Synopsis: Learn to build elegant furniture for your garden, deck, or patio with expert advice from three makers: Hank Gilpin, Michael Fortune, and Matt Kenney. Each offers a plan for outdoor seating that  is both attractive and comfortable, using materials and joinery that will help it survive in the brutal, decay-prone environment of Mother Nature. If you want to go beyond these specific designs, you’ll also get some great tips on building for the outdoors in general, such as choosing the right wood, glue, and hardware, and whether to apply a finish.

As furniture makers, we aspire to build things that will look beautiful for a lifetime. We spend a lot of time on the design and choose the best-looking lumber for the project. We work hard to cut strong, long-lasting joinery and add in tolerances that allow for expansion and contraction of the wood so that doors and…