent wall | Diva of DIY
kids chairs with storage | Our House Now a Home
Here is a fun video of some of the projects featured –
** This post contains affiliate links, a Our house now a home may recieve a portion of the profit of items purchased**
These DIY plywood kids chairs with storage are an awesome idea. I am going to have make these for my niece’s kids. The kids can even help with them. Thanks for sharing this awesome idea.
My parents did this back int he 70’s for our basement where we all hung out. They put cushions that covered the seat and back. We could sleep on them if we wanted. Great idea.
I’m new to your blog from FB Awesome Bloggers and now a new follower to your blog. What a cute idea and I love the storage cubes! .
That is so cool! I love this idea. I would add a bottom cushion too, but that’s just me. I love the color that you painted it. Super cute!h
Loving the design of this in the photo and would probably want to build this myself in the future. Such a great idea.
I love these chairs! This is something my kids would love in their room and I already know where I am going to put them! Thanks for the idea.
This project came out so adorable. I love the finished product. I can’t believe how functional this is now!
That is so cool! My 3 year old needs more storage in his room and that is a great idea!!
Love this! Just out of curiosity, how do they like not having cushions on the seat? It doesn’t bother them?
So cute! Love the color you chose too. My son would love this in his room with a cushion. Thanks for the idea!
That is so cool! I love this idea. I’ll try it out. And add my handmade cushion covers definitely. This is a perfect idea for interior.
WOW! Super cute idea and it has storage. I love that you made the cushions too:)
These are AWESOME! I have a few kids and they love books and have way too any things and this is just the kind of thing they need. I really like the look of them, though I might have to add a couple of extra pillows as they are pillow hounds in my house! 😀
Wow! This is a great DIY stuff for kids. I think we will need this when we settle in the Philippines and get a unit there. Great post! 😀
I love the idea. I have been wanting to do my own. Your site is really amazing. Lots to learn from your DIY’s.
These are so cute! I absolutely LOVE the book storage functionality of these -space saver!!!
These would be perfect for the basement. I like that it is a reading nook area as well as storage. Gotta show my husband!
Emily, this is such a great project and love that it has storage as well! The photo with your kids is adorable!!
OMG! I love the final product. Came out so nice. How creative and time put to great use.
I am always blown away by your creativity Emily this is fabulous for a kids room
What a great project!! They are darling and the fact that you can build all these things yourself is amazing.
This is such an awesome project! I would love to try it so thanks for your step by step instructions !
What a great idea! It also looks durable enough to stand up to the kids. I love that it has extra storage and seating. Space is usually a premium in a kid’s room.
I’m not crafty, but I LOVE them. They came out awesome. I really like furniture that doubles as storage.
My husband is going to hate me when I ask him to build these chairs! I would do it myself, but he could do it faster!
Wow! Great job! I love the blue color on this! This looks like a DIY tutorial that I could actually do! I’ll have to move some things around in my kids’ rooms and I’ll have to see how this works out for me!
Such a fun idea. They look comfortable and they hold so much stuff!
Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing! Love that pic of your kids all reading, lol.
This is such a cute a creative idea. This would be perfect for my guest room that my little niece and nephew use.
What a fun project! Love how it has storage both underneath and at the back (those knick-knacks can pile up fast!)
Wow these actually might hold up to the abuse my children do to furniture! Must make these! Great project!
What an awesome idea. Seating with storage! So creative and I love the color!
What a fantastic idea! They came out great, and I love that they’re as practical as they are cute!
I don’t have the tools to make something like this. Bummer. It’s so cute and I know the grand kids would love it.
Wow, these are super nice. It would be awesome to have a few for younger children. Great use of space!
I am in awe how you can do these things, as I am all thumbs with home projects like this. I think it’s cute for dog toys, too. I will pin!
I’ve been struggling to figure out a reading space for my son. He’s too old for the tee-pee and too much a boy for some of the foofy cushions. This is EXACTLY the kind of thing he would use!
What a fun project! They look great on that wall too!
I love this! Such an awesome project. Even better that it seems so easy to make! I have a toddler running around destroying everything I clean so extra storage areas become lifesavers.
There were six kids in my family and I seriously don’t remember having any where near as much stuff around as my kids do. I’m sure it’s just because my mom was much more concerned about a tidy house than I am. However, having ample storage will certainly help clean up. Those chairs are perfect for storing kid stuff.
We made a wooden kid’s chair the other day but it was nowhere near as cool as this! What a nifty little project!
This is so great! I love how it gives the kid a place with lots of extra storage. Home projects like this really do make spaces feel homey. 🙂
I need this at my house! It is such a great way to organize toys and such!
This is so cool! Love your creativity, love the color and design! Thumb up!
Great idea, it looks great.
I really have no words, never thought one could get that much creative with PLYWOOD DIY. This is really mesmerizing. I would really suggest my carpenter to do it if possible. Great one.