Build Your Own DIY Upholstered Couch

One of those projects I never imagined would be on my to do list was a upholstered DIY couch.

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That is until Danny wanted a man cave.  And what good is a “man cave” without a couch?

Unfortunately, Danny’s man cave is just the small back bedroom of our house and it’s at the end of a narrow hallway.  And that makes it just about impossible to get a couch into the room.  Trust me….we tried.

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So I had an idea to make him a sectional in two pieces to make it easier to get into the room and still provide him plenty of seating space…or, uh, enough space for him to lay down and nap on because that’s what actually happens in there haha.

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PS if you like that aquarium cabinet stand, I’ve got the how to for it here 🙂 AND, if you are eyeing that clock coffee table, I’ve got the how to for that, too, here 🙂

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I made this with a little more modern feel with straight lines, modern style legs, and with quite a bit of exposed wood frame.  Since this was going in a man cave, the wood really gave it more of a masculine feel, but also saved a ton of money on extra foam and fabric.  You could always add some more foam and fabric around the frame, though if you wanted a more traditional and softer look.

I have partnered with Kreg Tool and Build Something to bring you the free build plans for this couch.  This post also contains affiliate links.  See policies page. You can get the DIY couch build plans here on Build Something. 

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Also, a huge thank you to Osborne Wood Products for providing the couch legs for this project. Osborne Wood Products has furniture legs, furniture feet, corbels, and even some table base kits for any project you are thinking about tackling.

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For this build, I used 8 of these legs (part # 6001).  The style of the legs fit perfect with the look I was going for and they were super easy to screw into the couch frame (see plans on Build Something).

I stained the couch in Minwax Golden Oak (aff link), but you could also paint if you wish.  You only have to stain the sections that will be exposed.  We will cover up those plywood panels on the inside of the couch and the plywood seat so don’t worry about staining or painting that.

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Now, the build itself is on Build Something, but for the upholstery, I’m going to show you how I did it right here.  Don’t be intimidated, it’s really pretty easy since I left so much of the wood frame exposed.  Basically, once you get the foam cut down to size, you just sew covers for them and nail some fabric on the sides of the couch.  If I can do it, so can you 🙂

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What you’ll need to upholster your DIY couch:

Upholstery fabric (I used about 7 yards of 54″ wide fabric)

Sewing machine–nothing fancy, just a standard machine will work fine. This is the one I use, but there are cheaper options if you don’t do a lot of sewing and just want something simple.

4″ Upholstery Foam

3 standard pillows

Upholstery Batting

Upholstery Thread

Spray adhesive

Nailheads (I got mine from Hobby Lobby)

Hammer

staple gun and staples

Ruler or measuring tape

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Step 1: Cut DIY Couch Foam Down to Size

Once you have your couch frame built, cut your 4″ foam down to fit on the frame.  You can use scissors, or even a pocket knife and a straight edge.

You will use standard pillows for the back, so no need to cut anything for the back 🙂

Step 2: Cover Foam with Batting

This step helps to smooth out the sharp edges of the foam.  You can check out this tutorial for how to cover foam cushions with batting. Basically, you use spray adhesive to attach the batting to the foam and trim off the excess.

Step 3: Sew DIY Couch Cushion Covers

Most couch cushions have zippers in the covers.  I am just not that fancy…or that good on a sewing machine.  So I sewed my cushion covers as simple envelope covers–you know, the kind where there’s a slit in the back or bottom for you to insert the foam or pillow into?  Then I sewed up the corners to make it a “box cushion” cover.  I promise, it’s easy.

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Instead of reinventing the wheel and writing the tutorial, I’m going to point you to the tutorials I used for this.

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FIRST, sew envelope cushion covers following this tutorial. This will show you how to sew an envelope pillow cover for a decorative pillow.  Your measurements will be quite different because your cushion is larger.  It’s easiest to lay the fabric around the cushion and pin so you make sure it will cover it.  No actual measuring required 🙂

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Once you get your envelope cover sewn, follow the second part of this tutorial to show you how to make it a box cover.  Basically, you just sew up the two front corners.  Who knew it was that easy?!

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Once you’ve got your cushion, slip your batting covered foam cushion into the cover and set in place.

Continue sewing cushions the same way for the other two seat cushions.  I threw a few pillows in here to get an idea of how it was looking…sorry, I was anxious.

Step 4: Upholster DIY Couch Sides

You will have pocket holes in the couch frame sides.  You can easily cover these (and add some extra cushion) by covering the plywood panel with one layer of batting and fabric.

Cut a piece of batting slightly larger than the plywood panel on one side.  Trim a piece of fabric the same size.  Fold over the edges of one corner and use decorative nail heads to secure it in place.  Work your way around the edges folding over and nailing in place making sure to use a ruler or measuring tape to get all the edges of the fabric equal distance from the edge of the frame.  You don’t want it to be nailed on crooked.

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Repeat for both inside panels and the back panels as well. Ignore the fabric on the seat in this picture…that’s the next step 🙂

Step 5: Use Fabric To Cover the Plywood Edges on the DIY Couch Seat

Have you been wondering what to do about those ugly plywood edges on the seat?  Here’s where we cover them.  Cut some strips of fabric a few inches wide and fold over an edge.  Using decorative nail heads, secure these strips to the couch frame making sure it completely covers the plywood edges.  Once you get around to the outside corners where the two couch sections will meet, use staples instead of nailheads.  That way, you wont have large gaps between the two pieces since the nail heads protrude out.

Staple the excess fabric in place around the  seat edge like shown.

Step 6: Sew DIY Couch Back Cushion Covers

Sew envelope covers for the standard size pillows that will be the back cushions.  Follow the same tutorial from step 1 to make envelope covers.  These will not need to be boxed, just normal envelope style.

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Set all the cushions in place and move the couch sections together.  If you wish, you could screw the frame pieces together on the bottom side.  I left mine as is to make it easy to move if we choose to.

I sewed a few more envelope pillow covers with some fabric Danny picked out to make some throw pillows.  But I also bought him this modern throw pillow cover because I thought it matched well.

SOOOOO, tell me what you think??  I promise it was sooooo much easier to build a couch than I thought it would be, so DO NOT be intimidated (like I was at first…).  And the upholstery is not difficult either, and if you make a mistake, fabric is pretty forgiving 😉 Plus, with all those pillows, you can either cover up or distract from any mistakes 😉

I tried to get Danny to take a picture with it, but he hates when I post him on here, so that didn’t work out.  It’s not a huge couch, but it’s the perfect size for this small man cave room and will easily seat four people sitting, or two people laying down.

PS, I get lots of questions about that cute little bag in the corner.  It’s the perfect little bag to hold pillows and blankets, but it’s actually made for laundry.  It’s inexpensive and I use it for staging ALL THE TIME. You can grab your own here. Oh and that blanket/towel is my favorite, too!

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Don’t forget to check out how to build that aquarium cabinet and that coffee table, too!

So I would love to hear what you think about this project.  Let me know in the comments below!  And don’t forget to grab those build plans over on Build Something!

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I would LOVE it if you’d pin this for later 🙂

Until next time, happy building! 🙂