Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture: 20 Step-by-Step Projects Anyone Can Build

Selected as a Gardens Illustrated Recommended Read

Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture covers twenty step-by-step, fully illustrated projects with hundreds of clear and easy-to-follow photographs. Finished pieces include simple items include a trellis, a flower box, and a plant stand and more complicated projects include a chaise lounge, a sectional with built-in storage, and a slat bench. Katie Jackson's projects are simple, clean, and timeless and work well within a wide variety of styles. Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture is the perfect primer for people new to woodworking, DIYers, and homeowners looking for a simple and affordable to decorate their space.

Katie Jacksonis a designer and builder of simple furniture using renewable and reclaimed materials. After graduating from Bennington College, she trained as a cabinetmaker at New England School or Architectural Woodworking. She attended a Woodworking Teacher’s Educational Program at Girls At Work, Inc., specializing in empowering at-risk girls with wood shop skills. Jackson headed the woodworking program at Camp Onaway for Girls for four summers, then teamed up with Lilah Crews-Pless to launch a design-build collaboration out of TechShop San Francisco and TechShop Menlow Park. She now builds at New England Society of Innovation and Technology (NESIT) Hackerspace. Learn more at katiejacksonwoodworks.com.


Ellen Blackmar is a professional photographer specializing in architectural, wedding, and protrait photography. She alsp creates personal work using large-format film and nine-teenth-centry-style cameras. She completed her undergradutate degree at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and has also atteneded programs a Thode Islande Shool of Deisng and The Center for Alternative Photopgraphy in New York. More of her work can be viewed at ellenrosephotgraphy.com.