Sectional Sofa DIY – How I made my own couch

The limits to what I will DIY are pretty vast. When we moved into our apartment, I knew it wouldn’t be our forever home. So, I, like many renters, I had a hard time buying something that we would only use for 2-3 years and then trash. Additionally, we live in a small one bedroom apartment. We needed our living room to serve as a entertainment space, a kitchen, and office AND a guest room. The selection of couches online was very limited when we looked at price and what would fit in our space. So, we started to look outside the box and thought…. what if we made our couch? With this semi-tutorial, I’m going to show you exactly how we made our own sectional sofa with this DIY!

If you like this tutorial, you’ll love this vintage trunk restoration.

After a very, very extensive search online I found only one that had free plans and fit perfectly with few modifications. You can find the plans here. We made two couches from these plans and modified them to make a sectional sofa. We only made 1 arm rest on the side against the wall. This ensured some back support. This sectional also doubles as a bed for when our college friends come to town. When pushed together, the long end of the sofa is the same size as a twin bed. So, when our friends stay, we simply remove the pillows and add blankets.

If you like this DIY, you’ll love this steamer trunk tutorial.

Materials

LUMBER: I acquired the lumber from a local yard.

PLANS: My dad (thank you!) helped me create the two frames via these plans. If this plan doesn’t work for your space, try one of these.

PILLOWS: For this you’ll need 26 inch pillows and 24 inch covers (I made mine but will soon recover, tutorial here soon). You want smaller pillow cases than the pillows you buy to make them more condensed and supportive. In addition to the 6, 26 inch pillows, I used 2, 18 inch throw pillows for the corner.

CRIB MATTRESSES: 2 crib mattresses . I chose these mattresses because they were memory foam and did not have that water resistant cover. After all, these are crib mattress sized but we are not using them for toddlers!

CRIB SHEETS: 2 crib bed sheets. These are amazing because if someone spills on your coach, sleeps over, or your cats sleep on your coach all they need is to be popped in the washer!

PROS of making a DIY sectional sofa:

• It cost me $200
• Doubles as a sleeping space
• It fits perfectly in our room
• Easily washable
• Great storage underneath
• Can reuse on patio or basement when we buy a home

CONS of making a DIY sectional sofa:

• It isn’t a modern style
• The pillows get a little worn down and need to be more firm (this is why I’m recovering them).

Overall, I love the decision we made. Not only is our coach a great conversation starter, but it also works so well when we have guests over!