Kids farmhouse stools

These stools were a Christmas present for my Aunt and Uncle. Although they currently live in a beautiful and gigantic home on a golf course, my Uncle grew up on a Kentucky dairy farm. They have carried that love of farmhouse style furniture with them throughout the years, so when I set out to make these little stools, I wanted to keep that farm utility style in mind. This felt like my first REAL woodworking project with glue-ups, lots of clamps, hand tools, contrasting woods, cutting lots of identical parts, compound miters, etc….

Our family gets together to have a big dinner every sunday night, and we have grown by six little ones (all told, so far) in recent years. To accommodate the kids, we have included a fold-out picnic table – which was fine for 4, but not for 6. So, I came up with the idea of making these stools to go along the picnic table ends. They are taller than stepstools for that reason alone, but they are pretty hefty and have made a great addition around the fireplace, and even as a support bridge for my mother after a recent foot surgery.

The legs and supports are made of poplar, and the seats are made of 2×12 construction grade lumber that I worked on for a long time with scrapers, sanders, you name it. I used walnut dowels to cover screws into the legs and that seemed to add a really nice touch to the final product. I liked including a few knots in the seats, and the use of the 2×12s to give the project a more rustic feel. I used a tinted wax for the finish. All in all, I was pleased with this project considering my limited tools and time to complete.

-- DuBose in South Carolina