21 Simple Woodworking Projects for Beginners: Learn to DIY

As a beginner woodworker, you want to learn the basics before moving onto more complicated and time-consuming projects.

The following woodworking projects are basic DIY projects that can give you a solid woodworking foundation and help you transition to more challenging techniques.

Best Easy Woodworking Projects for Beginners

We love these easy DIY beginner woodworking projects for those who are just learning to create with wood:

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01. Wooden Step Stool

If you already have scrap wood hanging around from other woodworking projects, then you can put it to use in this one. It uses several pieces of scrap wood cut to specific sizes to make a rustic-looking step stool for kids to use in the bathroom or kitchen.

This project introduces torching, a technique that can help you achieve that rustic vibe in future woodworking projects. However, you can always stain or paint the stool to match your home decor and style preferences.

Find it here: Anika’s DIY Life

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02. Tree Swing

This tree swing is just the right size for an adult or child to have fun with. You can also use scrap pieces of wood to do this simple DIY project, but feel free to buy wood pieces that meet your outdoor styling needs, too.

In this project, you’ll use sanding, drilling, and wood-sealing techniques, all of which you’ll use later in most wood projects. With just a few cuts and drilled holes, you’ll be ready to lace the wood onto the rope for an easy project you can complete in about an hour.

Find it here: Momtastic

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03. Wooden iPad Stand

Sometimes, your iPad or tablet needs a place to rest. This DIY wooden iPad stand can be the perfect addition to your kitchen countertop for reading recipes on your iPad while cooking. Or, watch the latest news while you drink your morning coffee.

This project couldn’t be any simpler, requiring only a block of wood and some essential tools. You’ll get some practice with angled cuts, though, which is a handy skill to have for more complex projects.

Find it here: Instructables

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04. Wall-Attached Garage Shelves

Garage shelves that are attached to the walls can be even sturdier than their freestanding counterparts. These free instructions from Ana White explain how to measure, cut, and attach your shelves, which are steps that any beginning woodworker can follow along with.

The best part of this project is that it’s fully customizable. You can adjust the measurements to fit your garage space. The instructions even include additional steps for adding doors to your shelves, if desired.

Find it here: Ana White

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05. Contemporary-Industrial Handrail

Are you looking for a replacement for your staircase handrail? This type of railing can get expensive quickly if you have a renovation team take care of it for you. Instead, follow these instructions from Homedit to learn how to DIY a handrail with a unique contemporary-industrial style.

These plans do require several measurements, so be sure to have your notebook, pencil, and measuring tape handy. Still, the detailed instructions and photos provide plenty of guidance for beginners to get the job done.

Find it here: Homedit

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06. Wooden Sofa Sleeve with Cup Holder

It’s not always possible to squeeze an end table by each chair or sofa in your home. That’s where this sofa sleeve comes in handy. This wooden sleeve is designed to fit over an arm of your favorite chair or sofa and includes a cup holder to give you a convenient spot to store your drink while you relax, read, or watch TV.

Requiring familiar power tools like clamps, a power drill, and a tape measure, this project is an excellent one for beginners to start with. You’ll also need a less common hole saw, but now is an excellent time to consider purchasing one, as it can come in handy for projects like coat hangers, game boards, wine rack, and more.

Find it here: A Beautiful Mess

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07. Beer Tote

Make your six-pack of beer look a little more presentable with this easy-to-complete DIY beer tote project. It even includes handles on the sides and the top for convenient carrying, which can come in handy for Bring Your Own Beer events.

A miter saw and brad nailer are the only tools you’ll need for this to go according to the plans. Once you have the basics down, you can get a little creative by making other shapes and curves in your beer tote.

Find it here: Rogue Engineer

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08. Plate Rack

Ashley Basnight offers free plans for this plate rack, which is an ideal woodworking project for beginners. You’ll practice with basic cuts and hole drills to create the rack and its knob holes.

These plans do use some curved cuts for the sides of the bottom rack shelf. If you’re not yet ready for curved cuts, you can always choose to keep it angled. However, making curved cuts is always a useful skill to have, and the ones in this plate rack project are simple.

Find it here: Handmade Haven by Ashley Basnight

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09. Hanging Planter

You could easily find a hanging planter like this one in a home decor store for $50 or more, but you can make it at home for about half that price. This modern planter leans slightly closer to intermediate than true beginner skills because of its use of curved jigsaw cuts. But if you’re feeling confident in your abilities, there’s no reason not to try it.

The rest just requires some clamps and screws to complete the planter.

Find it here: Bigger Than the Three of Us

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10. Bike Rack

Bikes can look unorganized in the garage or yard when they don’t have a specific place to go. These wooden bike racks are an excellent solution to claim the clutter and give your family’s bikes their own spot to rest when you’re not using them.

Using just a few pieces of wood – scraps will do just fine for this project – screws, a drill, and a power screwdriver, you can create a bike rack from start to finish in about ten minutes. The finished product will even be small enough to fit in a backpack to take with you.

Find it here: Twelve on Main

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11. Baseball Hat Organizer

Industry DIY rates this project on a complete beginner level, as it only requires some lumber cuts and basic attachments. Although it’s designed to be a baseball hat organizer, you can also use it as a shelf for knick-knacks or an entryway shelf for shoes, purses, and more.

Find it here: Industry DIY

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12. Jewelry Organizer

These plans are technically for a jewelry organizer, but you can also make it into a coat hanger or key holder just by choosing different knobs for hanging. The organizer doubles as a wall shelf to store decorations, picture frames, books, jewelry boxes, and more.

With just a few simple cuts, attachments, and staining or painting, this organizer is a simple project that helps you refine your skills while making something beautiful for your home.

Find the full guide here: Pretty Handy Girl

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13. Easy Bar Stools

Whether you want to add bar stools to your kitchen island or your outdoor or basement bar, these bar stool plans can help you quickly complete them. These stools are designed for beginners with just two simple steps for assembly.

As you get more advanced in your woodworking techniques, you can still rely on this basic stool as the springboard for more complex stools. For example, you can use the base frame but add armrests or a curved seat.

Find it here: Rogue Engineer

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14. Pet Bowl Stand

Some pets’ digestive systems don’t tolerate eating from the ground well, which is where this pet bowl stand comes in. It keeps your pet food off the floor, allowing your dog or cat to eat at a more comfortable height. You can even adjust the plans to make it tall enough for your pet.

These plans teach you to use a jigsaw to make curved leg brackets and the snug-fitting holes that the food bowls will sit in. The rest is regular cuts to give you practice with the basics.

Find it here: Centsational Style

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15. Blanket Ladder

This beautiful ladder project adds a touch of rustic charm to any space in your home. You can also use it in the bathroom or kitchen to hold towels, the laundry room as a drying rack for delicates, or a child’s room to hold their clothes for the next day.

These free plans require standard tools and basic cuts, so they’ll act as good practice for your woodworking skills and a springboard to bigger future projects.

Find it here: Angela Marie Made

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16. Kids Desk

With some wood and brackets, you can create this adorable kid-sized desk to attach to a wall to save space. Of course, you can customize the plans to make the desk bigger or smaller, depending on your needs, but the original is just right for homework, crafts, and other kid activities.

You will need to know how to locate studs with a stud finder before starting to ensure that you’re drilling into a sturdy spot.

Find it here: Family Handyman

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17. Picture Frame

It doesn’t get much easier than a picture frame made of wood. These plans include pocket holes, a technique that helps join angles together with screws. You’ll also learn to cut plugs for the pocket holes to create unique accents all around the picture frame.

Woodworkers Guild of America gives you step-by-step instructions to make this picture frame in a video, which is perfect for visual learners.

Find it here: Woodworkers Guild of America

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18. Outdoor Bench

This bench can look perfect in the garden, and it’s just about the most basic bench you can try. You’ll only need a couple of wood pieces, screws, nail glue, wood glue, and your saw to get this project started.

You’ll have some practice cutting angles with a circular saw to get the shape of the bench correct. You can also experiment with a new wood finish you haven’t tried yet, but make sure what you use is designed for outdoor use.

Find it here: Family Handyman

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19. Fruit and Veggie Crate

Give your kitchen a place to hold fruits and vegetables that you can store at room temperature to save space on your countertops. This crate is especially space-saving because you can make more than one and stack them on top of each other for more storage.

The free plans for this crate require common tools and several pieces of lath cut to specific sizes. You could also cut pieces of scrap wood you have lying around to use in place of the lath.

Find it here: Jen Woodhouse

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20. Hammock Stand

This hammock stand can be a unique and eye-catching addition to your backyard for extra seating or a cozy area to enjoy some alone time. This stand is especially beneficial for people who don’t have trees to hold a hammock, as it’s freestanding to support a hammock without additional support.

You can follow along with written instructions and video instructions on Anika’s DIY Life, but you’ll need to choose an outdoor paint or stain to finish the stand.