Tubetinker, what is your definition of a great patio set up? Does it involve a conventional set of table and chairs? If you close your eyes and picture your dream patio, do you see a hammock? A coffee table? A DJ booth, some blacklights? A goat yoga station, maybe?
Whether your perfect patio is classic, a little out of the ordinary, or completely eccentric, we can all agree that this outdoor space plays an important role when it comes to enjoying the summer!
Marie-Claude’s DIY Outdoor Furniture: How it All Began
This story is about Marie-Claude and her family, who used to have a classic patio set-up -a table with 4 chairs-, which did not exactly suit their needs since they wanted to use their patio to relax at the end of the day -ideally on a couch-, have coffee in the morning and grow some plants.
The patio set also was a little big for the space they had -living in the city often means dealing with tiny living environments-, so they had to move the table and chairs around a lot to use the space in different ways. After a while, it started to get a little annoying, so they decided to look for options to organize their patio most effectively!
Creating a DIY Outdoor Couch with an Urban Farming Structure
Because they wanted to add a vertical planter -fresh vegetables, yey!- to their outdoor couch and foot bench station and already knew they had quite the “limited space” challenge to deal with, the family thought building their own outdoor furniture, would help them optimize the space.
Building a DIY patio set up was the only way they could fit a couch, a small table, and a vertical farming structure in their small space! After searching for inspirations and ideas on Pinterest, Marie-Claude found the perfect version of all three elements she wanted on her patio.
She drafted plans for each of them and searched through tinktube’s website to find the best pipes and fittings options for her project!
Once she was sure her online cart was filled with the correct number of tubes and the right types of fittings, Marie-Claude ordered the “ingredients” online… and patiently waited for her purchase to arrive!
A few days later: cutting the tubes & assembling the parts
With a little help from her children and her dad, who was already familiar with tinktube’s products, Marie-Claude got to work as soon as she received her tinktube package in the mail. The main tools she used were the pipe cutter, a level, a mallet and a drill to build the project.
Neatly organized working station 
Assembling connectors and tubes with an enthusiastic assistant Drilling bolts and nuts on a t-connector Fixing the AP-ICAP with a mallet
Adapt this project with the tinkpad!
Draw your project with this free printable tool which includes an isometric grid and our best tips to get started.
tinktube parts used to build the structures
Once they organized their work station, they cut the tubes according to the plans they had prepared, making sure they made the most out of every tube to avoid waste. Then they proceeded to assemble the base of the structures.
They used T-Connector HJ-1, and connectors HJ-17, HJ-2, HJ-7, HJ-7A and HJ-90 for the urban planter -interested in the details of this project? Free plans here!– and built the couch using HJ-1, HJ-15, HJ-2, HJ-4, HJ-7 and HJ-90. The couch was the trickiest structure to build since it had to be sturdy enough to support the whole family’s weight. The foot bench or small table was much simpler to put together and only required HJ-1, HJ-15 and HJ-2 connectors.
Marie-Claude used 19 black tubes for the whole project.
As soon as the structures were assembled, they moved them into Marie-Claude’s condo for the final touch!
Connectors fixed to the structure Tubes inserted diagonally to make the structure sturdier Connectors for the outdoor sofa
They added the surfaces and bought cushions at IKEA for the couch and the foot-bench / small table. Then they added plants to their vertical farming structure… and the trick was done 😉
Marie-Claude’s tips:
- Use self-tap screws in strategic areas of the structure to make it sturdier. Then the whole family will be able to sit on the couch together!
- Using plastic surfaces for the couch and the foot-bench is a great idea if you don’t want to apply any treatment to a wood surface, since the furniture stays outside.
great , how much is it?
Hi Johhny,
The price will depend on the connectors and tubes you’ll use. Visit our free plans section to find the basic plans for the project you want to build, then you’ll be able to create your own personalized project and estimate the fees once you put all the items in your shopping cart here: tinktube.com/shop
Let us know if you have any questions! 🙂
tinktube team