DIY Foot Stool

Repurposing an old ikea end table into a fashionable foot stool

Living our downsized life, the goal is to try to repurpose things before we buy something new.

When our kids were young we went “Ikea crazy” with all the cheap and easy cube furniture. We still have several shelves which we use in our closets for storage. We also still have one of the retired Lack end tables that came on castors. It looks like a big cube that rolls. It was either time to repurpose it or send it off to Goodwill. Thanks to my handy husband, it now has a new purpose as a fashionable foot stool in our home office.

Here is what we started with; the Ikea Lack end table. It originally had wheels which were removed when we used it for closet storage. It is made of particle board and laminated. Painting it would be possible but very difficult. Laminated surfaces need to be heavily primed for paint to stick, and even then, scratch easily.

Step 1- Disassemble and apply peel and stick wallpaper

The great thing about Ikea furniture, is it’s easy to disassemble (a whole lot easier than assembling). After the four sides were taken apart, I used decorative peel and stick wallpaper to line the interior. Just make sure the design faces the same way when the pieces get reassembled. Want a fun helpful hint about applying the peel and stick wallpaper? Don’t make yourself crazy trying to get out every air bubble. Simply get a sharp pin and gently poke the bubble. You won’t see the pin prick and the bubble comes completely out when you smooth it out with your finger!

Step 2- Create the foot stool top

Technically the Ikea end table already had a top. Unfortunately, left alone, the foot stool would be too tall for the couch I wanted to pair it with. Therefore we removed the top and my husband replaced it with a piece of much thinner plywood.

To make the top match with what was getting ready to be applied to the outside of the rest of the foot stool, it needed to be stained with smoke gray wood stain.

Once it was dry, he used liquid nails (kind of like glue) to adhere the top to the other 3 pieces (after they were reassembled). To finish it off, he screwed the wood top into the particle board for extra reinforcement.

Step 3- Cover the exterior with wood

Now it was time to make the outside pretty. We used pre stained shiplap from Home Depot which cuts out the whole staining step! They have a gray color which almost matches the stain perfectly. It also has ridges which allows the wood to “lap over each other” (hence the name shiplap). My husband went one step further and ran the boards two different ways for interest, but they could certainly just go on in one direction.

To trim out the top and bottom he used a 1X4 on the top and a 1X2 on the bottom. Both are stained in the same smoke gray stain as the top of the foot stool. As the pieces are applied to the Ikea base, he used liquid nails to start with and then tacked everything down with real nails. He also allowed for a lip at the top so that the pillow (in the next step) would hold in place.

Step 4- add the pillow

This is the step I showed back up for. I purchased a floor pillow from World Market that fit onto the foot stool perfectly. World Market offers these pillows in several colors, but you know how much I like gray! It’s corduroy so it should withstand wear and tear from all those feet resting on it.

Just like that the project is complete in a couple of hours and the particle board end table has a whole new look! There is a nice space underneath to use for storage or just add a small tray where the remote controls can stay! I hope you found the directions easy to follow, and I would love to hear from you if you try it yourself!

Bonus: matching faux TV Cabinet

After repurposing the foot stool, my husband also added a faux cabinet to frame the TV hanging on the wall. He used the same shiplap and it tool less than a day!

Check out some of the other fun DIY home projects we’ve done:

DIY foot stool