The sun loungers are very comfortable, they are a cross between a chair and a folding bed. They serve as places to relax and are most often installed near the water.
For example, sun loungers can be seen by the pool or on the beach in recreation areas. In addition to such options, a chaise longue for installation in a country house is also relevant.
Agree that it’s nice to relax at your own dacha, sunbathing on a sun lounger. That is why many home craftsmen make rest areas with their own hands.
In the photo of sun loungers made by yourself, it is easy to see how successfully such things turn out. For this reason, we decided to provide you with the option of making such a useful product.
Kinds
Making a sunbed or chaise longue with your own hands is not difficult. For self-assembly, you can use any materials with sufficient strength - aluminum, plastic, wood. Lumber is easier to process and more accessible, so the most common instructions and drawings with dimensions are focused specifically on wood. First, you need to choose a design that will meet your needs:
- Chaise lounge chair. This design is often made from slats in a non-separable form. The only element that distinguishes such a lounger from a garden chair is the footrest.
- Classic beach lounger. The shape of such a chaise lounge is more like a bench - there are no strong slopes in the area of the legs and head. Assembling such a design does not cause any difficulties, but the convenience is minimal.
- Rocking chair. A chaise longue of this shape combines 2 types of furniture - a lounger and a rocking chair. This type of furniture is convenient for relaxing in the shade and can replace a hammock or garden swing.
The choice of the final scheme for assembling a sun lounger for a summer cottage with your own hands depends not only on needs. Some designs may be liked more than others or be more convenient due to their overall versatility or greater compactness. Depending on the design features of the assembly, the following options for relaxation beds are distinguished:
- portable;
- monolithic;
- combined.
Attention! For combined type structures, it is typical to use wood as the main material with the addition of metals, fabrics, and plastic. These sun loungers are stronger and more comfortable.
Classic version of a folding chaise lounge
The simplest and most accessible model to make with your own hands is shown in the photo below. In essence, a folding chaise longue consists of two wooden frames connected by a movable hinge.
Chaise longue with easily removable fabric base
A fabric or canvas panel stretched between the frames is used as the basis for the seat, and to prevent the chair from folding under the weight of the seated person, vertical stops are used in the back with the ability to adjust the angle of the backrest.
For your information! For beach versions of folding sun loungers, calico or satin fabrics are used. They dry quickly and do not create a “wet back” feeling. For a country house option, it is better to sew a mattress on a folding chaise longue.
A small addition to the classic design will not only increase the level of comfort, but also protect against drafts
For long-term relaxation, folding sun loungers are made with side posts and head support.
Folding chairs with sides are only a little more difficult to manufacture
For those who like to relax by the pool, we can recommend models of a folding chaise longue with leg support and wooden trim on the back and seat.
Materials
Regardless of the design, to make a wooden sun lounger for the country, you need to first prepare the materials. The parts of the wooden chaise lounge are assembled using self-tapping screws, which requires the appropriate tool. The length of the screws depends on the selected drawing. The most durable types of wood for the manufacture of such structures for the dacha:
- nut;
- beech;
- larch;
- oak;
- hornbeam;
- alder.
Chaise lounge functions
The main function of furniture in a summer cottage is to provide comfortable rest. Depending on the design and assembly, a chaise lounge can become not only a comfortable chair, but also serve as a noticeable part of the design. Separate diagrams and drawings include the ability to change the shape of the lounger to a more compact one - this makes it easier to hide the furniture from the effects of precipitation or simply put it aside.
By combining different materials, you can not only strengthen a homemade country chaise longue or make it more comfortable, but also give it a certain separateness. Individual combinations - wood with straw or the addition of metal elements add sophistication and individuality to the finished product. Drawings can be combined, but it is better to use an already proven design.
How to make a camping folding lounge chair with your own hands (fabric)
It happens that a body of water or a place to relax is located quite far from the location of the country house, you can’t leave a sun lounger, and you don’t really want to carry not the most comfortable folding furniture several times a day. For such situations, you can make a camping version of a sun lounger, which in its structure resembles a fishing chair. It has no hinges, and the chair itself can be disassembled into two relatively small and lightweight backrests and a seat.
The design, dimensions of the furniture and the order of its assembly are shown in the diagram below
First of all, you will need to assemble the back frame. It is made in the form of a frame made of oak slats 50x20 mm. The fabric cover is pulled between two side posts. There are no through holes in the back and seat, so the overall frame is stronger and more rigid than the previous model. All connections are made using glue and self-tapping screws. The only drawback of the chair is the constant angle of the backrest. It will not be possible to adjust the geometry of the furniture to your parameters.
For composite models, covers are often made - bags; this simplifies the storage of the chaise longue at the end of the season and makes the process of transporting and carrying it to a vacation spot more convenient.
Preparing for work
When preparing to make a wooden chaise lounge for your dacha, you need to carefully review the selected drawing and diagram and determine the amount of material in accordance with the given dimensions. If the parameters of the selected type of lounger are not satisfactory, you can always recalculate it to suit yourself. The basic set of tools for processing lumber, as well as assembling a deck chair for a summer house with your own hands is as follows:
- wood hacksaw;
- calipers;
- pencil or marker;
- roulette;
- drill and screwdriver;
- screwdriver and wrenches;
- mount;
- set of chisels;
- files;
- sandpaper or paper;
- planers;
- axe.
On a note!
The individual tools indicated in the list are needed for initial and rough processing. If necessary, the specified set is supplemented. A finished chaise lounge made from lumber can be decorated with carvings.
Manufacturing diagram of various options
Before starting work on making a lounge chair, you need to draw up a drawing or transfer the finished diagram to paper, adjusting the dimensions. Materials and tools are prepared when the type and shape of the furniture have already been selected. Photos, drawings of a do-it-yourself sun lounger made of wood and the progress of work can be viewed in the attached options. The necessary amendments are made before preparing the parts.
From a wooden lattice
It is recommended to assemble such a chaise lounge from coniferous trees - they are easier to process and more resistant to moisture. To assemble such a bed, you need to transfer the drawing to paper or print it on a printer - this makes it more convenient to use the calculated diagram. After preparing the materials, we mark the parts with a pencil. Further actions must be performed in the following order:
- We saw off the required number of bars for the frame and assemble them with self-tapping screws, gluing the joints with epoxy resin.
- From the outside we attach boards and legs for the structure - for this we use metal corners.
- We make a wooden lattice on a frame from thin slats - they will play under load, dividing the chaise lounge softer.
- We separate the adjustable backrest from the main structure and attach it in place with door hinges.
To adjust the headrest of the lounger, you need to fix the fastening bar on the back side of the structure. After final assembly of the furniture, we treat the surface of each part with sandpaper, first coarse-grained, and then fine-grained. We impregnate the sanded wood with an anti-corrosion compound and cover it with varnish or paint for exterior use.
Fabric on frame
Such a bed for a summer cottage can be made by disassembling an old folding bed, but such an item is not always available on the household. You can also make a frame for a fabric chaise lounge from wood, for which we prepare lumber according to the diagram. When the boards and slats are marked according to the drawing, you can begin to work. We assemble the frame for the lounger according to the following algorithm:
- We assemble the chaise lounge frame from 2 parts - the main frame and the reclining backrest. There is no need to make a crate.
- We attach the legs to the frame using corners and drill 4 holes to fix the headrest in different positions.
- We screw the headrest to the frame movably, for which we use a round rail.
Attention!
Upholstering the finished frame is easy - choose a durable fabric (canvas, tarpaulin, jeans) and stitch along the edges. We attach the prepared seat to the upper and lower slats.
From pallets
Assembling a sun lounger from old pallets is not difficult, since the material is almost completely ready for use. Before starting to assemble the structure, the workpieces should be disconnected, for which a nail puller is used. We make the frame from 2 long boards, placing them on edge, parallel to each other. We nail the halves of the remaining materials on top with the required run-up. The backrest is made from shortened pieces of lumber, secured to the main part of the structure with bolts. For convenience, such a lounger is covered with a mattress.
Made from polypropylene pipes
The frame of the lounger can be made not only from wood and aluminum - a durable structure can be assembled from polypropylene pipes. To make a chaise lounge, we buy 2 pipes with a diameter of 1 inch, corner fittings (8 pcs.) and T-shaped (6 pcs.). When assembling, you need to carefully measure and cut the pipe so that there is no distortion of the entire structure. We carry out the further assembly process according to the following algorithm:
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- We assemble 2 vertical parts from sections of 30 cm by 45 cm using T-shaped fittings. We put corners on the ends.
- The upper horizontal is a 66 cm tube, and the lower one is made up of 2 pieces of 30 cm each and one T-shaped fitting.
- We connect the vertical sides of the inner rectangle by analogy with the outer one - 30 cm by 45 cm, T-shaped fitting with angled ends.
- We attach the prepared strips using pipe sections 5-10 cm long in nodes with T-shaped fittings.
- We adjust the horizontal lines of the inner frame to fit the existing gap, but also insert a T-fitting on the bottom side.
When the angle of inclination of the chaise longue from the pipes is selected, we measure out the tube that will hold the frame in the desired position, and then insert it as a spacer. After assembling the frame, all that remains is to sew and stretch the fabric seat from tarpaulin or other dense fabric. The strength of the resulting structure is not great, but it can be strengthened by adding connections and additional supports to the circuit.
Kentucky
The Kentucky chaise longue is more reminiscent of a wooden chair in its design. This design is compact, easy to manufacture and takes up minimal space when folded. To assemble the folding structure, we prepare bars according to size, galvanized wire with a diameter of 4 mm, staples for fastening the ends, wire cutters and a hammer. We perform the assembly according to the following algorithm:
- We sand the wooden parts, impregnate them with an anti-corrosion compound and paint them in the chosen color.
- We cut the bars and drill holes at the marked points. Their diameter should be 1-1.5 mm larger than the diameter of the wire.
- We fold the slats in the order indicated in the diagram and tighten them with wire, fixing the ends with brackets.
On a note!
The stability of the standard Kentucky chaise longue design lies in the special arrangement of parts and the tension of the wire.
How to make a folding sun lounger out of wood with your own hands
The blanks for making a folding beach chair must be dried in the shade for at least a week before starting work. In summer, wood often dries out, so to speak, “to the point of crackling,” so before you start cutting the pieces, you need to be sure that there will be no further shrinkage or warping.
First of all, we cut out the blanks and adjust them to length.
The next step is to remove the sharp edges and corners of the workpieces using an emery wheel. It is more pleasant to pick up and carry a folding chaise longue when there are no sharp or cutting edges on the frame.
We mark the drilling points and make holes for installing hinges using M8x50 screws.
We treat the parts of the folding frame with varnish and dry them.
The next step is to install the nuts in the holes and assemble the sides of the chaise lounge.
All that remains is to cut in the cross members and pull on the fabric cover.
To adjust the angle of inclination, we screw in several wooden plugs.
For those who like to relax by the water, the design can be supplemented with leg support, but in practice such rationalization has not proven itself to be the best. An additional pair of hinges complicates the folding frame of the chaise longue and makes it inconvenient to carry. Therefore, instead of leg support, ordinary wooden benches are often used, which simultaneously serve as a camping table.
Original ideas
Classically shaped sun loungers are not suitable for every area, so people often look for original ideas for making such sun loungers. For this, it is popular to use non-standard materials - logs, bamboo strips, rattan, thick plywood and others. Such designs will not be similar to each other, even if the details and shapes are completely repeated.
From birch logs
To make such a sun lounger, you need to first prepare birch logs with a diameter of 7.5-12 cm. When choosing logs, you need to take into account that thicker material will increase the weight of the finished sun lounger. A hacksaw, drill, staples, screws and a screwdriver are prepared from tools and additional parts. The algorithm for assembling a couch for a summer house from birch logs is as follows:
- We cut the logs to lengths of about 45 cm or more. They need to be laid out on the end according to the shape of the future structure.
- We fasten the logs together with long self-tapping screws - 4 pieces each. for each. It needs to be fastened firmly.
- We turn the assembled structure over to its normal position and check for stability.
What tools and materials will be needed
The most difficult task in making a sun lounger involves finding quality wood. You will need blanks in the form of timber measuring 60x30 mm or 60x20 mm. The material must be perfect, without knots or damaged fibers. The design of the folding chaise lounge is such that in the main vertical posts you will need to make at least two drilling points for holes for an M8x50 bolt.
This significantly weakens the frame of the chaise lounge; folding furniture should be made only from oak or walnut, or, in extreme cases, acacia or elm. No pine, poplar or any hardwood.
For a soft base, you can use a tarpaulin, but in this case it is better to make a cover from a higher quality fabric over the seat. Sitting on a canvas base is not as comfortable as it might seem at first glance.
The tools you need are a hand or electric saw, an electric sharpener with an emery wheel, and an electric drill with a set of drills.
Material calculation
A list of parts for making a folding chaise longue is given in the addition to the drawing.
The total consumption of materials is as follows:
- A block of oak wood 60x20 mm in the amount of 6.3 m;
- Pine block 20x40 mm - 2.2 m.
To assemble a folding chaise longue, you will need a pair of screw-nut M8x50 in the amount of 4 pcs. and wood screws, 45-60 mm long, at least 10 pcs. In addition, wooden blanks will need to be coated with high-quality acrylic or oil varnish.
