DIY Outdoor Lutyens Bench

• Measure the width of the top between the legs and cut a 2x4 this length. In my case, it was 52” wide. Depending on how close you cut your top shape, yours may vary slightly.
• Drill 1 ½” pocket holes into this 2x4 and glue and attach to the legs using 2 ½” pocket hole screws.
• Attach so that the top of the 2x4 is 16 ¼” from the bottom of the legs.

• Next, cut to fit 2x2s as the picture shows. Depending on how close you cut to the template, these measurements may change slightly. The two outside pieces should be about 15 1/2” and the middle is about 19”.
• Cut to fit these pieces and trim or sand down the edges of the middle piece to make it rounded.
• Once you get your pieces cut to fit, drill 1 ½” pocket holes and attach like shown with 2 ½” pocket hole screws. NOTE: Make sure they are square to the bottom 2x4 before you screw them in.

Cut pieces of 1x2 to fit. I dry fit all my pieces together before I attached anything. The middle sections have 6 slats each and the two outside have 4. If you space them out carefully, you will only have to trim 4 pieces to fit in the weird shape. A space of about 1 7/8” between slats seemed to work well.

• Once everything is cut to fit, drill ¾” pocket holes in the ends of all the pieces EXCEPT the ends that were trimmed to fit the curve. Since I was gluing too, I only used one pocket hole on each end.
• Glue and attach all slats with 1 ¼” pocket hole screws. The edges that were trimmed to fit the curve should be glued and nailed with brad nails.

• It’s smooth sailing from here…phew!
• Now that the back is finished, it’s time to add the actual seat.
• Cut 2 pieces of 2x4 at 16” for side seat supports and 1 piece of 2x4 at 52” for the front seat support. Using 1 ½” pocket holes and 2 ½” pocket hole screws, attach the side and front supports to the two front legs as shown. Make sure the top of the 2x4 supports are 16 1/4" from the bottom of the legs.

Add two 16” 2x4 middle supports as shown using 1 ½” pocket holes and 2 ½” pocket hole screws. There should be about 16" between the four supports.

• Cut 4 pieces of 1x4 at 55”.
• Notch out the front 1x4 to fit around the front leg so that it sits flush with the front support.
• Screw the 1x4s to the supports using 1 ¼” exterior screws. NOTE: Space them apart evenly.

• You can use 1x2s for this if you don’t have a table saw. If you do have a table saw, you can trim these pieces to 1” wide for a more sleek look. I used 1” wide strips.
• Cut 12 pieces at 16” long and glue and nail in place between the front and back arms. These pieces are supposed to go up and “wrap around” the arms. Use long brad nails—at least 2” long.
• Line the bottom three up with the corresponding slats in the back, then eyeball the top three so that they kind of “wrap” around the arm. Do this on both sides.
• Clamp once they are nailed until the glue dries.

Fill any pocket holes that you will see with wood filler or pocket hole plugs. Sand and finish with an outdoor stain/sealant/paint.