15 Amazing Woodworking & DIY Projects With Plans And How-To Instructions
Looking to start a DIY project here soon, but don’t want to start from scratch? Here is a design resource full of DIY plans from outdoor projects to DIY furniture and toys that you can build.
Updated 3/23/2024
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As avid DIYers, we’ve done many projects over the years. Moreover, as a landscape architect and an engineer, we tend to do a lot of planning and modeling of our projects prior to starting them. Because of that, we’ve been able to share DIY drawing plan sets for many of our best projects. That of course benefits everyone as it makes it easy to build the same project yourself!
From outdoor projects to bedroom furniture to storage and toys, we love to create creative solutions for our daily life and make pieces that are beautiful, yet functional. Our project list keeps growing, so we’ve put all our woodworking designs and DIY plans together in one easy resource page for you! We’ll continue to update this post as new woodworking and DIY plans are created and completed.
FYI, all the woodworking and DIY plans linked below go directly to the digital downloads in our Site Shop. But we also have an Etsy Shop with the exact same plan sets, if you’d prefer to buy there!
DIY Outdoor Projects Plans
DIY Stacked Rain Barrel System
If you have any sort of landscaping or a garden, then you’ll definitely be watering it throughout the year. Collecting rainwater and storing it can be a great sustainable solution to save on water consumption and costs. These DIY plans create a stacked rain barrel system to maximize your water storage in a small area. Stacking rain barrels vertically elevates the highest water line helping increase water pressure and saves you space.
The plans include both instructions for building the barrel frame as well as the plumbing system for connecting all the barrels and gutter system.
DIY Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate DIY
DIY Plans: Stacked Rain Barrel
Hubby How-To Build Post: Stacked Rain Barrel System
DIY Hanging Daybed Swing
If you’re looking for an outdoor daybed or even a porch swing, then this DIY hanging daybed swing we designed might be perfect for you. It has some wow-factor and is the perfect place for reading books, napping, and just relaxing. This DIY bed design has a clean line platform with a little Japanese joinery flare. The corners of the hanging daybed’s platform use a half lap joint to create this unique look and create the perfect base to hang rope.
However, the best part of the design is the movable headboard feature. The design creates the option to move the headboard around and face different directions, or even remove the headboard altogether.
DIY Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate DIY
Daybed Swing Plan Sizes: King, Queen, Full, Twin
Hubby How-To Build Post: Hanging Daybed Swing
YouTube Build Video: Hanging Bed
DIY Planter Box
When garden space is limited or you just need to brighten up an area with plants, a planter box is a great way to do it. These design plans create a long linear planter box that doesn’t look too bulky and has clean lines. The DIY plans include three different design lengths to best fit your space. The boxes can be simply screwed together or use some more advanced woodworking techniques. It’s a great modern wood planter for planting produce like tomatoes to planting herbs or just some beautiful flowering plants!
DIY Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate DIY
DIY Plans: Planter Box
Hubby How-To Build Post: Planter Box
YouTube Build Video: Planter Box
DIY Garden Tomato Trellis
We’re homesteading in the suburbs and trying to grow more of our own food in the terraced garden. If you need to maximize your garden space by growing vertically, then try building a strong garden trellis. We created DIY plans that are customizable to make a strong trellis to grow vegetables like tomatoes or cucumbers vertically. It contains a planning worksheet to create a custom material list and has all the steps and math written out for you, so no need to stress about customizing it. The plans come with two different design options allowing you to create a trellis as long as you need for your garden.
DIY Difficulty: Intermediate DIY
DIY Plans: Garden Trellis
Hubby How-To Build Post: Tomato Trellis
YouTube Build Video: Tomato Trellis For Our Garden
Bedroom Furniture Plans
DIY Modern Platform Bed Frame
We all need a bed frame in our homes, so why not build one you love? We created a simple modern DIY platform bed frame design featuring elegant tapered legs and chamfered edges all along the perimeter for a high-quality look. These elements create strong, clean lines for a modern look, but are softened so you don’t bruise your legs if you run into it. It’s also designed to have no exposed hardware, meaning no ugly screws or shiny metal connections showing.
DIY Difficulty: Intermediate DIY
Bed Frame Plan Sizes: California King, King, Queen, Full, Twin
Hubby How-To Build Post: DIY Bed Frame
YouTube Build Video: Building A Modern Bed Frame
Headboard With Floating Nightstands
Beyond the bed frame, a headboard can change the look and feel of a bedroom. This modern DIY headboard with floating asymmetrical nightstands was designed to be a functional yet beautiful wall feature!
This headboard design creates a sophisticated paneled wood look and is mounted to the wall. The individual panels have chamfered edges between panels to create shadow lines, but still allow for an overall cohesive look. The floating nightstands are asymmetrical for a high-quality and unique look. Lastly, each nightstand box has chamfered edges on the drawers for handles to eliminate the need for hardware and keep a very clean, modern aesthetic.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate to Expert DIY
Headboard Plan Sizes: California King/King or Queen/Full
Hubby How-To Build Post: Headboard with Floating Nightstands
YouTube Build Video: The Nicest Thing We’ve Ever Made
DIY Canopy Bed
Canopy beds can be a way to make a statement in a bedroom as well. We designed a canopy bed built in a platform bed style with a little Japanese feel to how the canopy corners come together. This unique crossing of the corners is not something you’d typically find in other canopy bed frames, which is why it’s great to DIY.
The design also hides all the screws and hardware with the bed frame sliding into the canopy posts to hide the screws and strengthen the joint. Another fun part of a canopy bed is you can add fun accessories like curtains, lights, plants, and more to personalize them.
DIY Difficulty: Intermediate DIY
Canopy Bed Plan Sizes: King, Queen, Full, Twin
Hubby How-To Build Post: DIY Canopy Bed
Trundle Bed With Bookcase
Trundle beds are great for kids’ rooms for sleepovers or even an adult that needs an extra place to sleep while maximizing their space. We’ve designed this trundle bed frame to house two mattresses and have a built-in bookcase for a little extra storage.
The plans are available for a Twin, Full, and Queen size bed frame with matching sizes for the trundle bed. Our DIY plans allow for two 8″ tall mattresses, and the top main mattress can even be up to 10″ tall without covering the bookcase shelves.
DIY Difficulty: Beginner DIY
Bed Frame Plan Sizes: Full with Full Trundle, Twin with Twin Trundle, Queen with Queen Trundle
Hubby How-To Build Post: Bookcase Trundle Bed
Toys, Shelves, & Storage DIY Plans
DIY Flipping Workbench
If you’re an avid DIYer like us, you might have a lot of large tools constantly taking up precious workspace. If so, these DIY plans can help you create a 96″x 48″ flipping workbench that will give you back workspace and store all your tools easily.
This workbench has three flipping tables in different sizes to attach your tools onto. Flip a tool up when you need to use it and flip it down when you need more workbench surface area to work on. It’s been the perfect solution for our small workshop, and can be for yours, too!
DIY Difficulty: Beginner DIY
DIY Plans: Workbench
Hubby How-To Build Post: Flipping Workbench
YouTube Workshop Video: Small Workshop Tour
DIY Playroom Storage Shelves
Storage is key in many spaces, but especially in a child’s playroom. These DIY woodworking plans will help you build some simple storage shelves for a playroom or any other room you might need some storage for! It’s all made from one 4’x8′ piece of plywood to minimize costs and scrap wood.
These playroom storage shelves could be left as open shelving or add in some storage bins or baskets to have a mix of closed storage on the shelves.
DIY Difficulty: Beginner DIY
DIY Plans: Playroom Shelves
Hubby How-To Build Post: Playroom Shelves
DIY Custom Storage Shelves
Many of us have items we need to store, and customizable storage shelves can be expensive. To maximize your storage space, we’ve designed easy-to-follow plans to build custom DIY Storage Shelves.
Utilize our planning worksheet to create those custom-sized storage shelves or follow the two example storage shelving unit plans provided. The best part is the planning worksheet and blank material list have all the steps and math written out for you, so no need to stress about customizing it.
DIY Difficulty: Beginner DIY
DIY Plans: Storage Shelves
Hubby How-To Build Post: Custom Storage Shelves
DIY Wood Train Set
If you like making special, memorable gifts, then a handmade wood train set can be a perfect solution. We’ve created a great DIY project with easy-to-follow ideas and plans for train cars. These digital plans have 12 designs for a variety of train cars and a full materials list to make a 14-piece wood train set.
You can make all the train cars or only the ones you want. It’s easy to pick and choose as well as modify. It can easily be made with scrap wood offcuts from other projects, too, making it an eco-friendly and fun DIY project.
DIY Difficulty: Beginner DIY
DIY Plans: Train Set
Hubby How-To Build Post: Wood Train Set
Dining & Kitchen Project Plans
DIY Kitchen Recycling/Trash Cabinet
Some of us don’t have enough space in existing cabinets to hide recycling and trash bins. So we designed a set of DIY plans to build a kitchen recycling/trash cabinet as a creative freestanding solution to hide ours. We know styles differ, so the plans come with three different designs for the exterior frame. The linkage design on the interior allows the lid to be opened with a foot bar, much like a trash can with a foot pedal. So take what could be an eyesore and turn it into a beautiful functioning piece of furniture!
DIY Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate DIY
DIY Plans: Recycling Cabinet
Hubby How-To Build Post: Kitchen Recycling/Trash Cabinet
YouTube Build Video: Kitchen Recycling/Trash Cabinet
Modern Y-Shaped Table Leg Design Plans
There are many beautiful tables with unique metal table legs on the market. Well, those can be expensive! We never found a live-edge wood table with metal legs that was perfect, so we designed and built one! These DIY plans are for a double Y-shaped metal table frame to be attached to the tabletop of your choice. The design plans make it easy to cut the proper angles and create beautiful symmetry.
DIY Difficulty: Intermediate DIY
DIY Plans: Y-Shaped Table Legs
Hubby How-To Build Post: Y-Shaped Table Legs
Modern Hourglass Table Leg Design Plans
If a Y-shape isn’t your style, then try a more traditional hourglass shape. These DIY plans put a little twist on this traditional shape by using metal to create the frame. The design utilizes two large overlapping triangles to create the hourglass shape. Then just attach the tabletop of your choice!
DIY Difficulty: Intermediate DIY
DIY Plans: Hourglass Table Legs
Hubby How-To Build Post: Hourglass Table Legs
Eco-friendly Recommendations For Materials & Finishing
We strive to leave a little footprint on our environment. So whether we are doing a sustainable home improvement or a fun DIY project like one of the above, we look for ways to reduce waste and use eco-friendly materials and products. Here are our top favorites:
- Rubio Monocoat – Stains and finishes for woodworking DIY projects (We love all their products and have done full reviews!)
- Ecos Paints – Easy to order Zero VOC paints and stains from a company focused on non-toxic, eco-friendly products.
- Behr Premium Plus – Low VOC readily available at home improvement stores. Look for the Greenguard-certified cans!
Check out more of our recommendations in our Eco-friendly Building Materials & Products article.
More DIY Projects
Now you’re ready for a new project likely, but if you still need some more inspiration, then check out more of our DIY projects articles for ideas!
- How To Make DIY Floating Shelves – Live Edge Wood Shelves For Kitchen
- 15 Awesome DIY Projects At Home You Can Do
- How To Build A Wood Retaining Wall On A Slope
- How We Organize A Small Workshop – Ideas & Tour
- Go Solar Journey – Our DIY Solar Panel Experience
Hope this roundup of all our DIY and woodworking plans becomes a go-to resource for you when you’re thinking about your next project! Let us know what plans you might want to see in the future in the comments below!
Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Please note that I’ve linked to these products purely because I recommend them and they are from companies I trust. There is no additional cost to you.
