A guided weekend build experience for two. Professional tools delivered to your door, every cut planned, zero experience required. Start at nine. Toast at sunset.
Fig. 01 — The Retreat, at dusk
The Retreat is an 8-foot cedar corner: a slatted privacy wall, a built-in lounge bench for two, a planter box, and posts strung with warm lights. Designed by pros to be buildable by beginners in one day — and to look like it wasn't.
The backdrop that makes the whole corner feel intentional. Every slat pre-planned — you cut, you screw, it lines up.
Deep enough to curl up on. Strong enough for the whole family. This is where you'll have coffee tomorrow morning.
Greenery on one side, warm string lights overhead. The finishing touches that make people say "wait, you built this?"
One box arrives at your door with everything except the lumber — and we hand you a pre-filled Home Depot cart for that.
In the box · Complete Weekend package
In your dashboard
The Milwaukee kit alone retails for $900+ — and it's yours for every project after this one.
No mystery, no "figure it out." You always know what's next, how long it takes, and which tool is in your hand — and every step has a role for each of you, so nobody's standing around holding the tape measure.
Pick up your lumber (the cart's pre-filled — most stores will even cut the long boards for you), stage your space, check the weather window, batteries on the charger. Ten boxes to tick, and Saturday runs like clockwork.
Checkpoint 01 · snap a photo of your staged setupUnbox the tools, lay out the boards, make your first cut by 9:30. It's easier than you think — and we show you every move on video first.
Posts set, slats on. This is the moment it stops being lumber and starts being a place.
Checkpoint 02 · wall standingMandatory. You're a builder now — builders take lunch.
The bench comes together fast. Then the sander turns rough cedar into something you'll run your hand along every time you walk past.
String the lights, style the planter, pour something cold. Sit down in the thing you built this morning. Take the photo — you'll want it.
Checkpoint 03 · retreat standingAn easy, satisfying hour or two if you want the richer finish. Or just enjoy your retreat. You've earned it either way.
Final checkpoint · completion photo by 8pm SundayPlenty of places will sell you a saw or a PDF of plans. Nobody else hands you the whole experience — engineered so two beginners actually finish, together, in a day.
You've done the restaurants. This weekend ends with sawdust in your hair and a bench you built together.
The guide assumes nothing. If you can follow a recipe, you can build this.
You'll spend a Saturday off your phone with your hands busy — and end it with proof.
You already own the tools and you'd rather design your own. Respect. Send this to a friend who's always saying "I wish I could do that."
Same retreat, same guided Saturday. The only question is whether the pro tools come with it.
The Complete Weekend
$1,495
Free shipping · Lumber (~$300) via your pre-filled cart
Never held a saw? This one's built for you.
The Experience
$349
Dashboard access today · Field Kit in the mail · Lumber & hardware (~$350) via your cart
You'll need a drill, a circular saw & an orbital sander.
The Finished Promise, on both packages: do the Friday prep, follow the build sequence, and hit the four photo checkpoints. If your retreat still isn't standing and sittable by 8pm Sunday, your next Weekend Build experience is free — plus a rescue plan for exactly where you stopped, and free replacements for anything we sent that was defective.
Founding cohort · 20 build weekends per month · kits ship in 3–5 days
Yes — that's the whole point. Every cut is planned, marked, and shown on video before you make it. Your first three cuts are practice cuts on scrap, so by the time it counts, you've already done it. And if anything feels off mid-build, ask the Build Coach — an AI coach trained on every step of this exact build. Send a photo of what's in front of you and it tells you your next move in seconds, at 7am or 11pm.
Around $300 at Home Depot or Lowe's, depending on your region. We hand you a pre-filled cart, so there's no wandering the aisles guessing — you click, you pick up, you build.
The build itself is about seven hours for two people, including lunch. Beginners finish by dinner. Staining is an optional Sunday hour if you want the richer color. We designed it around one honest Saturday — not a "weekend" that eats a month.
Simple test: do you own — or can you borrow by Saturday — a drill, a circular saw, and an orbital sander? Then The Experience ($349) is everything you need. If you don't, take The Complete Weekend. Don't cobble together bargain-bin tools to save money: half the confidence of this build is that the tools in your hand are pro-grade, matched to the project, and charged when they arrive.
Because you keep everything. The Milwaukee M18 FUEL kit alone retails for over $900 — those are the tools contractors buy, not disposable hardware-store specials. Add every bit, blade, and disc pre-selected so there's zero guessing, plus the guided build itself, and you end the weekend with pro tools, a finished retreat, and the confidence to use both again.
An 8' × 8' corner of your yard, patio, or deck, on any reasonably flat surface. The retreat is freestanding — no digging, no concrete, no permits in the vast majority of areas.
Ask the Build Coach — it knows this build cut by cut, it's never asleep, and it never makes you feel dumb for asking. Describe the problem or send a photo and you'll have your next step in seconds. And here's the backstop, the Finished Promise: your weekend has four photo checkpoints (staged Friday, wall up, retreat standing, done). Hit them, follow the sequence, and if the retreat still isn't standing and sittable by 8pm Sunday, your next Weekend Build experience is free — plus a rescue plan with the exact steps from wherever you stopped to the finish line. If a part we sent was defective, we replace it free, full stop. We only win when you're sitting on that bench.
On The Complete Weekend: nothing to hunt for — even the tape measure, pencils, and speed square are in the box. Your pre-filled hardware cart includes the three site items you'll pick up with your lumber: sawhorses (or use a sturdy table you own), safety glasses, and ear protection. On The Experience: your own drill, circular saw, and orbital sander; the measure-and-mark basics and the same site items are in your cart. A jigsaw is optional either way — the design's curves are skippable.
The guide is built safety-first: eye and ear protection are in your hardware cart, every tool gets a two-minute safety walkthrough video, and the cut list avoids the risky cuts pros wouldn't give a beginner. Read the guide, wear the gear, take your time.
Years from now, nobody remembers another Saturday on the couch. Everybody remembers the day you built the retreat.
Choose your build weekendThe design, the real cut list, the hour-by-hour timeline, and honest answers on cost and difficulty — free, in your inbox.