DIY Outdoor Chaise Lounge Chair

In this post, I’m sharing how to build a chunky style DIY outdoor chaise lounge chair with basic materials and minimal tools!

This design is perfect for casual, comfortable seating on your porch, patio, deck, or yard.

These simple outdoor chairs are a great weekend woodworking project that you can easily start, finish, and enjoy before the weekend is over.

The chunky frame gives it a unique and substantial look. And the subtle angles make for a comfortable and eye catching design.

But the best part is–they’re so easy to build! If you’re ready to see how, let’s dive in!

*This post contains affiliate links. See website policies.

What to know before building

If you’re thinking this design looks familiar, you may be remembering the matching outdoor furniture collection I shared last year.

More recently, I also added a DIY outdoor chaise sectional and a modular DIY L shaped outdoor sectional to the mix.

And after building the chaise sectional, I thought, why not add a stand alone chaise lounge, too? It fits perfectly into the collection!

Be the first to know about new posts, plans, and woodworking tips on Woodshop Diaries. Sign up to our newsletter for priority access!

OUTDOOR CUSHION OPTIONS & SIZING

This outdoor chaise lounge fits standard 24″ x 24″ outdoor seat cushion sets. These are the EXACT same cushions I used for the matching sofa, loveseat, and chair I mentioned earlier.

The cushion sets I used come with both a deep seat cushion and a matching back pillow. You can find the cushions sets I used for this sectional here.

Note that the chaise needs two seat cushions, but only one back cushion. So you’ll end up with one extra back cushion, but it’s always nice to have a spare.

The seat cushions come with ties so that you can tie the two seat cushions to the chair frame, but they aren’t connected to each other.

However, if you didn’t want to use two separate seat cushions for the bottom, you can certainly opt for a chaise lounge cushion like this one.

Chaise lounge cushions come in various sizes, so you may want to modify the size of the chair slightly if you use a chaise lounge cushion.

OVERALL DIMENSIONS

The overall dimensions of this chaise lounge chair are approximately 31 ¼″ tall x 30 ½″ wide x 57 ¼″ long.

These dimensions don’t include the seat cushions and the seat height is 12″. I know 12″ seems short, but 1.) The seat cushion adds about 5″ to that and 2.) Outdoor seating is normally lower to the ground than indoor seating.

What Type of Wood to Use for Outdoor Furniture

You can build outdoor projects from any wood type, but some will last MUCH longer than others.

RELATED: How to shop for lumber

So when building for outdoors, consider your budget, availability, and the pros and cons of each option before choosing your wood type.

Don’t forget when building outdoor projects–make sure the hardware (screws), glues and finish you use are rated for exterior use.

Approximate Cost to Build a Chaise Lounge Chair

For this project, I opted for cedar lumber. As of May 2024, when this was built, the lumber cost to build this chaise lounger with cedar (where I live) was approximately $150.

The cost using pressure treated lumber would have been about $45.

Helpful resources for this project

How to Build an Outdoor Chaise Lounge Chair

Prefer to watch? I didn’t make a video of building the stand alone chaise chair, but the assembly process is almost identical to building the chaise for the outdoor sectional.

The only difference is that the freestanding chaise lounge chair (that I’m sharing in this post) has two arm rests instead of one.

So you can check out how the chaise for the sectional was built in this YouTube video and get the general idea.

Are videos your thing? Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for more project and how to videos!

I’m sharing the step by step process to build this DIY outdoor chaise lounge chair below. But if you prefer to print out and take the plans to the shop with you, I’ve got you covered! Grab the outdoor chaise lounge printable building plans here.

Tools & Materials

Step 1: Assemble Chaise Lounge Side Frames

First, I cut a front leg, a back leg, and an arm rest from one of my 4×4 posts. The back leg has both ends mitered 20 degrees and one end of the arm rest is also mitered 20 degrees.

You can find all the dimensions with diagrams for the project in the printable plans.

I assembled these together using pocket holes and screws. BUT, standard size pocket hole jigs aren’t designed to use with 4x4s.

So to drill the pocket holes in the 4×4 at the top (the arm rest piece), I used a Kreg XL Pocket Hole Jig.

RELATED: How to use the Kreg XL Jig

This jig has settings for 3 ½″ material, which is what a 4×4 is. Confused? Don’t worry. Check out this post about how to understand lumber sizing.

So I drilled 3 ½″ pocket holes on the bottom side of the top 4×4 and attached it between the two legs using 4″ XL pocket hole screws.

Once the legs and top were together, I cut and installed a piece of 2×4 to run between them using standard size pocket holes and screws–1 ½″ pocket holes with 2 ½″ pocket hole screws. This piece should be flush to the INSIDE of the legs.

RELATED: How to use a pocket hole jig

Then, I cut another 4×4 post for the back support–one end is mitered 20 degrees and the other end square.

This piece should go on the INSIDE of the side frame so that the mitered edge is lined up with the bottom of the 2×4 and the front edge is in line with the corner.

I secured this in place with wood glue and 4 ½″ timber screws. You could also use 4 ½″ long lag screws. Don’t forget to predrill pilot holes as these large screws can easily split the wood.

Once one side frame was assembled, I built another just like it, only mirrored. One will be for the left side of the chair and one for the right.

Step 2: Assemble Long Seat Supports

This chaise lounge is basically a long chair. So while both side frames from step 1 already have a seat support (the 2×4), I need to add longer ones to extend further out the front.

And I also need some small legs to support these long seat supports.

To make the legs, I cut four pieces of 2×4 to about 12″ long and glued these into pairs. Once the glue was dry, I trimmed both ends just slightly so they were flush.

This gave me two 12″ long front legs about 3″ x 3 ½″ (2x4s are 1 ½″ x 3 ½″ so when glued together, it’s 3″ x 3 ½″). Shown in pink above.

Then, I cut and attached two long 2x4s (I cut these long enough for two chair cushions) to run between the 12″ posts and the back legs. Shown in blue above.

Step 3: Attach Chaise Lounge Frame

Now that the two sides are assembled, I needed to connect them together. So first, I cut and installed the front 2×4 support to run between the two 12″ legs.

I installed this using pocket holes and screws.

Then, I installed one seat slat toward the front the same way. I’ll come back and add the rest of the seat slats later, but this one helps keep the frame together for now.

Step 4: Attach Back Slats

For the back slats, you could install these using pocket holes and screws, but I didn’t want to see the pocket holes on either the front or the back side.

So instead, I glued and screwed 2x2s along the back posts.

Then, I could attach the back slats to those. You still see the screw heads, but it’s much less obvious than large pocket holes

Make sure to predrill pilot holes before driving screws in these back slats. Drilling and driving in thin boards so close to the edge can easily cause splits. Predrilling helps prevent that.

Prefer to print? Grab the printable chaise lounge chair plans here!

Step 5: Install Seat Slats

I finished up the chaise lounge by adding the remaining seat slats using pocket holes and screws.

I just eye-balled the spacing between each slat so that they looked even. I didn’t measure them exactly.

Step 6: Finish Chaise Lounge

When you complete your project, if you flip it back over on your workbench or your shop floor and it rocks a little, I know that can be frustrating, but don’t panic!

The truth is, even if your chair is perfectly level on the bottom, the workbench and the floor may not be. And the patio, deck, or porch you put this on likely isn’t flat either.

Since this chunky outdoor lounge chair is built so…well, chunky, it’s really sturdy and rigid. So if you place it on an uneven surface, it’s not going to give and it’ll rock.

To help with this, I installed some foot levelers on each foot of the chair. These are the levelers I used and I simply drilled a 5/16″ hole into the center of each foot, tapped the insert into the hole and screwed the foot in.

You can twist the foot clockwise or counterclockwise as needed to raise or lower each leg as needed once you get it to where it’s going.

To keep your project looking nice for years to come, I recommend sealing it with some kind of outdoor finish. You can paint if you’d like, but I love using outdoor stains.

They’re just easier to apply and reapply later as needed. My personal favorite is Cabot Australian Timber Oil. It comes in various colors, but Honey Teak is my go-to.

That’s what I used here and on my recent outdoor sectionals I built. It looks great on cedar!

And with that, I tossed in the cushions and I was ready to lounge!

I’m not going to lie–this is one of the most comfortable outdoor lounge chairs I’ve sat in. The back angle is just right for relaxing and the cushions are a perfect fit.

If you want to build your own, grab the DIY outdoor chair printable plans here!

Looking for more Outdoor DIYs?

Looking for more outdoor DIY projects? Here are a few of my favorites you may enjoy browsing:

If you’d like to save this project for later, don’t forget to pin it or share it to your favorite social channel!

Until next time, friends, happy building!