Friends, you are joining me on the grand opening of my #secondact 😊. Years from now I will hopefully look back at this post for How To Replace Furniture Legs and smile. My very first blog post was A Tribute to my Mom. However, this is my FIRST OFFICIAL How-To blog post. Eeek!!
Now that I’ve decided to become a blogger, I’m going to be struggling in the beginning for lack of photos. Even though I DIY ALL THE TIME, I have never taken photos of the “process”. I’m learning to take photos while I work. And I’m learning how to take better quality photos. We’ll eventually get there! In the meantime, I’m available for any of your questions.
So Here We Go!
You just scored a beautiful (almost perfect) pair of occasional chairs for a really great price. The color is stunning. The fabric is sumptuous. And the new style will make a big statement. In my case that would be these tufted fuchsia velvet chairs. Some might call it raspberry. Either way I just love these chairs!
But there’s one tiny little problem. I don’t like the retro chair legs. Don’t get me wrong, I love gold. But not those skinny, angled chair legs. I’m going to show you how to replace furniture legs, even if you have shorter furniture legs to work with.
The thought process went something like this. Surely, I can pop some new furniture legs on those chairs. I just did that to our sectional upstairs. (After measuring) Wow, these chairs require 9” legs! Let’s see what I can find.
Why does web searching have to be so hard? Does the search bar expect 9”; 9in.; 9in (no period); 9inches; a space; no space? Argh! And why do we get results we did not ask for? Tons of 4” furniture replacement legs.
After almost an hour of searching for replacement furniture legs that would be the correct height. I had to alter my plan.
Hmmm, I guess I will have to settle for these 7” tall triangular furniture legs. They are gold, fabulous and totally on trend! But I’ll need to think of a way to make them taller. Ideas started to emerge.
I need to see them in my hand. I’ll order them and figure out how to adapt them when they arrive. That’s how I roll! Plus I wasn’t too worried because I had already raised the height of a low-to-the-ground sectional that we recently purchased off Facebook Marketplace.
Let Me Show You How To Replace Furniture Legs And “Stretch” Them
Cut To The Chase: Here’s The Short Answer For How To Replace Furniture Legs And Achieve The Correct Height With Shorter Legs
After removing the old furniture legs, I placed wood triangles under the chairs, at each corner. I made the triangles from 2×4 scraps which lifted the chairs off the ground by 1.5” (the thickness of a 2×4). Then I attached the 7” replacement furniture legs to the triangles to achieve an overall height of 8.5” (Close enough to the original 9” furniture legs I was replacing!) Then I used 5mm poplar strips to hide my mechanics.
The Process For Making The Wood Triangles
- Using a miter saw, I cut (8) equilateral triangles from 2×4 scraps. (Yes, I had to look that up, it means each of the 3 sides was exactly the same.) (And yes, these triangles ended up being exactly the right size to work with the new replacement furniture legs.)
- Using a miter saw, I also cut (8) 3″ long blocks from 1×3 scraps (I’ll explain these later).
- Now I needed to predrill the wood triangles before I could attach them to the underside of the chairs. (This step is to prevent the wood from splitting.) But I didn’t want my predrilled holes to be in the same place where I was going to attach the metal furniture legs. So, I placed the new metal furniture legs on the wood triangles so I could trace the holes.
- Making sure to avoid the holes I had just traced, I predrilled each of the wood triangles with (3) countersink holes,
Other Preparation For Replacing Furniture Legs
- Spray painted the metal furniture legs with a primer coat.
- Using a circular saw, (2) clamps and a metal straight edge, I cut down a piece of 5mm poplar into (8) strips. Each of the strips were 1.5″ x 30″ long.
- Sanded the edges of the poplar strips.
- Painted the poplar strips.
- Now with the primer coat dry, I painted the metal furniture legs to match the poplar strips.
Attaching The Wood Triangles To The Chairs
I used the 1.5″ poplar strips to hide my mechanics. So the painted poplar strips ended up looking like a “platform” under the chairs with a modern look. However, I wanted the new “platform” to be flush with all sides of the chair. So I used a piece of the pre-cut 5mm poplar to make sure the offset for the wood triangles was at the right place. In this case, I came in from the chair corners by about 3/16”.
- Once I had the spacing correct for the wood triangles, I attached all the wood triangles to the underside corners using #8 – 2” star drive screws.
Mitering And Attaching The Strips Of Poplar
Now with the wood triangles in place, I could get a precise measurement for how long to cut and miter the poplar strips.
- Made my cut marks.
- Cut the poplar strips with 45 degree angles.
- Attached the poplar strips to the wood triangles with 1” pin nails.
- Attached the 3” blocks (from step 2 above) to the underside of the chairs (behind the poplar strips to prevent the poplar strips from bowing in the middle). I used #8 – 1″ screws.
- Secured the poplar strips to the 3” blocks with 1” pin nails.
Attaching The Metal Furniture Legs
The predrilled holes in the metal furniture legs were too big for my #8 screws, so I used metal washers.
- Using metal washers, I attached the metal furniture legs with #8 – 1.5” star drive screws; and #8 – 1″ screws.
The 3 holes shown here in the black area are from the old legs I removed.
I used the 3″ wood blocks in the middle of each section to keep
the thin poplar strips from bowing.
Here’s the underside to show the wood triangles, wood blocks,
thin poplar slats and the new legs.
And That Was It!
Here’s another look at the finished job with replacement furniture legs that I “stretched”. They have a modern vibe but not retro. Plus the paint I chose makes it look like these chairs have metal frames. I’m so happy with how they turned out.
Materials Used for 2 Chairs (about 27” deep and 27” wide)
2” x 4” x 24” whitewood lumber (I actually used up some scraps)
1” x 3” x 24” board (I used more scraps)
(8) 1.5” x 30” strips of RevolutionPly 5mm Poplar Sanded Plywood from Lowe’s (I had leftover from another project)
(8) 7” tall gold metal triangular legs which I spray painted
(24) #8 – 2” star drive screws. For this application even though my wood was 1.5” thick. I only chose 2” long screws because I also had the added benefit of a countersunk hole. Meaning the screws would be able to go deeper into the bottom of the chair. And a #8 screw is a good diameter (I think of this number as screw strength). This package contains 153. Plenty for future DIYs
(16) metal washers
(16) #8 – 1.5” star drive screws
(32) #8 – 1″ screws
1” pin nails
Metallic spray paint used as a primer coat on the metal furniture legs
Tools Used
Star bit and countersink bits
Cordless circular saw (or table saw) to cut strips of poplar
Miter saw stand {has been a game changer for me}
Cordless pin nailer {my favorite of all my tools}
Mini cordless blower/vacuum for sawdust (awesome little tool)
Take Away
You can totally replace furniture legs on your own pieces. I’m sure you could modify my plans if you need a taller or shorter solution. And if you’re stuck, please send me a comment maybe we can figure something out together??
Here’s to making it work and Making it Fabulous!
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