15 Online Courses to Make Your Own Furniture for Beginners

From woodwork techniques to upcycling tips, learn DIY essential skills to build or restore furniture and add a personal touch to your spaces

You don’t have to be a professional carpenter to build your own furniture. If you’re interested in DIY and enjoy being practical with your hands, creating furnishings can be a great way to add a personal touch to your home—while learning new skills.

Whether you want to explore woodworking, practice papercraft, or create with concrete, these courses are packed with DIY furniture ideas. They’ll prepare you with the skills to build your own furniture from scratch, or give your old furnishing a new lease of life through upcycling techniques.

From the basics of furniture design to crafting paper lamps, and upholstering chairs, read on to discover ten courses in which you will learn trade secrets and tips from the experts.

Courses to design and build your furniture from scratch

1. Furniture Design and Construction for Beginners, a course by Patricio Ortega (Maderística)

Learn the essential steps for designing, planning, and building wooden furniture in your own signature style in this course from architect and carpenter, Patricio Ortega. The co-founder of the Maderística workshop in Chile, he teaches you the skills, discipline, and creativity to become a custom furniture maker with truly professional work.

In this course on furniture design and construction for beginners, you'll learn the steps for building a rack-type wardrobe with a sliding door—while discovering the fundamental techniques for creating other similar projects.

If you love woodworking and would like to build on your skills, you can also check out Patricio’s other course, Professional Woodworking for Beginners.

2. Carpentry: Building Furniture with Hand Tools, a course by Israel Martín

From selecting materials to the final touches, learn how to create furniture out of wood with your own hands in this course by designer and carpenter Israel Martín. He believes that building a handmade piece of solid wood furniture requires not only an excellent design and finish, but a huge amount of attention to detail—which he achieves using hand tools.

In his carpentry course, Building Furniture with Hand Tools, he'll teach you the skills to build a small and durable cabinet in a timelessly simple style. Design your piece, choose your materials, and then get building.

3. Design Your Own Paper Lamp, a course by Kate Colin

Paper-folding is a craft as old as time. Inspired by origami, Bauhaus, and Scandinavian design, Kate Colin is a paper-folding artist passionate about creating handmade lighting and wall art from her studio in Glasgow. Her unique, geometric pieces have been exhibited in the London Design Fair and Manchester Craft & Design Center.

In this course, she teaches you how to create your own handmade lamp using a variety of paper-folding techniques. From learning advanced paper folding techniques step by step to incorporating an LED light bulb, discover the relaxing practice of paper art, and add some color and light to your life.

4. Concrete Furniture Creation for Beginners, a course by EN·CONCRETO

Carolina and Eduardo are the founders of artisan furniture workshop, En Concreto studio. In this beginner's course, they will teach you how to make concrete furniture.

You'll start by exploring the basic techniques and how this material is used when making different objects and furniture. Next up, get practical learning to make concrete, design molds, and craft unique pieces that will transform any space.

5. Furniture Design: Introduction to Danish Cord Weaving, a course by Heide Martin

By weaving surfaces, you can give a personal touch to new furniture as well as breathe life into old pieces. With designer Heide Martin as your guide, in this introductory course to Danish cord weaving you'll explore basic techniques for weaving furniture and decorative objects with natural fibers.

The design force behind Heide Martin Design Studio, the expert teaches you how to restore furniture by weaving a unique and comfortable seat with Danish cord. Learn how to use traditional techniques to make creative and durable furniture styles that balance functionality with art.

6. Furniture Making with 3D Printing and Wood, a course by Alexandre Chappel

There's a preconception that 3D printing results in rigid and static objects. But industrial designer Alexandre Chappel (@chappel) is here to tell you the opposite! He specializes in creating functional objects using a mixture of techniques from woodworking and metalworking, to 3D printing and casting.

In his course, Alexandre teaches you how to combine 3D modeling, printing, and woodworking to turn your ideas into physical products. Break down your dream project into its components, and figure out which materials are best suited to bring the project into reality. Ultimately, you'll create a custom piece of furniture such as a modular shelving system, which combines 3D printed joints with wooden poles for a unique look.

Creative furniture upcycling courses

7. Upcycling Vintage Furniture with Painting Techniques, a course by Chloe Kempster

Learn how to transform your old or unloved furniture into bespoke pieces that reflect your personality in this course on upcycling vintage furniture.

Artist Chloe Kempster uses bold colors and creative designs to give old furniture a modern twist. She sells her pieces around the world and has been featured by Country Living Magazine, The BBC, and more. Here, she gives you the tools you need to turn forgotten pieces of furniture into beautiful and functional pieces of art using different painting techniques.

8. Creative Furniture Upcycling for Beginners, a course by Joanne Condon

Upcycling is an opportunity to give a piece of furniture a second chance and live more sustainably. Furniture artist and upcycler Joanne Condon believes you can create art from forgotten furniture. That’s what she does via her furniture business, which has led her to win multiple awards and publish her own book about upcycling.

In this beginner's course, Joanne teaches you creative furniture upcycling. She walks you step-by-step through the process of restoring a pre-loved piece of furniture through DIY techniques, from choosing the right piece to using color, texture, and pattern to breathe new life into it.

9. Chair Restoration and Upholstery, a course by Lucia Giraudo

We already recycle all kinds of products every day, so why don’t we do the same with furniture? After searching for several years, entrepreneur Lucía Giraudo found her professional calling in the recycling and upholstering of old furniture. With And, with Lucia as your guide, you will learn chair restoration and upholstery skills in this course.

She’ll show you how to disassemble your chair with the right tools. Get a look at which materials are recommended and learn how to differentiate between synthetic and natural fibers. Explore the world of fabrics, how to care for them, and transform that old chair into something totally unique.

10. Furniture Restoration and Transformation for Beginners, a course by Antic&Chic

There are endless possibilities in the art of restoration, as creators of the interior design studio Antic&Chic will teach you in their course on furniture restoration and transformation for beginners.

Founders Celia and Marc show you how to revitalize old furniture or household items to add character to your home. Discover the different array techniques used in furniture transformation and restoration. Step by step, they'll guide you through the careful art of renovation as they share their secrets to creating unique pieces that add charm to your decor.

11. Handcrafted carpentry: create furniture with wood and leather, a course by Taller Piccolo

Build your own armchair by combining materials and learn how to use tools such as the manual milling machine from architects Ángela González and Francisco Crescini.
For them there is no dividing line between design and craftsmanship, they work with natural materials and traditional carpentry solutions.

In their course, create furniture with wood and leather, they will accompany you in the construction of furniture with artisanal and sustainable techniques.

12. Design and construction of resin lamps, a course by Studio Nucleo - Piergiorgio Robino

Resin can make the impossible possible. It is a light, durable and extraordinarily malleable material, capable of taking on any shape. The artist Piergiorgio Robino uses it to create fascinating and functional pieces.

In the course, design and construction of resin lamps, you will learn how to handle it and how to make a personalized lighting fixture with it. You will explore the different techniques for working with it, casting it, modeling it and coloring it.

13. Wood furniture with traditional woodworking techniques, a course by Sandy Buchanan

Building your own furniture adds a touch of self-fulfillment to home decor. But in order to build a sturdy yet timeless piece of furniture, having a good grasp of woodworking techniques is essential. Sandy Buchanan, designer and maker of custom furniture from sustainable materials, has the keys to this, and his work has appeared in the London Art Biennale and Wildlife Artist of the Year.

In the Wooden Furniture with Traditional Woodworking Techniques course, he will teach you the basics of traditional woodworking and how to use these techniques to create a minimalist, contemporary stool that will last for generations.

14. Woodworking for furniture with carving and staining techniques, a course by Urvi Sharma

Learn how to carve, stain and apply patterns on wood to create original, attractive and functional furniture.

Wood is one of the most suitable materials for creating unique products. It is versatile, can be shaped and absorbs color while retaining its elegant and natural look. Urvi Sharma, furniture and lighting designer, uses it to bring to life original pieces full of colors and patterns. Through INDO-, her studio, she has worked with renowned interior designers and has been featured in media such as The New York Times.

In her course, Carpentry for furniture with carving and staining techniques, Urvi will teach you the basics of working with wood, as well as different carving and staining techniques to enhance it.

15. Furniture design: get started with Danish cord weaving, a course by Heide Martin

Through weaving, it is possible to add a personal touch to new furniture and give new life to older pieces.

Heide Martin has her own studio in Maine, USA, where she brings her passion for hand-woven surfaces to life.
In this course, furniture Design: Getting Started in Danish Cord Weaving, she will teach you how to restore furniture by weaving an original and comfortable seat with Danish cord. You will learn how to use traditional techniques to make creative and durable pieces, weaving on any surface while balancing functionality with artistry!

More ideas to reinvent interior spaces

With a mood board and a plan, it really is possible to reinvent your space. If you're feeling inspired after looking through these furniture courses, here are some more ideas to spark your imagination...

1. Turn things up a notch with a total interior redesign, using these ten online interior design courses for easy home decor.

2. Watch these DIY interior design tutorials packed with ideas to give your home a new look.

3. Deep-dive into the discipline and theory of interior design by considering how social changes influence spaces.