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Furniture Feet Finials

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January 28, 2013 By Jackie

I am super excited about this project!  I needed some new decor, but I was over buying vases and bowls.  I wanted more character and interest, so I made my own finials.

DIY Finials

I often move accessories around my house. It is the main reason I love having a whole house color palette and coordinating accent color palette. It makes it easier to switch things up every once in a while. For the most part all the decor in my home is interchangeable from room to room.

movingdecor

A while back I snagged the ceramic vases from my dining room and moved them to the mantel in the living room. This left a void on top of the armoire in the dining room. I didn’t want to get new vases for that spot.  I wanted a few tall, slender pieces to layer nicely in front of the jute wrapped monogram.

I dreamed up a little project to create DIY finials. I always walk by the furniture feet at Home Depot and Lowes wondering what unconventional way I could use them. Then, it struck me to take advantage of their interesting silhouettes. I grabbed a bunch of different sizes to mix and match into a set of decorative finials.

Furniture Feet

I found all my furniture feet at Home Depot and Lowes. They ranged in price from $4-8 each. I also picked up the small finial tops at Lowes. For the base of each, I found small round wood plaques at Michaels for $1 each.

I planned to remove the screws from the feet, but it quickly proved more difficult than it was worth. Instead I drilled a 3/8″ hole in the center of the small wood base plaque.

furniturefeetfinial5

The screw from the first furniture foot went into the hole. I used some wood glue between the plaque and the furniture foot. Then, I drilled another hole in the bottom of the first furniture foot to receive the screw from the next furniture foot.

DIY Furniture Feet Finials

furniturefeetfinial3

To attach the small finial topper, I drilled a smaller pilot hole and screwed the finial onto the top.

furniturefeetfinial2

DIY Furniture Feet Finials

I wanted my finials to have an aged, distressed look. I also wanted to cover up the gaps between the different pieces to give the illusion of one solid piece. First, I caulked all the seams with white paint-able, sand-able caulk.

DIY Furniture Feet Finials

Then I used a dark stain, Jacobean by Minwax, and gave each finial one coat.  Since the furniture feet were all different kinds, and different types of wood, the stain took differently to each piece.  It also did not stain the white caulk.  But, once they are painted and distressed it won’t be noticeable.

DIY Furniture Feet Finials

Tip: After staining and before applying the paint, rub the raised areas you want to distress with a candle. The wax will help make it easier to sand off the paint in those areas.

After the stain dried, I used Martha Stewart Tailors Chalk to paint two thin coats over the stain.

furniturefeetfinials14

The last step was to sand the finials. I gave them a light sanding all over with a fine sanding block. Then, I went back in with a medium grit sanding block to sand more heavily in the areas I wanted to distress.  The heavy sanding revealed the dark stain beneath, giving the finials a worn, aged finish.

furniturefeetfinials13

My trio of finials is perfect for the dining room. Since they are up high on the armoire, they have the teal walls for a back drop.  I love the high contrast with the teal walls.

DIY Finials

They look great with the similarly distressed key hanging on the other side of the armoire.

furniturefeetfinials10

The total cost for all three finials, except paint and stain I had on hand, was around $40.  The medium finial is made of one large furniture foot ($7), one small bun foot ($4), a round wood plaque ($1), and a finial topper ($1.50).  The small finial is made of one medium furniture foot ($7), a round wood plaque ($1), and a finial topper ($1.50).  Not too bad for three decent size finials.  The shortest is 9″ tall, the medium is 11″ tall, and the tallest is 14″ tall.  The tall finial is made of two large furniture feet ($8 each), a round wood plaque ($1), and a finial topper ($1.50).

This is the type of DIY project I LOVE.  The finials turned out beautiful.  I do not think I could have bought similar finials for the price I was able to make these.  These are classic and will be a part of my decor forever.  I fully expect they will eventually find their way around to other spots in my home as my decor needs change.

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Comments

  1. Patrina says

    January 28, 2013 at 11:23 am

    Love them. I think I found my next project. TFS!

  2. Lisa says

    January 28, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    So pretty. I would never have guessed that they were made of three pieces.

  3. Gabbi @ Retro Ranch Reno says

    January 28, 2013 at 5:38 pm

    This are great! Such a wonderful idea…I might have to do the same thing! ;)

  4. Megan @ Two Live Colorfully says

    January 28, 2013 at 6:48 pm

    What a neat idea! They look super swanky! I could totally see them in a pricey, stylish catalog! Really great job!

    (The nerd in me also wants to mention that you could use these for a game of giant chess!!)

  5. Laura says

    January 28, 2013 at 7:09 pm

    The finials are beautiful! Great idea. They’re definately worth Pinning! And they do look awesome with the key. Love it!

  6. Gwen says

    January 29, 2013 at 1:04 am

    Oh wow!!! I absolutely love these. I live in such a small house and two years ago my daughter wanted to line the last part of the wedding aisle with various styles and heights of candle holders plus my dear friend’s boutique closed and what do I buy? Finials…so where oh where could I put these totally cool candle replacements??? I know!!! On my patio table!!! Gives me a few months to really get this done!!! But wouldn’t that be fun on my table where I accent in oranges to have three finials on the table or on the curved bench out by the pool?!!!

  7. Colleen says

    January 29, 2013 at 9:38 am

    Super cute!

  8. Jen says

    January 29, 2013 at 11:57 pm

    They turned out SO very beautiful! I agree, these are the best types of projects! Great job my friend!

    xo,
    Jen

    • Jackie says

      January 30, 2013 at 8:41 pm

      OMG, Jen. Remember when I told you about this project idea back in August?! Why do some of the simplest projects sometimes take the longest? I think it was partly because I had the idea before I had the need and just kept putting off the project. These seriously took no time at all to make. I am trying to be better about doing the projects I have a need for know and making all the ideas wait until there is a need…if that makes sense.

  9. Laurie @ Simply Creating Home says

    February 1, 2013 at 1:23 am

    I just love how these turned out. They are so versatile and they look like a fun project to put together and paint. I’ll be pinning so I can refer to it later! Thanks so much for sharing your fun idea.

  10. Steph says

    February 3, 2013 at 3:53 pm

    You are very clever! These look fabulous! I might have to give it a go :)

  11. Jayne says

    September 14, 2014 at 10:54 am

    Thanks for the idea! I love them and have several places in my house I could put them! I love thinking outside the box!

  12. Michelle says

    January 7, 2015 at 4:12 pm

    Hi! Absolutely love this!

    Can I ask where the key is from? Love that look!

    • Jackie says

      January 22, 2015 at 1:23 pm

      Michelle, I think I found the key at HomeGoods.

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