Ready with your shed? Bored because you have no projects to do, your tools stay sad and clean, your workbench is screaming for work? Hold on, there is always something new to build. What about a gazebo?
Building a gazebo is excellent project to fine-tune your woodworking skills further. Yes, gazebos usually have have no sides and shelves but can often be more complicated for building than a shed. Why so? Mostly because of the multi-angular roof, the benches inside, the visual elements on the sides. A shed can be beautiful. A gazebo must be.
So, here we go: we have collected some nice "build a gazebo" tutorials and plans for you plus several great examples for inspiration:
Here is a page with 10 Free Gazebo Plans for wooden gazebos. The second one is a very classic gazebo, number 4 is relatively simple, and number 7 is illustrated very well.
WikiHow is usually a decent source for how-tos and this time makes no exception. Their How to Make a Gazebo guide is simple to follow although not too detailed. But the lack of too much detail is not bad because it gives you freedom to build your gazebo the way you want.
The most complicated part of building a gazebo is building the roof. Especially when the roof is multi-angled and not just some kind of a gable roof. Gazebos typically have more complicated roofs than sheds. So here's a great guide about doing this. The same site also publishes rectangular gazebo plans which could be useful if you want to do a bit simpler project.
A bunch of selected links to free plans is available on this page. If you are looking for a simple solution have a look at project number 4 - it has an easy to build gable roof. If you are already good and not scared of more complicated stuff, project 12 is for you.
MotherEarthNews is as usual a lot more descriptive than visual. If you like reading more than watching pictures, their guide is quite detailed and good.
Here's another project for those who prefer simple stuff: Build a Hip-Roof Gazebo. While the hip roof is not as simple as for example a lean-to roof, it's still not that hard either. And because this one is almost flat, it's easy to work on top without being too worried about falling down.
And let's finish with this very detailed guide with lots of pictures and drawings.
