This is my version of the leg rest posted by Lumberjock Zipsss. It’s quite comfortable. I made a couple of prototypes out of 1/2” baltic birch. This gives the piece a little “flex”, which I enjoy, but could be bad as it encourages me to sort of “rock” back and forth with it. The first proto failed where the half-moon supports meet the horizontal piece, so I dovetailed them in on the second. The first prototype may be salvageable; I’m putting in a few screws and dowels. Painted with milk paint – red over black over green, with Watco Danish oil finish (in progress). I sort of wish I had gone black over red, though.

Based on a project in an issue of Woodwork Magazine. The magazine version had half-blind dovetails, but I went with pinned box joints (that’s what I call ‘em anyway). That joint fits my skill level better. The stretcher is m&t into the sides. I made it out of Ash. It came out pretty well. It’s sturdy and stable. It doesn’t inspire such confidence that people will step right to the top on the first try. There’s always a little trepidation the first time. Maybe if I sloped the sides in towards the top, it would appear more stable.
I made another out of laminated pine I bought at HD. I wanted to see how that wood would work and how fast and easy a second stool would come together using the templates I made in the construction of the first stool. It was a lot more work than I hoped it would be. I painted it using milk paint and use it in the garage. The laminated pine is threatening to de-laminate. I’m disappointed with the laminated pine from HD. I’ve got a couple of tweaks I’d like to try (such as sloping in the sides), so I may make a couple more in the future.
I initially finished it with Watco Danish oil, but it suffered water spots in the first couple of days, so I gave it a couple coats of semi-gloss Arm-R-Seal.

I wanted to get our small safe attached to the wall, and bring it up off of the floor while I was at it. This took 2 sheets of pre-finished ApplePly, and some solid walnut for trim. Two sheets wasn’t quite enough – I made a couple more shelves (not pictured) out of birch, which I finished with a wipe on poly.
Overall it came out like I planned. It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but the tops of the side panels slope up towards the back. The safe is mounted to the 2×4 stand which is attached to the walls. The access to the attic is directly above, so that constrained the design a little more, especially in terms of height and depth. It’s difficult to get a full top to bottom picture in those cramped quarters. What you can’t see is a 9” deep drawer at the bottom on the right side.