Furniture Feet Finials

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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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