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DIY Kids Chair With Storage

My DIY kids chair with storage is the perfect addition to my daughter’s desk. The storage space is perfect for craft supplies and play-dough! I’m sharing the build plans and instructions with you today.

DIY kids chair with storage plans!

Hey guys, if you saw my DIY kids desk post a few weeks ago, you probably noticed the little chair. Today I am sharing how I made it and how you can too! It’s a cubby-style chair with storage space designed to match the cubbies on the desk. And it rolls! But the caster wheels are optional. 🙂

Here’s a little peek at the whole setup. I did this all kind of for Christmas, kind of just because. I finished it right before Christmas and didn’t really have anywhere to put it, so I gave it to Ramona a few days before Christmas. I felt like it was something she’d grow into, but she instantly took to it. Mostly taking the cubbies in and out and in and out.

diy kids desk with cubbies

So here’s what I used:

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MY CUT LIST:

  • (3) 20″ A pieces for the two sides and back
  • (2) 10 1/2″ pieces for the base and seat

And here’s how I made my DIY kids chair with storage!

Always take the proper precautions and safety measures before working with any tools or materials. Wear safety equipment and work with a professional to complete projects when necessary. Read my full terms of use and disclosure for more. Happy making and stay safe!

pieces of wood held together using clamps to help me decide on placement of the seat

Here is a link to the Dropbox folder with all of the files!

woman in a workshop with text overlay that says FREE PLANS LIBRARY

Step 2: Assemble the main frame of the chair

To assemble the main frame of the chair, drill pocket holes along the sides of ONE of the A pieces (back piece). All of the pocket holes are in ONE A piece, none in the two other A pieces (the sides). That makes it pretty easy to assemble. The first pic below is the left side of the chair attached.

constructing the chair using pocket hole joinery
drilling a hole in wood using a KregJig K4
constructing the chair using pocket hole joinery

Step 3: Add the base

The base piece is one of the two B pieces. For this one, I drilled 5 pocket holes along each of the sides and 4 along the back. I wanted this to be super secure since it’s the base. You’ll notice some pocket holes along the front that attach into nothing—don’t worry about those. This was a piece of scrap wood I didn’t want to waste. 🙂

sliding the bottom piece in place
constructing the chair using pocket hole joinery

Step 4: Attach the seat portion

Measure and mark the seat portion based on your child’s height. If you plan to add caster wheels to this, make sure you do that first so you can measure accordingly. You don’t want the seat to be so high that your child will need to climb up in, especially if you add wheels.

This could lead to the chair rolling as your child tries to climb up on it or the chair tipping. If you’re concerned about this, I recommend not using the caster wheels until they are tall enough to sit on the seat like a normal chair (i.e., with no climbing or “shimmying” up).

I attached the seat portion (the second B piece) using several pocket holes in each side and the back. I obviously wanted this to be as rock solid as possible since a little butt would be sitting on it! (Ignore the pocket holes that go to nowhere on this one, too—another piece of scrap wood.)

constructing the chair using pocket hole joinery

Step 5: Patch and prep the chair for painting

First I used some iron-on veneer edge-banding to cover up the busted pocket holes on the scrap wood pieces. Veneer edge-banding is often used when working with plywood since it has the exposed stacked edges. But you can really use it for anything.

I used my Cricut EasyPress Mini to attach it because that’s what I had downstairs. It’s also the perfect little size! But generally people use a regular household iron to attach edge-banding. (That’s what I used when attaching edge-banding to our DIY murphy bed.)

Since I was using bottom-barrel pine for this project, I spent significant time patching dips, grooves, and knots in the wood. Then I spend a lot of time going over this piece with my orbital sander. I always regret not springing for nicer wood when it comes time to sand, but this sander has served me well for years.

I wanted this to have a smooth, even, Ikea-like finish once I’d painted it. When I was done patching and sanding, I gave the entire chair a coat of primer and two coats of white semigloss latex paint I had in the closet.

unfinished edges and caster wheels
Cricut easypress mini
unfinished cubby-style DIY kids chair
side of the chair

And here’s the finished DIY kids chair with storage!

The space under the seat can fit one of the fabric cubbies the desk uses, but in these pics we just have other random toys in there. Ramona is constantly moving stuff around, as 3-year-olds do. Just be mindful of what you want to store down here when deciding how to position the seat.

rolling DIY kids chair with storage and a modern DIY desk
You could also round the front corners of the chair using a jigsaw or even an orbital sander. However, since this chair is geared toward older kids, I opted against that. Plus I really like how the square lines match the desk.
rolling DIY kids chair with storage
Kids desk with cubbies and a chair
And as a bonus? When the chair and desk aren’t in use, the chair tucks neatly away under the desk. Perfect for smaller spaces and reducing clutter.
little girl on a DIY kids chair with storage sitting at a desk
little girl on a DIY kids chair with storage
little girl on a DIY kids chair with storage
Since we have wheels on ours, Ramona mostly wants me to just push her around the house in it. I am probably going to take off the wheels and add felt furniture pads for the time being!

For more woodworking projects for kids, check out my DIY water play table, toddler house-shaped bed, dollhouse bookcase build plans, DIY lego/art play table with storage, and kids play table build plans, and DIY modern dollhouse!

Pin my DIY kids chair with storage!

DIY kids chair with storage pinnable graphic with text overlay
DIY kids chair with storage pinnable graphic with text overlay

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