Hand Made by Me... A Beautiful Foot Stool

As I stated on my previous post, this latest project has become a much welcomed place to rest my feet at the end of the day.

It started with some recycled legs from my old bed's headboard (read here).  I cut them from the frame, painted a base coat of ASCP in Old White and a top coat of Louis Blue.  Then distressed the legs and waxed them to a smooth finish. 

We cut a 16x16 piece of plywood and drilled the legs into the plywood from the top down into the legs... just to be sure it was sturdy.  Then I just stacked the foam on top.

You can see a glimpse of the chair I made the stool for in the first picture.... although the chair itself has a high back to it, the profile of the seat is low. I had to measure the end height of the stool to make sure it wouldn't be too tall and would sit evenly with the chair's cushion. I bought what I thought was a 4" piece of 16x16 foam. Turns out, it was 4 pieces of 1 inch foam in one package.... no matter. I just stacked it up and went from there. Luckily, foam doesn't have a "smooth surface" to speak of and won't slide around.

I didn't want there to be any sharp edges to the final piece 'cause knowin' me, I'd be the one to bump my leg (or knee... or any other thing) on the side of it.  To take care of that issue, I simply wrapped the foam and plywood base with a double layer of quilters batting around the peremeter. 

That took care of the sides, but I still needed a softer cushion for the top.  I bought a $5 18x18 pillow form from Walmart and put that on top. The additional inches (16 versus 18) allowed for the pillow to "smash down" onto the foam base without leaving a gap between the pillow and foam. Very important when it comes time to upholster.   The combination of the two made it perfect in overall height, and I wouldn't feel the plywood when I put my feet up. 



Another double layer of batting in both directions made sure the hard edges were taken care of, and turning it upside down I was able to put my weight onto the stool itself to make sure the pillow form was held down tight. 

At this point, it's simply a matter of adding your favorite fabric and you're done!  Considering the only things I had to buy were  the 18x18 pillow form and $8 package of foam, I basically have a beautiful, custom-made foot stool for right around $13.00.  Pretty cool- stool-  if you ask me!

This is also the start of the slow reveal of my winter/summer long bedroom renovation.  I'll be sharing all the parts each week, so I hope you'll check back often. 

And for those of us in the "tourism" industry (in whatever form.... retail, property rentals, or the food service industry) ... Chin up, friends.  Labor Day is just around the corner! It's been a long (and thankfully successful) summer.  Our thanks to those that continue to visit this little strip of the 'Banks!