Create a Stool From Spindles and Scrap Wood

ScavengerChic
by ScavengerChic
Several weeks ago, my youngest brother showed up on my front doorstep with 2 doors, lots of indoor shutters, a little bit of beadboard and over 40 spindles (sometimes called balusters). He had been cleaning out his garage and thought I might be able to put his treasures to good use. So, in exchange for babysitting my niece, I received goodies to make a ton of projects.
These spindles had tons of coats of paint on them, but why they ended up with this funky red/rust color is beyond me.


I wanted the total length for each of my legs to be 16″. When measuring spindles make sure you line up the decorative part of the spindle and go from there. Depending on where the spindle was situated on the stairway determines how long the spindle was…sometimes they are off by 4 or 5 inches.
If you want your legs to be straight down you can skip this step. I wanted a slight bend outward so I made a 5 degree cut. Just take a little notch out, making sure you leave the length intact.
With a hand held sander round off the bottom part of your legs. Again, make sure you leave the length intact and just round off the edges.
To hold the legs in place cut a 1 x 4 piece of scrap wood 11 inches long and mark


where your spindles will go.


Use a drill to cut out the hole you just marked. If you don’t have a large enough drill bit, you can cut the hole with a jigsaw.
Insert the leg into the wooden piece you just cut. Line up the top of the spindle with the top of the board. If you did miter the ends of the spindle, make sure the legs are facing the same way. Use wood glue and nails to secure.
Legs were painted with charcoal chalk paint, sanded lightly to show some of the paint layers and then waxed.
If you want to see how the top was completed and attached to the legs you'll just have to come on over.


ScavengerChic
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Comments
Join the conversation
Next