A stool is a familiar, comfortable and compact piece of furniture that is most often used in the kitchen or country house. Chairs purchased in a store and made from wood composites do not always meet all consumer requirements in terms of aesthetics and practicality for such conditions, and they are also quite expensive. This is why the question arises of how to make a stool with your own hands from wood so that it is reliable and lasts for many years.
How to make a stool with your own hands
Anyone who started making furniture with such a simple product as a stool, having become skilled at it, may later want to make more complex and large-scale structures, for example, a table, wardrobe or bed, which will save considerable money for the family budget.
Design and modifications
Before making a stool, you need to think about choosing a model. First of all, furniture for seating without backrests and armrests is classified by area of application. Based on this criterion, stools are:
- kitchen (in turn, they are divided into classic four-legged, solid, folding, transformable, step-stools, collapsible, three-legged with a round seat, and so on);
- bar (have a high seat and leg support);
- tourist (usually folding, made of lightweight, weather-resistant materials);
- musical (the design is height adjustable);
- children or adults;
- gardening;
- designer, made in Art Nouveau style.
In addition, they differ in shape, seat softness and design of support elements. Stool seats come in different configurations and degrees of hardness: square, round, wicker, soft and hard. Models, depending on the design, can rest on four or three legs.
Kitchen
Bar
Tourist
Children's
Garden
Designer
About the seat
Sitting on a hard stool for a long time is uncomfortable, so something softer will do just fine. How the soft seat of the stool is arranged is shown in pos. 1 pic. You should immediately note that it is better to make the external upholstery from burlap, and sew capes for the stools from decorative furniture fabric. The stool is used intensively, often carelessly, and expensive jacquard, etc. It will soon get oily. And the cape can be washed, and sewing it is much easier than a cover for a chair or armchair.
How to make a soft stool seat
The inner lining is installed on glue with a wing turn of 60 mm, pos. 2. Glue is applied only to the base and the wings are applied, drying it until it sticks. Foam rubber is chosen “by snap”: compressed to the limit with your fingers and suddenly released, it should straighten sharply, and not pull up smoothly.
The outer skin is also installed with glue, with the inner wings overlapping by at least 30-40 mm. To prevent it from creeping, its edges are tied lengthwise and crosswise with harsh threads, and the threads are sealed with thick paper, thin cardboard or just tape, so as not to accidentally break. Upholstery nails, if necessary, are imitated with push pins, pos. 3. The seat is attached to the base when it is completely ready.
The wicker seat pos. does not irritate the “fifth point” at all. 4, but it requires a reliable frame, like a classic stool. Lightweight stools and stools without a tightly attached seat are not strong enough. Modifying cabinets and box stools by replacing the top board with a frame is not worth it for the same reason.
Note: the dimensions of regular, not bar, stools are 420-450 mm in height; the seat is from 350x350 to 400x400 mm square and with a diameter of 300-450 mm round.
Selection of material and tools
To make stools in a small home workshop you will need a standard set of carpentry tools for woodworking and some consumables:
- hacksaw;
- plane;
- chisel;
- screwdriver;
- Phillips screwdriver;
- Sander;
- jigsaw;
- clamps;
- square, tape measure, pencil;
- manual frezer;
- Workbench.
To make the legs and frame of a homemade stool you will need natural wood. For seats you can take plywood, MDF, chipboard. In addition, you will need wood glue, tape and fasteners (screws, self-tapping screws).
Tree
A simple wooden stool will find its place in any home. Some models are quite easy to make. Experts recommend using pine, birch, oak, beech, and walnut. These types of wood are easy to process. It is better to make seats for stools from boards. A solid edged board or ready-made furniture panels will do. If suitable lumber is not available, chipboard can be used. Making a stool from solid wood is quite expensive, labor-intensive, and therefore impractical. The legs for such models are made of bars. If you wish, you can try to make a product with round legs, which are turned from timber on a lathe. Ready-made balusters are another good option for turned legs for stools.
Coniferous varieties of lumber are distinguished by their resin content. The cutting edge of the tool gets stuck and quickly becomes dull. The disadvantage is that products made from them are easily scratched.
Plywood
You can make a stool from plywood. This is a completely affordable material, from which it is worth trying to make a simple model yourself. However, working with plywood has a number of features:
- Cutting blanks is a more labor-intensive operation than working with wood. This is due to the fact that the raw material consists of multidirectional fibers and a viscous adhesive layer.
- Sheets thicker than 6 mm are best cut with a circular saw.
- You need to work with plywood along the grain. If you need to saw the outer layer crosswise, you must first make weakening cuts with a knife, and then finish them with a jigsaw.
- Before screwing in the screws, holes of a suitable diameter are drilled.
The thickness of the sheets used depends on the type of product. It ranges from 6.5 to 18 mm. For household carpentry work, as a rule, plywood of the FSF and FK brands is used, and a cheaper option is Sh-1, with one side sanded. It must be taken into account that with a small thickness of the workpieces, the structure must have stiffeners. If you wish, you can make collapsible plywood stools with your own hands.
Cardboard
You can create elegant stools with your own hands from durable cardboard using basic cutting and gluing skills. Such furniture is an original design project for beginners. The product will also come in handy if you need more seating for a party. You can find quite a few interesting stool designs that are easy to replicate at home.
To make cardboard furniture you need a minimum of tools and consumables:
- glue;
- stationery knife;
- scissors;
- sandpaper;
- scotch;
- roulette.
A durable product will be obtained by using three-layer corrugated cardboard. If the thickness is insufficient, you can simply glue the layers together. When joining, it is advisable to change the direction of the stiffeners for greater strength.
What else is needed?
You can’t do without the necessary tools that you will need to create a stool. The minimum set includes a tape measure, a drill, a grinder or sandpaper, a carpenter's corner, a sawing tool such as a jigsaw, and a plane. The tool can be purchased at a store or borrowed from someone if you don’t have one at home.
If the stool is covered with fabric or carved patterns are planned to appear on it, then other tools and materials will be needed. Also, do not forget that to create the same carved patterns you need at least minimal wood carving skills, otherwise the product can be disfigured. Before starting such work, you should practice on a board that no one needs.
Carved stool
How to determine the optimal dimensions
The main dimensions of furniture are chosen in accordance with the average anthropometric data of an adult. Functional dimensions are designed for an average height of 175 cm. Parameters for children are calculated depending on height.
The correct bending angle of the knees when sitting should be at least 90 degrees, while the feet should be fully on the floor.
To make a stool with your own hands, you need to take into account only two dimensions: the height from the floor and the width of the seat. Ideally, the height of the seat should reach the knees of a standing person. The full height of the chair is calculated depending on the dimensions of the kitchen table. If it provides a level of 680-750 mm, then the comfortable height of the stool will vary from 420 to 450 mm. With a kitchen countertop height of 680 mm, the stool’s parameters will increase to approximately 650 mm. For the size of stepladders, the height of wall-mounted kitchen furniture is taken into account. With the average height of the housewife (158-160 cm), it is 450-650 mm. Comfortable seat width – at least 360 mm. The design of the stool requires a strict balance between the height, width of the seat and the shape of the lower part. Failure to comply with these parameters will result in poor stability of the product, falling and injury.
Stool drawing
Having decided on the model of the future product, a sketch drawing is drawn up, according to which all structural elements will be manufactured. When drawing up a drawing, all the necessary dimensions are immediately calculated and marked on the drawing. It is not at all necessary to make a diagram, observing all the canons and rules of drawing science - even just drawing it by hand will be enough. The main thing is that you can visually evaluate what will happen in the end, see all the parameters of the necessary materials and the principle of their connection.
Drawing of a simple stool - work for beginners
In the presented diagram you can see the names of some of the parts that are included in the design of the stool - these are drawers, legs and “crackers”. Let’s talk about them in a little more detail, so that in further descriptions it will be clear what we are talking about. All these parts are necessary to hold the structure together and give it the required strength.
- Drawbars are bars or boards located under the seat of a stool and fasten the legs together with tenon joints, creating a strong support for the seat.
- The leg is an element designed to increase the stability and rigidity of the structure. It is located in the central or lower part of the legs (according to their height) and also fastens them together with tongue-and-groove joints.
- “Rusks” are bars, boards or metal corners installed diagonally on the inner corners of the structure under the seat and secured to the drawers and legs.
When drawing up a drawing, it is important to calculate not only the parameters of all visible parts of the structure, but also the size of the internal connecting elements, such as tenons cut at the edges of the drawers, and the grooves in which they will be installed, selected in the legs of the stool.
How to decorate a product
There are different options for modifying a stool with your own hands after manufacturing - it all depends on the imagination of the craftsman. You can cover it with varnish, stain, acrylic, or apply decorative patterns. Decorating a room using decoupage technique is a popular trend in furniture design. With its help, without spending much money, you can transform homemade stools depending on the style of the room. Decorate furniture with napkins, photographs, old newspapers, pages from books or music notebooks. In this way, you can decorate the interior in a fashionable vintage style or in the French Provence style. In addition, you can sew soft covers on the seats. Crocheted capes will add uniqueness to the stools. In cases where the interior style changes during renovation, the individuality of the home can be emphasized by decorating it with fabrics. The appearance of the product will also change when wrapping its parts with jute rope.
Making a stool yourself requires minimal skills in working with carpentry tools. However, with a little effort you can get a high-quality, and most importantly, exclusive piece of furniture that will serve its owner for many years. And if you approach the process creatively, fairly simple furniture will become a real work of art.
Photo of DIY stools
Read here: DIY folding table - optimal design ideas, interesting projects and effective solutions for small rooms (125 photos)
Other decor ideas
If there is a tapestry on the cover with an image in its middle, you can place a floral pattern with flowers. Due to the fact that the combinations of shades look dim, this option will not be pretentious, but stylish.
The seats can be decorated with embroidery on the cover. A large flower made using the satin stitch technique will look nice like a tapestry. An interesting option is an ornament along the perimeter or an abstract type of picture. They use strong, non-fading threads that will not wear out due to frequent washing.
Knowing how to make a wooden stool with your own hands, you can create beautiful furniture and save money.
seat
Increasing the comfort level of a stool is quite simple. To do this, you need to equip it with a soft seat. It consists of a base, a layer of filler 3-6 cm thick and upholstery.
The choice of upholstery material largely determines external indicators.
Genuine leather looks expensive and stylish, and is characterized by high strength and durability. But a set of items with a leather top can make a significant hole in the family budget.
Substitutes can successfully compete with it. The price is especially attractive. The material can imitate the first option in color and texture, but will not last as long.
Fabric upholstery provides ample opportunities for realizing design ideas. If you plan to use stools in the kitchen, then you should choose a material with special impregnation.
Rigid models captivate with their completeness, although sitting on them is not very comfortable. It is worth abandoning flat surfaces and preferring a slightly concave configuration. One option: a creative model, the seat of which can sag under the weight of a person.
The shape of the seat can be round, square, rectangular, oval. You can find products in which the upper part is made of a transverse cut of wood.
Ideas from designers
Outdated stools can be used for various purposes:
- An original table with crossed legs.
- Wooden shelf for fireplace.
- Place the stool with the seat down and use it as newspaper and magazine storage.
- As a stand for various small things.
- An original lamp or table lamp.
- Children's swing.
- Bedside table.
Designer plastic stools for the kitchen.
Original design with exquisite shapes
For those who do not like the angular outlines of structures, we can recommend turning to the work of masters. They successfully replaced straight legs with curved ones, and made the seat with soft and comfortable upholstery.
- For someone new to carpentry, the challenge will be making the bends on the legs. Beauty can be preserved.
- It will be enough to replace it with two worthy pairs, which will be obtained if you cross two bars together.
- Making soft upholstery from foam rubber will not cause any difficulties.
In your work you can use not only natural wood, but also plywood of a certain thickness, along with chipboard.
At the same time, the strength remains the same, but the weight is reduced quite significantly. Beautiful carved ornaments on individual elements of the stool will add individuality and originality to the product.
Base
The base of the stool often has 4 legs. In cross section they can be round or rectangular, located vertically or at an angle. This option is considered the most sustainable.
The 3-legged seat looks elegant, but requires careful use.
Massive supports installed on both sides are cut from a single piece of wood, and a plank is installed between them, giving rigidity to the structure.
The designer model, reminiscent of a transparent cube, will fit perfectly into a modern interior.
One support boasts a wooden stool shaped like an hourglass.
In folding models, the legs are crossed in pairs in the shape of the letter X.
