DIY Mod Plant Stand from a Stool!

Hey Friends! I'm here with my first official project of 2013. Whoo!

If you read up on Monday you may remember this guy I picked up at a local furniture auction:

A sad little stool that was likely headed for the burn pile before I bid $5 on it and took it home. I have actually been looking for a little stool for a while. My plans were to cut it up so I'm glad I got this one for cheap.

Here was my issue- I bought a fun metallic planter at Ross (love that place!) for our living room. I thought it looked kind of blah just sitting on there ground half hidden by the chair.

I wanted to give it some height with a plant stand but couldn't find one that was the right size or style. I was at a loss until I saw this post on DIY'ing my own Midcentury inspired plant stand. They used dowels bought at the hardware store; but dowels are expensive. A stool is essentially made of dowels so.... the search began! And I now have my own MCM Plant Stand!

If you want to try to make one of these yourself you'll need:

A Wooden Stool 
Piece of Scrap Wood
A jigsaw/ circular saw/ mitre saw
Drill
Rubber Mallet
Stainable Wood Filler
Wood Stain (or paint!)
Sand Paper
Wood Glue
Dowel Screws

Once I found my perfect stool I started by cutting the top off with a jig saw. Then proceeded to beat the living daylights out of it  use a rubber mallet to hammer it apart.

Then proceeded to beat the living daylights out of it  use a rubber mallet to hammer it apart. It helps to have help with this step.

Once your stool is torn apart it's time to cut it down to size. I wanted to utilize the existing holes in the base of the stool as the base for my plant stand. So I cut the top portion of the stool leg just under the holes for the top rung of the legs. 

Now this is the part where it will vary for some. Depending on the width of your planter you will need to cut the thinner rungs to a width wide enough so that when all parts are screwed together your plant stand is wide enough for your planter. Remember to account for the width of your scrap wood as well; this can be cut to size as needed. Once you have cut your pieces fill the hole with wood glue and let set overnight.

Fill any holes with wood filler, let dry overnight then sand smooth.

(Worst IPhone Pic Ever)

After the wood filler has dried and has been sanded stain your wood. It easier to stain it apart than after the planter is assembled.

Now, since we are using dowel screws it's best to predrill a hole for your dowel screws into both the dowel and the scrap wood that will hold everything together. I used the smallest dowel screws I could find as to not split the wood.

Dowel Screws

Dowel End

Scrap wood

Now to see the culmination of all your hard work!! Screw that baby together! 

Yay!

Last step- admire your new plant stand!

I think raising the planter up just a few inches makes a big difference. You can see it better from a distance; it't not hidden by the chair anymore. And putting it on a stand makes it seem more important and stand out more in the room.

So for a $5 stool and a few bucks in supplies I now have a custom made plant stand. Hooray!