How To Add Legs To A Table

Is your furniture also short? Adding legs to a dresser not merely adds height, it gives a modernistic touch to your old furniture. Learn how to Hands add legs to dressers, my favorite identify to get legs for a dresser, and how to apace change your dresser so y'all can put those legs on.

Go more than furniture makeover ideas hither!

vintage dresser before paint and new legs

This definitely isn't our first rodeo of adding legs to a dresser. Actually, over the years, nosotros have added legs (or piece of furniture feet) to quite a few different pieces of furniture.

And over the years we take used so many different techniques. If you get wayyyy back to the beginning, I wrote a tutorial on how to add legs to nightstands, simply it definitely was non the easy style.

Nosotros spent hours trying to measure everything just right, we used old legs from some other piece of furniture, and we really didn't have many tools. We were merely getting started.

So we got a little smarter, and learned a different method of calculation legs to furniture. This style is so much easier, but you still have to measure a lot and purchase actress wood.

*Update* – Since this makeover, I have also written a post about how we cut a desk in half to create ii nightstands and so added legs to the nightstands because 2 legs were missing.

This was a actually fun makeover that pushed me further into building and repurposing furniture!

The Like shooting fish in a barrel Way of Adding Legs to a Dresser

Then we heard of using a multi-functional tool to cut wood furniture in half to arrive into something else. I'm sold!

I mean, how absurd is this makeover?? And she used a multi-functional tool to cut upwardly an old Goggle box stand and created two different things.

So I looked into this tool and found out at that place are so many things that a homeowner / DIYER can do with a multi-functional tool!

Using a Multi-Functional Tool

After searching effectually for a great multi-functional tool, I landed on this specific one. The Dremel Multi-max.

Why?

Well, Dremel is a great brand. They have years behind them, and the reviews were peachy!

I as well really liked how easy it is to change the accessories with the Quick Lock.

No one else had this super easy feature! So instead of quick and easy, I would accept to use a hex key to change out the accessories. No thank you. I want it to exist super uncomplicated and piece of cake so I'll actually want to use information technology!

I besides really liked how many accessories came with information technology; 4 cutting blades

forest
metal and woods
wood and drywall
drywall jab saw
a grout removal bract AND a sanding pad with 21 sheets of sandpaper that velcro onto the pad.

So basically it's a sander and forest, metal, drywall and grout cutting car, all in one.

Oh and it comes with a little handbag to put everything in likewise which my OCD husband loves.

I reached out to Dremel and they sent 1 over for this projection!

Here'due south the consummate truth, before we even were able to get around to this dresser, we used this Dremel twice. And since this project we accept used it countless times.

From using information technology as a sander to get into corners and tight spaces, to cutting random wood for random projects effectually the house.

I've been blown away by how many times I have used it in just a calendar month or 2.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I also may earn from other qualifying purchases with other companies or get gratis product to review and use. All opinions are my own.

To Add Legs to Piece of furniture, You'll Need:

Dremel Multi – Max
Centre Protection
Legs or Feet
Piece of furniture Leg Plates
Drill with a Modest Drill Bit (smaller than the screws that come with the leg plates)
Paint if you decide to paint your article of furniture too!

If you're a visual learner, check out this quick video of the whole procedure to add legs to this dresser.

Getting Rid of the Sometime "Legs"

If you lot find, this dresser has a brim on the bottom that acts equally it's legs to make the dresser taller.

The skirt really out dates the piece though, and so the first step is to get rid of it.

Now, I idea I might take a jigsaw or circular saw to information technology, only I've done that in the past, and it really isn't every bit like shooting fish in a barrel as it sounds. Neither of those saws really cut straight, and you can't just rely on keeping it affluent against the other wood considering they are so strong that they will cut through what yous're trying to keep it flush up against.

That'south why we got this Multi-Functional Tool!

Some other reason we wanted to have the skirting / bottom off, is so we would have a adept place to screw the leg plates into.

In the past nosotros've added plywood over the brim to brand a box, but that takes actress material which means more money and time. And it just doesn't wait as clean cut!

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Look to see if any screws are holding the bottom on.

We started out by flipping over the dresser, so information technology was sitting on information technology'due south top.

And so we took a closer expect at what nosotros would demand to do to take off the skirt. On this particular dresser, and on a lot of dressers, the front skirt was screwed on, just the side skirts were actually part of the sides of the dresser.

So we removed the screws from the front brim, and removed the screws from any of the woods braces that we saw. These are commonly in the corners of the skirts, and mayhap in the heart dorsum of the dresser.

In one case all the screws were removed, the front skirt hands came right off. In that location were two braces in the dorsum that were nailed on besides, so nosotros used a hammer to pound those off.

How to Easily Cut Off the Bottom of a Dresser

Now we just needed to go rid of the side skirts.

Hither's where the Dremel made it'southward debut!

Nosotros put on a wood blade, locked it in place, turned the Dremel on, and and then cut the sides down flush with the other wood.

Basically nosotros just put the blade downward on the base of the dresser and so pushed the forest bract into the brim.

The blade made a perfect cut, affluent with the base of the dresser.

We pushed through the wood, and then brought the saw back a flake and repeated the process until the skirt was cut off.

It was sooo easy and quick! In less than 10 minutes I got rid of the ugly skirt and was nigh ready to put on the legs.

Sanding the bottom of the dresser after cutting

But because I could, I went back with the sanding attachment, and sanded my cut downwardly fifty-fifty more smooth and flush.

How to Adhere the Legs

Notice how the back of the dresser is lower than the sides and the front nevertheless?

On this dresser, I had to add a slice of wood on each side in the back simply to give me a place to put the plates.

But information technology was super piece of cake!

Image of the furniture leg brace in place

We just cutting a piece to fit and screwed it into the wood beneath. And nosotros fabricated sure that the screws wouldn't be in the way of the plate too.

Drilling pilot holes to screw in the let plate

Then I grabbed the leg plates and screwed them into place.

Screwing the furniture leg plate in place

To do this I made sure the screws went into solid wood and not in a crack between woods, then I marked where the screws needed to get with a sharpie.

Since I didn't want the wood to split, I drilled in little starter holes for the screws before I screwed in the actual screws.

Then I put the leg plates back on, and screwed them into place.

You lot can as well use unlike mounting hardware similar nosotros did on this painted cedar chest to get rid of that gap between the leg and base of the article of furniture that sometimes happens with the other methods.

Where to Buy Legs for a Dresser??

All that was left to practise was to screw the legs into the plates.

I got these legs off of Amazon – they have such a great pick for pretty good prices! Home Depot and Lowes also have a pocket-sized selection of legs.

I love these legs though because they are taller and chunkier than you tin can observe at other stores, and they come already stained and finished if you're wanting to add them to an already finished slice of piece of furniture.

And if you lot're wanting to paint, just prep them like yous do the piece of furniture, and then paint! Plus if you distress your painted end, the stained stop will bear witness through, exactly what you desire!

If you notice, these legs already have the screws congenital in on the top. These are the kind you need.

Painting your Dresser

If you're planning on painting, I would advise to take the legs back off the dresser before painting.

Learn how to paint article of furniture with our Painting Furniture 101 post!

It's really difficult to get all the mode around the legs when they are so low to the ground, and so I stuck the screw of the legs upside down into a slice of styrofoam.

I had foam insulation sitting around and it was perfect for this! You could as well cut some holes into a cardboard box to spiral the legs into.

To cease off this makeover, we painted the base of the dresser in a custom mixed calorie-free blueish, and then glazed the details. The tiptop was completely stripped and stained. And the drawers got new hardware!

Side view: light blue farmhouse dresser with legs

I'm however diddled away by how easy information technology was to add legs to a furniture with the Dremel Multi-Max!

I actually wish that I would have gotten this tool earlier considering of all the things I have been able to do with it, other than the master reason I got information technology!

So if yous don't have a multi-functional tool, run and get one!! You need this tool in your toolbox as well!

When all was said and done, we added a little fleck of actress height to the dresser, only nosotros likewise got rid of the manifestly bottom besides. Double win!

Here'due south a next before legs and afterward adding legs! Which mode practice you like more?!

before and after of dresser with new bun feet

Active Time 1 hour

Full Time 1 hr

Difficulty Medium

Estimated Cost $50

Tools

Dremel Multi Max
Eye Protection
Drill with a Small Drill Fleck (smaller than the screws that come with the leg plates)

Notes

Some pieces of article of furniture may demand to be slightly modified to be able to support new legs. Most pieces of furniture that I take run into have a great base to begin with in one case the erstwhile legs are removed.

For more ideas on how you tin add together legs, check out this tutorial on adding legs to a cedar chest!