I have always wanted Adirondack chairs along the lake. So we took the challenge and built an Adirondack chair for each family member and now I have free printable Adirondack Chair Plans for you!
It’s not that difficult either and in a few hours, you’ll have your own Adirondack chair to sit on! It’s a perfect project for those of you who love DIY!
You’ll also want to learn How To Build A Cornhole Game for more backyard fun and discover some great tips on How to get your backyard party ready!
This article contains affiliate links.
Our Experience Following the Adirondack Chair Plans
These rustic outdoor chairs not only enhanced our backyard, but building them also provided a fun family activity. Together we created a great space for us to relax as a family for years to come!
The Adirondack design is a perfect style for sturdy outdoor furniture, and they go together quite easily with a basic material list. This DIY Adirondack chair is a great way to get the whole family building, with a comfortable seat as their reward! The instructions for the Adirondack chair plans are simple to follow. Even our young daughter was able to help out and participate in the building of her own chair!
How To Build Adirondack Chairs
First, download the Adirondack chair plans at the link below. The template is actual size so you will have to have it printed on 24″ by 36″ paper at a local copy shop. Many copy shops will allow you to email the file to be printed.
Then all you have to do is trace around the pieces, no measuring! Super easy! Follow along with our step-by-step instructions and photos below, and you’ll see how easily these classic chairs come together.
Download the Free Adirondack Template, gather the supplies and you are ready to build.
Adirondack Chair Supplies
Here is your shopping list for these easy to build chairs. The parts list for our free plans include:
- 60 -1 1/2″ deck screws
- 10 – 2″ X 1/4″ carriage bolts along with flat nuts and washers
- 2 – 12 ft 1 X 6 pressure treated lumber (on one cut the middle back of the chair, upper back support, one seat, and two arms) (on the second cut two legs, the first seat piece/bottom support for back, and two seat pieces)
- 1 – 8 ft 1 x 4 treated lumber (cut both support for arms, the front cross piece of chair, and two legs)
- 1 – 10 ft 1 x 4 treated lumber (cut all four of the remaining back of the chair)
- power tools (drill, hand sander) and a chop saw and band saw
- level
- socket set
- printable plans
Step by Step How To Build Adirondack Chairs
Download and lay out all the templates out before cutting, They will be your cut list. Carefully place templates to get the most pieces from one board. Trace, cut and sand.
Bolt legs together with 2-inch carriage bolts.
Once the legs are assembled, screw the front cross piece between the front legs.
Next, screw the bottom support to the back legs.
Now screw arm supports to the side of each front leg. For the entire chair, drill pilot holes to keep the wood from splitting.
Screw on the arms of the chair onto the front legs.
Again, drill pilot holes and then bolt on the back seat support piece.
Screw the middle back piece on the chair. Make sure both arms and the vertical back piece are level before attaching.
Screw on the next two back pieces. You want the slats to be spaced evenly, making sure to keep arms level.
Evenly screw on the remaining back pieces.
Finally, screw on seat slats.
And there you have it – an amazing and comfortable Adirondack chair! We considered painting the chairs, but in the end, we decided the natural wood look was too beautiful to change. This rustic lounge chair is truly the perfect piece of furniture for your patio, porch, deck or yard.
Adirondack Chairs: A Brief Background
The traditional Adirondack chair design first made the scene in the early 1900s. The designer, Thomas Lee, wanted a comfortable chair for his cottage on Lake Champlain near the Adirondack mountain range in upstate New York. This iconic piece of outdoor furniture may have grown in popularity amongst the east coast cottages, but it is now a must have piece of patio furniture for summer enjoyment coast to coast!
The comfortable design summons you to sit down and rest. The wide armrests and the slanted back with a gentle recline help the weight of your day disappear. The design is so comfortable that even cushions are not needed.
You can line these chairs up and face the lake to watch the sunset or create a friendly space for friends and neighbors on the patio. Circle the chairs up around the fire-pit and enjoy an evening cocktail or a warm s’more, laugh, and tell some stories. The Adirondack chair style is perfect for any outdoor space that you want to feel comfortable and inviting!
Adirondack chair plan tips
I encourage you to give this outdoor seating project a try. Gather up the supplies and round up the family. You could order the chairs online and pay the hefty shipping fees, but you would miss out on a great opportunity for the family to not only create memories but also create a fun place where you relax and enjoy each other’s company!
Building these from scratch is the perfect DIY woodworking project for beginners, and they are very affordable to make at home. After putting a few of these together for your own lawn, porch or garden, you may find yourself building more for friends and relatives – or even selling some on the side! Everybody loves settling into the deep scoop of these chairs, sitting around a fire and letting the evening go by.
Looking for more tips on how to build Adirondack chairs? Consider the following ideas:
- Paint or stain these chairs for a unique touch. Varying colors of painted Adirondack chairs look so nice together!
- If you already have some outdoor furniture like rocking chairs, patio furniture, or swings, Adirondack chairs are easily coordinated with some weather resistant throw pillows. The eclectic, mix-and-match look is all the rage!
- You may want to coat them with a weather resistant sealant if they will be exposed to the elements on your deck or in the backyard.
- Use cedar instead of pine for even more beautiful results.
- Do you have pallets laying around? If you have sturdy pallet planks in good condition, try recycling the wood!
The easiest thing to do is print off the actual size template at your local copy shop for the Adirondack Chair Plans here.
Adirondack Chair Templates (print and trace around these)
If you want dimensions instead, we have done our best to recreate them for you. Click the link below.
Adirondack Chair Dimensions
Disclosure, Lowe’s provided me with a gift card for supplies.
WANT MORE DIY PROJECTS – TRY THESE:
- How to Make a Lemonade Stand
- Summer Crafts and Activities for Hours of FUN
- How to Build a Cornhole Game
- Yard Yahtzee
I would love to keep you fully stocked with creative ideas, yummy recipes, fun crafts, and loads of free printables. Subscribe to Skip to my Lou to get new ideas delivered to your inbox. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram for all my latest updates.
I just built two of these. Thanks to the author for providing the plans. After having built 2, I think I can answer a few of the questions as I ran into those same problems. I put my leg intersections about 12.5 inches from the floor. Basically, where the cut pieces will sit parallel with the front of the chair (set back 1/2″ for your chair front), is the height you should use. Also, I overhung the chair arms about 2 inches over the legs. This worked well with both my chairs. Another thing to watch for, the initial 3 bolts you put in to hold the legs together, make sure you don’t put the bolts too far toward the front, as this will dictate where your arm supports have to be placed (ie, if you put bolts too near the front, your supports will be WAY out and might look a little goofy). Otherwise, this project was really easy. Thanks again for posting it guys.
Thanks for the plans, it came out a beatifull chair. Anyway, once I start assembling the chair I notice that there are some small differences between the the project and the photos, nothing to be worried, but there are. Something else, I felt the the back of the chair to inclinated, i uprise it a bit and it come much more confortable, principally to the neck. Anyway that was the best project I found in internet and it will be in garden on my holiday house in bahia state, brazil.
Treated lumber is a good low cost material but because of the chemicals sanding is not recommended. Instead stick to the more expensive cedar or red wood. Or you could by untreated lumber with the option to stain, paint, and seal.
Thank you so much for these plans. We do have one question. How many inches is the set back of the front leg from the front of the arm?
the chair and the templates look great. How do you make the curved cut for the back support with a 30 degree angle. Do some jig saws allow for angled cuts or are there other methods. thanks in advance for any help. And thanks for the great instructions
How do I know where on the front leg to screw on the arm? “Screw on arms of chair onto the front legs.”
Armando, it is already a PDF and shouldn’t need any software. The full size file will have to have to be printed on 24″ by 36″ paper at a local copy shop. Many copy shops will allow you to email the file to be printed. At the bottom of the post I have a download for the actual dimensions if you need them.
I have been trying to download the full size print, but have not been able to since it asks to download the “DocToPdf” software. Is there any other way to download the print without downloading any software? Can the full size pattern be purchased from you directly, did you know it’s for sale on ebay? Thnaks
Would you have instructions for a footstool to match? Should be easy…..just want to be sure. Thanks.
You can see the dimensions by clicking the words that say “Adirondack Chair Dimensions” right above the Lowes picture.
You can see the dimensions by clicking on the words that say “Adirondack Chair Dimensions” right above the lowes picture.
Will somebody please tell me the dimensions for the chair? I keep checking back every few day’s looking for them.It’s been three weeks and I still don’t see them.I might just be confused about where to look.Help please.
Awesome job on the dimensions too….way more than I was looking for….I was just lookimng for lengths and width at widest part for the pieces. Just so you know why people were looking for them, when you print them out on a standard size paper, there is roughly a 1/4 inch blank spot that you just aren’t sure wether to overlap or include when taping the template together…thanx agai
Awesome Plans by the way….I took a crack without the dimensions and chair came out awesome …Made a table as well so I can enjoy a frosty beverage by the fire…thanx so much for doing these
Don’t see the dimensions on the post. Am I blind or is there a secret I’m missing?
Thanks.