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Before you buy another flat-pack…

9 Things Worth Building Instead of Buying

Hundreds of dollars, an Allen key, and a bookcase that sways when you set a book on it. Build these 9 solid instead.

By Wood & Craft5 min read · October 2026
Woodworking plans on the bench next to the finished storage bench
From plan to porch: a storage bench built from a shop-tested plan.

Rap your knuckles on most store furniture: a hollow knock, particleboard under a photo of wood grain. Rap solid oak and you get a dead, heavy thud. That's furniture that stays put.

  1. A solid wood dining table

    1. Dining table

    Store version: veneer over particleboard that swells at the first wet glass. Your version: solid boards the family gathers around for decades.

    See how it's built
  2. Two Adirondack chairs

    2. Adirondack chairs

    A store pair can run a few hundred dollars. Built from cedar or pine, it's a decades chair, not a seasons chair.

    See how it's built
  3. A workbench

    3. Workbench

    Built to your height. Pound on it all day; it won't walk across the floor.

    See how it's built
  4. A wooden dollhouse

    4. Dollhouse or toy chest

    Real joints, no staples, and a story behind it no store can sell.

    See how it's built
  5. A picnic table

    5. Picnic table

    The weekend project the whole family sits at all summer.

    See how it's built
  6. Wall storage

    6. Storage and shelving

    Heavy-duty, wall to wall, sized to your space instead of a catalog's.

    See how it's built
  7. A garden shed

    7. Garden shed

    A kit shed is thin panels and a prayer. A built shed is framed, square and yours.

    See how it's built
  8. A dog house

    8. Dog house

    Sized for your dog and your winters, not a shipping box.

    See how it's built
  9. An entryway shoe bench

    9. Entryway bench

    The by-the-door piece every visitor notices.

    See how it's built

The catch is the plan

A half-built stool next to its plan

Most free plans online were drawn on a screen and never built. They use board names instead of real sizes (a "2x4" is really about 1½ by 3½ inches), skip steps, and leave you guessing at the bench.

Woodworker Ted McGrath builds every plan in his shop before releasing it, so you can build it yourself instead of paying a carpenter a fortune.

Ted McGrath
Ted McGrath
Woodworker and woodworking teacher

Picture the first evening on your porch in a chair you built. No creak. No wobble. Yours.

Next: a short video from Ted McGrath
Ted McGrath in his workshopHi. My name is Ted McGrath.

Flat-pack, a carpenter's bill, or solid wood you built yourself. In a short video on the next page, Ted shows you how you can build it yourself, instead of spending a fortune hiring someone to do it for you.

See how to build it yourself →
Short videoOpens on the next page
See how to build it yourself →