Have you ever wanted to add or replace the legs on a piece of furniture? Learn how to easily build these diy wooden furniture legs that look modern and can be used on many different types of furniture!
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A few months ago, I did a few little diy projects to update my bedroom. I painted the walls, made over my old metal bed frame to look more modern, and updated my bedside lamps with new diy rattan table lamps made from baskets.
And after living in the bedroom for a few months, I found another project that needed attention. My husband has several pillows that he likes to alternate using and the unused pillows end up on the floor.
I decided to bring a storage trunk that I had in another part of my home into the bedroom to hold the unused pillows.
The one thing I didn’t like about the trunk was that it was too short. So, I decided to try making furniture legs for it.
Video – How to make Furniture Legs
How to Make DIY Wooden Furniture Legs
There are tons of ways you can use to add or change the legs on your furniture. I looked around on the internet at storage chests with legs and found a similar chest to mine with wooden legs that I liked.
Since I like to do a little basic woodworking, I decided to try to build my own furniture legs to attach to the chest.
I already had all of the tools and used scrap supplies that I had laying around.
Supplies needed
To make your furniture legs, you’ll need the following supplies:
- 2x2 inch lumbar
- Kreg pocket hole jig
- Cordless drill
- Saw (I used a chop saw, but you can use almost any kind of saw)
- Wood glue
- MDF or plywood
- 3 inch wood screws
- Measuring tape
Step 1: Measure and plan size of furniture legs
The first thing I did to make furniture legs for my storage trunk was decide how tall I wanted the legs to be.
I knew I wanted the top of the storage chest to end up being somewhere between the height of a bench and a coffee table so that if I decided to use it in another part of my home eventually it could function as a multi use piece of furniture.
So first I Googled average coffee table and bench heights. Which gave me somewhere between 14-20 inch height.
Then I used scrap wood blocks and propped the trunk up on them at different heights to see what I thought.
I ended up liking the look of 4.5 inch blocks (legs) so that is the leg height I went with. This made the total height of my trunk 20 inches from floor to top.
Next, I measured for the framework pieces that connect the legs together and make a base for the trunk to rest on.
I measured the bottom of the chest width and length.
The dimensions of the bottom of my storage trunk are 16.5 x 35 inches.
Then I had to subtract the width of the legs (3 inches total) to determine the length of the frame piece for each side.
For example:
One side of my trunk is 35 inches long – 1.5 inches (left leg width) -1.5 inches (right leg width) =33 inches
So I ended up needing two 32 inch long boards, two 13.5 inch boards, and four 4.5 inch boards for legs to build a rectangular base with legs.
Step 2: Cut wood framework pieces to length
Next, I used my chop saw (alternately you could use a just about any other kind of saw for this) to cut the 2×2 inch lumber to the above lengths.
I used some scrap pine boards that I already had from a project I made years ago.
You can use any variety of lumber you would like!
Step 3: Assemble frame pieces
After I had all eight pieces of wood cut, I moved on to attaching them together so I could make my furniture legs/frame.
First, I drilled a hole in the end of each of my frame pieces using a Kreg pocket hole jig.
Then I attached one leg to each end of my short frame piece using wood glue and Kreg pocket hole screws.
I finished by attaching the long pieces to those pieces making a rectangle with a leg in each corner.
Step 4: Attach furniture legs to furniture
Last, I cut a piece of mdf to fit inside the bottom of the chest.
And I screwed down through the mdf, through the bottom of the chest, and into the wooden furniture leg framework with 3 inch screws to secure the legs to the furniture.
Completed DIY Wooden Furniture Legs
I’m really happy with how my finished wood furniture legs came out, especially with how quickly and easily they came together. And they are so versatile. This idea could be used on so many different types of furniture. I’ve even seen some high-end couches with legs like this recently.
And, of course, I had to get plenty of pictures of my bedroom looking this clean! ☺️
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