• Home
  • Projects
    • Room Makeovers
    • DIY Home Improvements
    • Decorating Ideas
    • Organization
    • Furniture Makeovers
    • Crafts
  • Holidays
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Fall
  • Printables
  • Recipes

How to Nest for Less™

How to Add Legs to Furniture

in Furniture, HOW TO Tutorials on

Sharing is caring!

1121 shares
  • Share
  • Tweet

A step by step tutorial on how to add legs to furniture.

So a couple weeks ago I showed you guys some painted nightstands for my brother’s guest bedroom. While I completely LOVED how they turned out with the Belle Craie paint and a dark glaze, I really wished they were a big more feminine. So to take the nightstands to new heights, I decided to add some legs on them (ha, see what I did there?).

And here’s what the before & after looks like…

Picture of a gray night stand before legs are added and after.SUPPLIES:

  • 4 furniture legs (per piece) with pre-installed screws
  • Drill & bits
  • Tee nuts from Ace Hardware (about 87¢ each)
  • Hammer
  • Paint or stain

INSTRUCTIONS:
To get started, make sure you have your furniture legs first. The size of the pre-installed screws in the table legs will then determine your drill bit and your Tee nut size. Suggestion: take the legs with you to the hardware store to test out the Tee nuts!

4-in Mixed Maple Classic Bun Feet Wood Table Leg.Once you have everything sized you’re ready to start assembly. Mark where you want your wooden furniture legs and pre-drill holes. If you don’t have enough work space for the legs, you’ll need to add a small piece of wood to the underside before attaching the legs.

Drilling a screw hole into the night stand.

Next hammer in your Tee nuts into your pre-drilled holes.

Two t nuts for furniture legs lying on the floor.Then screw the furniture legs into the Tee nuts.

Screwing the legs into the nightstand.Finish them off by painting or staining to match the rest of the furniture.

Staining the screwed in legs.

And yes, it really is that simple.
And I really think it makes a HUGE difference!

A gray nightstand beside the bed with a lamp, bowl and potted plant on it.Just make sure you set the legs back far enough so they are sticking out in front. Remember it’s ok not to set the legs flush to the front of the piece. Even setting them back 1/2 inch is better safe than sorry.

The nightstand on the carpet with legs on it.The legs cost me about $24 per nightstand (for a set of 4).
At least I purchased the wooden nightstands for only $20 each.
Still a bargain in my book and now love them more than ever!

Great before & after right?

Picture of the nightstand before the legs and after the legs were added.And doesn’t this give you so much more working room when you spot furniture in a thrift store or Goodwill? Yep, possibilities are endless with this simple adjustment!

How to add legs to nightstands poster.

AND SEE THE FULL BEDROOM MAKEOVER HERE!

popular-projects
« Brother’s Guest Bedroom Makeover
Distressed White Dresser Makeover »

Comments

  1. Tara C says

    at

    The legs make a huge difference!

  2. Nicole says

    at

    Love this upscaling! Where did you purchase the legs? That seems to be a very fair price for 4. Thanks for this post!

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      You can find them at Ace Hardware, Lowe’s, Home Depot or order online through Amazon even!

  3. Tripp Knightly says

    at

    It’s pretty important that you drill the hole plumb. Picture here with the drill is misleading in this sense. Hole you drill should be just big enough for the t-nut barrel to drop in snugly (too snug and you might split wood, too loose then your legs won’t be stable). You can use hairspray to give the nut a little extra sticking power. Consider using a forstner bit to countersink the top flange of the t nut flush with the wood surface – will yield a sturdier mating of leg and chest.

    • howtonestforless says

      at

      Thanks for the tips, Tripp!

  4. Terri says

    at

    These look fantastic! Thanks for the tips.

  5. Ellen says

    at

    T-nuts are supposed to be inserted in the top of furniture so that when the leg is inserted, it sinks the teeth into the wood. You may get away with it on a short table with small feet, but this is an accident waiting to happen for anything larger or heavier or which will be slid across a floor when moving.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

We love to conquer DIY, home improvement projects, and room makeovers. We're not experts; we just try to design on a dime.

Follow us as we try to update our latest house one project at a time. Check out our archives for over 1,000 DIY and home-related projects. Enjoy! Read More…

ARCHIVES

Copyright Policy

All text and images on this site are copyright of How to Nest for Less, LLC. Unless otherwise noted, you may not use this content without written permission.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

How to Nest for Less is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · glam theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2023 · Glam Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

1121 shares