25 DIY Stool Ideas You Can Make From Scrap Materials

Stools can be super useful in almost any room of your house. Next to the breakfast bar or kitchen island, under the little tables in the kids’ play room, next to your desk in your home office or just looking pretty in the living room.

diy stool

Stools can be fun to decorate with and fun to make! Check out all these playful, DIY stools and try creating one yourself!!

The Best DIY Stools To Accent Your Home

1. Magazine Mayhem Stool

diy stool

Too cute for words, and an easy way to clean up the shelves’ clutter. This magazine DIY stool is such a fun piece to display and use around the house. Stick in the office or living room for guests to sit on … or chat about!

2. Playful in Plaid

diy stool

Grab an older, shabbier stool and reupholster it with some cozy, playful plaid! The pattern is perfect to pop in a simpler room while still blending in with its surroundings.

3. Adorable Toadstool

diy stool

Any Nintendo fans out there? If so, this DIY is definitely for you. Try your hand at red stool is a piece to chat about and have fun with!

4. Fun Folding Stool

diy stool

Great for the patio or to take on a picnic, this DIY folding chair is incredibly cute for anyone in the house! Use different colors and patterns to show off your own personality.

5. Paint Your Own Stool

diy stool

There always the option to buy an inexpensive, wooden stool and design it yourself. Grab some paints and decorate it all your own!

6. Lovely Log Bunch Stool

diy stool

Organic, simple, and upcycled! This DIY log stool is great to use as a side table too. This is a great accent piece for your bedroom, foyer, or maybe even next to the staircase!

7. Wonderful Stacked Wood

diy stool

Your wood scraps can, in fact, create something this sleek and chic. Just like the log stool, this piece would be great for the bedroom, foyer, or next to the stairs!

8. Nifty Knitted Stools

diy stool

Maybe my favorite of the pack, these beautiful knit DIY stools are perfect to add a little feminine touch to the home. And you can make them to look a little bit different every time … with a different color.

9. Upcycled Egg Cartons

diy stool

For more funk and eclecticism, make an egg carton stool! Your upcycling and creating something with a whole lot of personality!

10. Cool Coffee Bag Stool

diy stool

Take a coffee bean bag and use it as fabric for a fun touch! Just learn how to reupholster a bit and you’ve got this made!

11. Classic Farmhouse Style Stool

diy stools classic farmhouse style stool

Sometimes you might need a simple stool to blend in with the variety of decorations you already have in your home. And the cool thing about this stool is that you can easily paint it white, black, or any color you need to suit your aesthetic. The instructions for this stool can be found on Bitterroot DIY, and although they are easy to follow, do note that you will need a saw and some measuring skills to complete this project.

12.  Inexpensive Cement Stool

diy stools Inexpensive Cement Stool

When you are on a budget, stools may be the last thing you are looking to buy. That’s when you should whip out these DIY stool instructions from Homemade Modern to make your own cement topped stools. Lots of people hear the word cement and balk, but this project is actually quite easy, as you will just need a bucket, cement, and whatever you wish to use for the legs. This project is so easy, in fact, you might find yourself making extras of these stools to give as a gift!

13. Hip Divided Image Panel Stool Set

diy stools Hip Divided Image Panel Stool Set

This next project is a great way to use your art skills to spice up your home. These stools are easy to make by following these directions on Oh Oh Deco, and don’t require a ton of materials. Now, while you can just make one of these funky stools, the example shows three of them painted to look like a modern divided painting, and it looks great! You can even expand if you have a need for more stools and make a set of four or five. Then grab your paints and get creative, or have the kids place colorful paint handprints—the sky is the limit on this one!

14. Faux Fur Stool

diy stools Faux Fur Stool

If you’ve got some money to spend on your DIY stools, then this project by Bang On Style Blog will be perfect for your home. You will need to acquire a metal stool, preferably the Ikea Stig Stool, as well as some fur fabric (or you can cut up a throw blanket), and some stuffing to pad the seat. While this project doesn’t include any woodworking like some of the others on this list, you will need to have some hot glue, scissors, and needle and thread ready to go. But what you end up with is so cute and comfortable that you will have every visitor to your house asking where you bought them!

15. Sweet Spool Stool

DIY stool Sweet Spool Stool

Have you ever wondered what to do with those large empty construction spools? Why not turn them into comfy stools? It will go perfectly in your living room as a foot rest, or at your desk for a soft spot to sit while you work. The instructions can be found on Home Talk, and you can use whatever fabric you desire to make the cushion top, and paint/stain the bottom to match, making this stool truly as customizable as they come. Just be sure you remove any staples or nails that may be hiding in the spool before you begin its transformation.

16. Adjustable Bar Stools

diy stools Adjustable Bar Stools

It’s quite common to have a household with people of varying heights, and this can make it difficult to select bar stools that will make everyone in the household happy. Well now you can make your own adjustable bar stools following these instructions by Ana White. These stools are made of wood, with a metal rod down the middle that can be twisted to change the height of the stool. This is another project that will definitely take a bit of work, but you will absolutely love the end result!

17. Extra Storage Cloth Stool

diy stools Extra Storage Cloth Stool

Most people wish that there was a way to add more storage to a room without buying bulky furniture, and this DIY stool is the perfect solution! Not only is it a comfy place to sit, but it can be a great place to store children’s toys, a blanket, or any other odds and ends that you want to keep out of sight. This project is featured on Lily Ardor, and you will need a few tools to get the rag rug to attach to the bucket, but overall it’s a fairly simple project that doesn’t require any crazy skills.

18. Cute Underfoot Upcycled Crate

DIY stool Cute Underfoot Upcycled Crate

Upcycling something always feels great, especially when you are able to turn something you would never use into something you need! So grab that wooden crate that you’ve got lying around and transform it into the cutest footstool using these instructions by Angie Holden. You will need to have a staple gun and some hot glue, as well as the fabric and padding of your choice, but the directions are easy to follow and straightforward, and you can decide whether you want to paint your crate base or leave it natural.

19. Rustic Wooden Footstool

diy stool Rustic Wooden Footstool

There is nothing quite like spending your evening out on the porch, reclining in a comfortable chair with your feet up. But for those that live somewhere with inclement weather, you probably don’t want to leave a footstool on your porch that has any sort of cloth, so look into making this footstool by Virginia Sweet Pea instead. It does require a bit of woodworking, but the wood stain color theme, and metal accents really do make it one of the most adorable rustic pieces to add to your farmhouse aesthetic.

20. Perfect Pipe Stool

diy stool perfect pipe stool

Do you have a steam punk themed home? Then this next stool is absolutely for you. The project is outlined on Yoga by Candace, and they describe exactly how to make this funky looking stool. The example pictured is for a full height barstool, but the best part about this project is that you can change the length and layout of the piping to create a stool that is the perfect height to suit your uses! You can even paint the top with a metallic paint for an extra industrial vibe.

21. Fancy Upholstered Stool

diy stool Fancy Upholstered Stool

Surprisingly, there are homeowners out there that believe that DIY projects can’t be used in their home if they want a classy and professional look. But this just simply isn’t true, all you have to do is look at the outline of this upholstered stool project by Jen Woodhouse to know that you can make some astounding DIY projects that fit into even the fanciest design aesthetics. This specific tutorial will show you how to design a stool that would be quite pricey in stores for about a quarter of the price using items you might already have lying around your house!

22. Magnificently Modern Barstool

diy stool Magnificently Modern Barstool

Modern furniture is highly desirable because of the clean lines and unique shapes that these pieces can bring into the home, and this stool is no exception. With a funky shape, but cute unfinished look, this modern stool is a great addition to your kitchen, bar, or even your office space if you have a standing desk. The project is featured on A Beautiful Mess, and does take some sawing and drilling, but you will never regret adding this stool to your home. In the example, the piece is left unfinished, but you could always paint or stain this stool for a different look.

23. Classy Vintage Design

diy stool Classy Vintage Design

When you want a certain vintage looking piece, it can be disheartening not to be able to find it no matter how many garage sales and antique shops you scour. With this guide by Shanty 2 Chic, your waiting is over, as they will show you how to make a vintage looking piece using all new materials, and it isn’t as hard as you may think! Additionally, the length of the legs of this piece can be swapped out, allowing you to make either a shorter or taller stool depending on what you plan to use it for.

24. Upcycle Your Side Table

diy stool Upcycle Your Side Table

Are you scrolling this list thinking you just aren’t very good at wood working? Don’t worry, as there are several projects you can do without a saw, like this next one where you will focus on adding a cushion to your old side table to make it into a cushy footstool. This project was found on Country Living, and it can be accomplished with fabric, stuffing, a needle, and a hammer and nails. As long as you select a high-quality fabric for the top of your stool, no one will even notice it was once your old side table!

25. Wood And Twine Stool

diy stool Wood And Twine Stool

Of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without a DIY stool project for the individual that doesn’t want to saw or sew, and if that sounds like you, then this wood and twine stool is for you. This project, outlined on Anderson and Grant, requires starting with an unfinished footstool or side table, then sprucing it up with sandpaper and some wood stain. After that, you will use twine, and a staple gun to make the cute top. Since this project doesn’t require a ton of construction, you can easily have a new stool for your home in a single afternoon!

Whether you’ve decided to design a stool for your kitchen, your office space, or maybe to put under your reclining feet in the living room, you will love any project you choose to pursue from this list. And if you can’t quite come across some of the heavier duty equipment, like a table saw, needed for some of the projects, it might be time to make a DIY friend. And after the two of you have spent all day making adorable DIY stools, you’ll be able to recline on the porch with your feet up on a cute footstool and discuss your next project in style.