I enlisted the D-Man's help, as he tends to be able to see fault in some of my original construction ideas. I guess an engineering background does that for you! I had seen a pretty simple design on You Tube, where you cut pieces of wood and just stack them underneath some boards to get some height, add cushions and call it a day. The D-Man thought we needed to take it to another level, with brackets and more complicated cuts, but I really wanted to get it done this summer, not 2023! He did make an invaluable suggestion, which was attaching it to the deck to give it more stability. That idea turned out to be the game changer!
The only wood I purchased was three large boards for the base, which I stained and attached together using 2 X4 s underneath. The height was three sections of stacked leftover deck boards. The bottom ones are actually screwed into the deck itself, so this piece isn't moving when you sit down on it. I used boards that were leftover from another privacy screen I had built near the firepit to trim out the front and the sides.
I got the cushions online from Walmart. To keep them in place, I found two industrial pipe clothes racks on Amazon for around $25.00. (The photo below gives a better view from the side).
I finally tried it out last Sunday and it was perfect! Now, if I can find more time this summer to enjoy it.....