How To Make Oversized Stepstool

I was cleaning out the garage this past week and came across the old top to my kitchen island. As I was taking the boards apart I knew it was the perfect specimen for an oversized stepstool for the bedroom closet.

 

After one board was removed, it was the perfect size to make a stepstool—well almost.

 

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Cut tabletop on miter saw

I turned the tabletop over so that I could keep an eye on the location of the screws and proceeded to cut it on the compound miter saw.

 

These are the two pieces I was left with after sawing off the stained ends. It looks like two stepstools just waiting to happen, right?

 

Look for suitable lumber for oversized stepstool legs

Looking in my lumber pile I found a 2x2 perfect for the legs of this oversized stepstool.

 

This is my inspiration for this stepstool project. It was my Nana’s stool that my Grandad probably made for her. Why is is hanging out in the garage? That’s a good question. It really needs to have a place of honor.

 

Cut legs for stepstool

I cut the 2x2 in sections to make 4 legs and the brace pieces.

Dry fit stepstool legs

You can see I chose the larger section of the former tabletop for this stepstool project.

 

Mark legs for pocket holes

Drilling pocket holes can be somewhat confusing. I prefer to mark the areas so I don’t mess up.

 

Drill pocket holes

Drilling pocket holes into the tops of the legs seemed like the best way to make this project really sturdy.

Need more details on using a Kreg Jig? See my article How to use a Kreg Jig Pocket Hole System

 

Attach legs to stepstool

I used 1 ½” pocket hole screws to attach each of the legs to the stepstool. I recommend using Gorilla Wood Glue along with the screws. The best way to do this brace step is to clamp the cross board in place, drill a pilot hole through the leg into the long cross board. Do this on each side using wood screws and glue.

Offset screws slightly so that you have room to add screws going through the leg into the shorter cross board. (not pictured)

 

Orbital sander for  rough boards

I prefer to sort of round over the sharp edges on projects like these with my orbital sander with 150-220 grit sandpaper.

 

Paint oversized step stool

Time to paint! I use regular ole latex wall paint for my projects. Most of the time I use a diy chalky paint primer made with Plaster of Paris. However, this time I just used a satin paint—Simply White. Of course I used my favorite cheap chip brush to apply the paint. These brushes clean up quickly and waste very little paint.

 

It’s best to pour paint into a cup, instead of dipping your paintbrush into the full can of paint. I painted a couple of light coats of paint on the stool.

 

 

Do you use spackling to patch furniture projects?

Most of the time I reach for my bucket of drywall mud or spackling to patch small holes. I only patch them when I have to, and generally wait till after I put on the first couple of coats of paint. As in this case—I simply grabbed my small putty knife and a load of mud to patch the holes. It was rainy outside so I worked on the new stepstool right in the kitchen.

NOTE: the stepstool is made from the old kitchen island, and here it is resting on the new island table top!

 

I filled the screw holes and some random holes that were left from the original pocket hole screws that held the island tabletop together.

 

Using a damp rag instead of sandpaper

Because I was working on this project in the kitchen, I used a damp rag for “sanding” instead of sandpaper. Since the step stool is white, I didn’t have to touch up the paint.

 

 

See? good enough for me! Small holes patched and wiped away with a damp rag.

 

Protect your floors

Add felt furniture pads to the bottom of the step stool legs to protect your wooden floors. I like to buy them by bulk in various sizes.

Short over sized step stool for master closet

This short over sized stepstool will really come in handy in my master bedroom closet. It’s been about 6 months and I’ve worked really hard to keep my bedroom and closet neat and tidy. That’s not easy to do in a small house.

 

The oversized stool is perfect for me to reach the upper shelves in the closet! It’s a good height for sitting, and definitely wide enough for me to step to one side to reach even further. I love the fact that it’s made from reclaimed lumber from my old kitchen island.

The overall size of this stool is:

• Top 11" x 19"
• Legs 11"

I still need to rescue my Nana’s step stool from the garage . . .

gail

see more stepstool projects here