Turn a Chair into a Stool
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Upcycled Stool from a Chair

Upcycled Stool from a Chair

I love this upcyled project from Jessica! Today’s Rockstar is probably familiar to you because she performs as a monthly contributor on Pretty Handy Girl. Jessica is here with the tutorial to Upcycle a Stool from a Chair.

JessicaBioPic

When Jessica isn’t performing here on Pretty Handy Girl or playing with her adorable new baby, she is blogging at Decor Adventures. Jessica and her husband have been renovating their old home since they bought it in 2010. Jessica is right at home behind the power tools and can create the most amazing transformations! I can honestly say that Jessica and I have been blogging friends since we both started blogging in 2010. Rockstar DIY Series

I hear the sound of a reciprocating saw! Jessica is storming the stage now!

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We all have unused furniture around our house right? Whether it’s a table that no longer fits in your room; or a chair you’ve grown tired of; or maybe something that’s broken and you can’t bring yourself to throw it out. Well now you don’t have to, you can turn some of those old pieces into something new with just a few supplies and some DIY skills.

Turn a Chair into a Stool

For the longest time we had a set of these wooden chairs in our house. Although three of them are in great shape, one was broken and couldn’t be used anymore. Instead of getting rid of it, I decided to turn it into a fun and functional stool. Here is a quick tutorial on how to turn a broken chair into a stool.

Materials

  • Broken chair
  • Pencil
  • Reciprocating saw
  • Safety glasses
  • Sanding block
  • Spray paint
  • 1-inch foam
  • Spray adhesive
  • Scissors
  • Fabric
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions

For this project, you’re going to cut off the back of the chair to reuse the seat and legs. All chairs are different, so you can cut or even dis-assemble the chair to your liking. Mark the chair with a pencil where you will cut it.

Upcycled Stool fro a Chair

Wearing your safety glasses, position the chair so you have the best angle to cut. Using the reciprocating saw, slowly cut off the top of the chair at the pencil line. If the edge is a little rough, you can sand it with a sanding block to smooth it out.

Upcycled Stool from a Chair

This is what the stool will look like after you’ve cut it.

Upcycled Stool from a Chair

After that, you can spray paint the legs if you’d like. I used metallic gold spray paint for this stool.  Wipe off any dust off the legs, give them a few light coats of spray paint and let it dry thoroughly.

Upcycled Stool from a Chair

Next, take your piece of foam and measure it to fit on the top of your now stool. You can use a thicker form if you want more cushion. I used 1 inch foam that I got at the craft store, although you can find it at home improvement stores too.

Upcycled Stool

If the foam is 1 inch, you can cut it using regular scissors. If it is thicker than that, a carving knife, or box cutter will work also. Cut the foam to the size you measured.

To adhere it to the wooden seat of the stool, use the spray adhesive. I found it helpful to spray the foam (versus the stool) so the adhesive doesn’t get on other parts of the stool.  Do this outside. Spray adhesive has a strong odor, so make sure there is plenty of ventilation.

Put the foam down on a flat surface with the adhesive side up, and place your stool on top of it to dry. The weight of the stool will help secure the foam.

After the adhesive is dry, you can add your fabric. I chose a soft fur since fur is very forgiving in terms of covering furniture, and you can use it on unusually shaped items. If you are using fabric that is not fur, you can put a piece of batting over the foam and under the fabric, so that the fabric will look nice and smooth on your stool.

Upcycled Stool

Cut the fur or fabric to fit over the top of your stool, giving yourself 1-2 inches on each side to fit it around the side of the stool and cover both the foam and wood of the chair. Once your glue gun is warmed up, glue on the fur or fabric all the way around.

Upcycled Stool

Upcycled Stool

Now you are finished! Like most projects, you can use any color spray paint or fabric you’d like.

Upcycled Stool from a Chair

Upcycled Stool from a Chair

I hope this gives you some ideas on how to recycle some furniture you already have and make it into something new.

Jessica at Decor Adventures Blog

~ Read more about Jessica ~

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Wow, I never would have thought to upcycle a broken chair into a stool. And, I love that fur, very rocker chic! 😉 Stay tuned for more Rockstar DIY performances.Rockstar DIY Series

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Check out this easy-to-follow tutorial on how to Upcycle a Stool from a Chair | Upcycle project | Pretty Handy Girl #prettyhandygirl #DIY #upcycle

3 replies
  1. Linda Weeks
    Linda Weeks says:

    Well, now you’re talking. I had some successes in furniture repair, so I boldly took on an IKEA pub chair, you know, the tall chairs – repainted, glued, screwed around with it… got it looking pretty good till someone saw it and sat down. Well all the glue popped open. and the more I look at it, the more I’m thinking that sawing off the top is the ONLY way this chair is going to recover. So I will have this article in my hand as I make the attempt. Thank you very much. I should send ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos, cause he sure looks rough right now.

    Reply

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