An increasing number of young individuals are taking up the craft of making their own furniture. They invest significantly in purchasing wood, applying paint, and assembling the pieces, ultimately integrating these creations into their daily lives. Given the advanced state of industrial furniture production, one might wonder why some still choose to revert to the artisanal era, dedicating time to crafting furniture by hand.
Image source: Xiaohongshu @Zhang Baibai I reached out to netizens who share their DIY furniture projects on social media with a question. ‘Sanzijing’, who has DIYed vintage cabinets, shelves, low chairs, and flower window mirrors, told me: ‘In one sentence, it’s because of the cost-effectiveness. In several sentences, it’s about the freedom to modify according to one’s needs, creating unique furniture that brings a sense of personal achievement.’
I learned the method of painting wooden boards from experience posts. Some might think that painting is just grabbing a brush and casually applying it to the wood. However, doing so carelessly can result in uneven color application, with some areas being darker or lighter than others, often leading to an unattractive appearance. When I paint, I first use a cotton cloth to absorb the wood paint, then slowly brush from top to bottom on the wooden board. This method results in a more uniform color across the board. Attention should also be paid to the edges of the wood. Overall, the goal is to minimize imperfections and make it look close to professionally manufactured furniture.
My earliest DIY furniture includes several pieces, one of which is a coat hook. The materials I used were simple: a wooden board, a few small sticks, and some pebbles I brought from my home in Chaozhou. I applied a layer of teak-colored paint to the board, drilled some holes, and then screwed the small sticks into the holes. Next, I used adhesive without nails to attach the pebbles to the other end of the sticks. In this way, I attempted to create the coat hook. Initially, I didn’t think I would succeed in making it, but after completion, I found the result to be satisfactory. The most time-consuming and complex DIY furniture I made was a sofa. I decided to make a sofa because I saw a very attractive wooden sofa frame. I bought it immediately and began to think about how to modify it based on this frame. At that time, I preferred a Japanese-style aesthetic, so I prepared to lean in that direction and create a Japanese-style sofa. I bought fabric and cotton filling and, at home, slowly sewed the sofa cover and cushions with a needle and thread. Like my coat hook and sofa, many of the pieces of furniture in my home are not created out of thin air. I utilize what I have on hand, thinking about how to transform it into the desired shape, and then purchase additional materials to create and assemble. You will find that most of the furniture I make has a relatively simple structure. They mainly involve purchasing wooden boards, painting, and final assembly. Although the production process is simple, the quality is not inferior, and most are still very functional to this day. If you don’t look closely, they might not be much different from industrially produced furniture. When DIYing furniture, I adhere to the principle of ‘simplicity and ease of operation,’ completing the production in the simplest way possible. I feel that I do have a bit of talent in DIY. I am very interested in DIY and often, when browsing online images, I can roughly determine whether I can make something just by glancing at it.In terms of aesthetics, I also have clear preferences. I have liked neutral things since I was a child. When it comes to home decoration styles, my preferences are not fixed. I like different styles at different stages. For a while, I was really fascinated by a very vintage style, that stylish old Shanghai Republic of China style. At present, I like a style that combines mid-century elements with a touch of simplicity.
After living in the first house with the mid-century style that Zhang Baibai likes for a year, this year, we moved to a new home. We brought all the furniture we DIYed before. Moving to a new place, I feel a bit unfamiliar and don’t sleep well at night. I thought to myself, with all the furniture you made by yourself around, what are you afraid of? With their company, I quickly got familiar with the new home. The new house is a bit bigger than the previous one and there is nothing in it. The old furniture we brought is not enough, so I DIYed a new batch of furniture. It’s not that we don’t have money to buy new furniture, but my interest in DIY has been piqued. Source: @Zhang Baibai I also taught myself the CAD software. After drawing the design drawings, I send them to the manufacturer. The manufacturer cuts the wooden boards according to my design drawings and then delivers them to me. Because I was too busy, I outsourced the painting work and found the workers in the factory to help paint. This batch of wooden boards only has two colors, brown and black. Finally, we pulled the wooden boards from the factory to our home and independently completed the assembly work. Basically, everything you can see when you enter the door was made by ourselves. There are more than ten pieces of furniture, including bookshelves, storage cabinets, extendable dining tables, dressing tables with mirrors, jewelry storage boxes, coffee tables, dressing tables in the second bedroom… and even decorative paintings and carpets. The wooden floor in the house was also laid by ourselves. The wardrobe in the room is also a simple version. Just put up a few steel pipes and pull a curtain, and it can be used. The wardrobe DIYed by Zhang Baibai The material I used to DIY this batch of furniture is marine plywood. Marine plywood is a plywood made of many layers of wood glued together. The outermost layer is a thin layer of birch, and the texture is very beautiful. Marine plywood is waterproof and corrosion-resistant. Because it is used to make ships for navigation, people call it “marine plywood”. But marine plywood is really heavy and requires the help of a boy to move it. Source: @Zhang Baibai After making more than ten pieces of furniture, I used a total of 5 wooden boards, with a total price of about 5,000 yuan. The labor cost for the workers to paint is just over 1,000 yuan. The process of assembling the furniture is quite tiring and took several days. Plus the newly bought washing machine, water heater, bed and several chairs, and the soft decoration expenses, the total cost is less than 20,000 yuan. A corner of Zhang Baibai’s home A new home was created by us like this.We left the furniture at home to release formaldehyde for two months before moving in. I asked my husband which piece of furniture in the new home he liked the most. He said it was the dressing table I made. Currently, my favorite is also this dressing table. It is very practical and highly in line with my aesthetics.
The reason for making this dressing table was that I hoped to have a mirror in the room. When I stood at a distance, I wanted to be able to see myself in the mirror, so I came up with the idea of such a dressing table. When looking at it from the front, it is a mirror. However, there is a small box that can be opened and closed under the mirror. When you flip open the lid of the box, it can hold a lot of things. At this time, it turns into a simple small table, and I can stand there to put on makeup and do my hair. However, although DIY furniture has brought me a lot of convenience, in the long run, there are still some limitations. For example, I basically use wood to complete the production. If I want to make a marble countertop for the kitchen or some structural forms that require molds, I can’t achieve them. In this sense, I’m like a carpenter when it comes to DIY furniture. This home holds my soul. The home we are living in now is really a place that can hold my soul. It calms my heart. Although my home is very far from my workplace and the one-way commute takes more than an hour, as long as I get home every day, I will feel very comfortable and at ease. A Sumptuous Meal at Zhang Baibai’s Home On weekends, my husband and I sleep in very late. When we get up in the morning, the sun shines in through the window. The environment around the whole house is very beautiful, and I am in a particularly good mood and very happy. We will lie in bed, listen to music, chat, and play with our mobile phones. After getting up, I will make a cup of coffee and some desserts, and then the two of us will sit at the table and eat the desserts. Desserts Made by Zhang Baibai My husband and I are really enjoying the feeling of being at home now. Sometimes I even think that we won’t move again in the future and will just stay here forever. Zhang Baibai and Her Husband Cooking at Home Of course, the furniture at home is what builds this whole home and accompanies us. Under my arrangement, this home has taken shape in the style we like. Although this kind of life has not reached the level of perfection, I think we are trying to live a more refined life while making do. When you take a fancy to a sofa that costs 7,000 or 8,000 yuan, and also want to buy a nice cabinet that costs 4,000 or 5,000 yuan, it always adds up to a significant expense. In the future, when moving to a new home or if we don’t like this style anymore and want to replace these furniture, it will also be very troublesome.Subsequently, the need to acquire new furniture persists. Therefore, DIY furniture is about making the best of a limited situation. Sometimes I think to myself, ‘I’ve made so much furniture on my own; I’m quite impressive.’ I have a complete understanding of how each piece of furniture was designed and installed at the time. During the creation process, I considered many aspects, including what kind of life I need and what functions I want to achieve.
As a result, when they are put into use, they are truly practical and meet my needs. A retractable table in our home is a prime example. Normally, it is an ordinary round table, but when I entertain guests, I can expand it to increase its usable area. It must be said that DIY furniture is genuinely fascinating because it’s not just about furniture. When creating furniture, you can observe many things, such as whether your family cooperates with you and supports you. This is an issue of intimacy derived from DIY. As for whether I have more emotional attachment to the furniture I’ve made, I would say, absolutely. I am someone who is easily attached to many things. It’s the same with my car; I often think, ‘Little White has been with me for a long time, accompanying me through many different times.’ My feelings for the furniture in my home are the same; they are quite meaningful to me. My fondness for them surpasses that of furniture bought from outside. My mother also loves these pieces of furniture. When she was young, she was confined by family and social circumstances and couldn’t do some of the things she wanted to do. Later, when she came to my home and saw these pieces of furniture, she was very happy. She said, ‘I really like them. Making furniture yourself can save money and live well; isn’t that just too good?’ Of course, I don’t always feel that ‘these pieces of furniture are my children.’ Once I’ve made a piece of furniture, it becomes its own entity. I enjoy every moment of using it in my daily life. However, it must be admitted that, due to compromise, some things are only suitable for use in rental properties. I made a small vanity mirror by attaching a small mirror to a painting board. From today’s perspective, it’s not very practical or elegant. Sometimes, I also want to modify the furniture that I’m not satisfied with, but I find it inconvenient and costly to do so. Overall, however, these pieces of furniture meet the standards for my current home. DIY furniture is essentially a philosophy about ‘how we can live better within limited conditions.’