I'd like to make a sofa/love seat

[Matt Lau]

I live in a small in law unit that doesn't have room for standard furniture.

After weighing my options, I can buy a custom piece of furniture (over $3000 here in SF) or make my own.

This being a woodworking forum...you can guess my decision...

I found some nice cushions from a free sofa this morning, and I'm thinking of building a couch on my birthday (Friday).


Do you guys have any ideas for a quick, simple, and hopefully attractive couch?

I live in an in law unit under my landlord's retired brother, so I mainly have hand tools (LV LA jack, small BU smoother, Japanese saws and chisels, 2101 bell brace, powered Ryoba hand drill.) At a seperate unit , I have a Rockwell 14" bandsaw, plunge Router, and an older Rockwell 9" contractor tablesaw.

I have a horrible tendency to over complicate things. Your input would be nice.

I may even (gasp) consider using premade fasteners and screws instead or hand chopped mortise and tenons.

[Jamie Buxton]

What dimensions are you thinking?
Are there tricks from the room -- like does the piece have to fit around something or under something?
Do you want additional functionality -- for instance storage under the couch?
Do you really have to build it in one day?
Do you have budget issues?
What do you want it to look like? Can you find pics on the web of related pieces -- so you can say "kinda like this, but different in these ways"?

[lowell holmes]

Google for plans.

Try this link below.


http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/resources/index.php?search=FREE+PLANS+LOVESEAT

Also, check the following link:

http://www.finewoodworking.com/woodworking-plans/article/a-light-settee-in-cherry.aspx

[Art Mulder]

Mine from 2003: http://wordsnwood.com/2003/p.loveseat/

I took a set of WOOD magazine plans for a sofa, and reduced the size in order to make a love seat. I also simplified the back a great deal.
Still very happy with it.

[Matthew Kalinowski]

Maybe look to futons for inspiration? Something with slats for the seat and back, and no arm rests?

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/232146555766838411/

or

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/566679565586888053/

[Matt Lau]

Thanks for the guidance. Sorry I didn't respond earlier, I've been mainly focusing on spending time with dad, as it's my birthday today (yesterday).

Dimensions: Roughly 60" in width or less. No real limitations on depth or width.
Functionality: storage underneath is nice, but not needed.
Tricks to the room: it's a pretty small room, so something that doesn't dominate the room would be nice.
Do it in a day: not really necessary. However, I have a short attention span, and I can't spend 100 hours (like I did on my first guitar).
Budget issues: Sort of. I'd like to limit my tool/wood purchases to under $200, but not make it too ugly.
My limitation, is that I have some tools (14" bandsaw, small rickety 9" tablesaw, routers, chisels, nice planes), but lack others that would make this a snap (powered jointer, thickness planer, drill press). While I like to do things by hand, I'm not looking forward to planing all the stock by hand (I had a hard enough time with a small maple cutting board!).
As for wood choices, I've been looking into ebonized ash ($3 bf), walnut ($7-$10 bf), Oak ($4 bf) or Santa Maria ($2 bf, looks like mahogany).
My free cushions look beige. I'll try to post pics tomorrow or sunday.

As for pics, I've been thinking of something like this:
298205



What dimensions are you thinking?
Are there tricks from the room -- like does the piece have to fit around something or under something?
Do you want additional functionality -- for instance storage under the couch?
Do you really have to build it in one day?
Do you have budget issues?
What do you want it to look like? Can you find pics on the web of related pieces -- so you can say "kinda like this, but different in these ways"?

[Jamie Buxton]

As an alternative to handplaning all your stock, you might consider the Sawdust Shop (http://www.sawdustshop.com/). It is in San Jose, so you might not want to commute down there to do all your work. But you could do your big power-tool work there, and the more time-consuming joinery work at home.

The pictured sofa design looks nice, but I'd worry about the pillows trying to fall through the railings. Some more horizontal or vertical slats would reduce that effect. They'd also add a little strength against racking, which is another concern.

[scott vroom]

"$200 dollar budget, limited tools, one day to make" doesn't jibe with "attractive couch" in my view. Deck chair, maybe. In the SF Bay Area you have no trouble finding a decent love seat for under $400....not the $3,000 cost you mention as the alternative to making your own. Have you checked Ikea and similar lower budget stores?

[Bill Orbine]

298205

Any chance you can go to yard and buy this lumber dimensioned .....say, what does it look like in the picture? 2" square? 1-3/4" square (8/4 lumber)? No need for jointer and or planer! All you need to figure out is the cutting the length and joinery with the equipment you have. And what to support the cushions? I think you'd be somewhat close to your 200 buck budget!