I love the look of feet on cabinets. I think they epitomize the french country farm kitchen look. But have you ever priced those lil’ suckers?! They are EX-PE-NS-IVE!! For instance these beauties:
No you are not seeing things. that is $58.07 for one foot!
I placed it to the cart for the fun of it..and it added another $12 in shipping! Good Lord! That’s an expensive foot! Now I do understand they are maple, and fluted and pretty but seriously? These feet aren’t even painted people. Once you slap some white paint on it who cares if it’s whole maple, split maple or whole cherry? I mean really. I knew there had to be a better way.
I hit my local Lowe’s store (seriously need compensation for mentioning the “L” store so much…lol) and wandered up and down the wood aisles. I saw the normal table legs and even some smaller legs that might have worked with some modification but even these were still around $8 each and people we’re working on a very frugal budget here and I needed 12 feet! At $8 each that was still way more than I wanted to spend.
But I really {Heart} cabinet feet and I just knew there had to be an alternative. There was. The question was would it work? What was my solution? Finials and Buttons.
2 pack of medium craft finials and 1″ flat head plugs (6 pack)
Yep. Medium craft finials and 1″ flat head pluggy things you stick in screw holes. They would become my legs. I just knew it would work. I had faith in my little finials to become the feet they knew they could be!
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| It’s calling to me..”Make me a foot please!” |
First, using needle nosed pliers, I removed the screw that is sunken into the bottom of each finial. This would be used if you were going to attach them to a rod for curtains per their original intention. But we don’t need them so off they go.
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| Remove screw from bottom of finial |
Next I glued the button , using liquid nails, to cover the hole where the screw was, with the narrower end of the button facing out.
After the glue had dried. I painted the first coat of paint onto the tops of all of the finials.
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| Aren’t they so cute all in a row! They look like little chess pieces. |
I then painted the lower third of the feet resting them in a large egg carton so they would not touch and the bottoms could dry properly. I repeated this step again adding another coat of paint.I did not want the feet permanently attached to the cabinets in case I ever needed to remove them for new flooring..a girl can hope can’t she?? grin. So I located the corner underneath each cabinet and placed the feet in the right location, with the round knob at the end of the finial located up under the cabinet. This will help keep the foot in place.
Of course. as with everything else in this house. some of the cabinets were slightly higher or lower than another. On the ones I could I gently tapped the foot into location and so far they are holding tight. For the ones that were loose under the cabinet still, I applied a small bead of caulk to the bottom of the foot and adhered the foot to the tile. This will not damage your tile but will hold your foot in place. The foot will be permanently in place, but can be removed if ever need be.
Let me just say…I am in L.O.V.E!!
I think they turned out great considering they started out as finials and buttons
Oh and what do you think of my “new” painted cabinets..or at least what you can see?
Side view of cabinets
And did you notice the beadboard along the toe kick? Another great use for beadboard wallpaper!
Total cost for 12 kitchen cabinet feet: $ 22.48
6 packs of finials @ 2.86 = 17.16
2 packs of 1″ flat head plugs @ 2.66 =5.32
white paint: already had for cabinets
Now that’s a savings! I’m so glad this idea worked for me! I hope if you give it a try it will work for you too!
Would you like to see more of my kitchen updates? Visit the following links:
DIY Windowseat
Installing Beadboard
Painting an existing chandelier
DIY Oak Island Transformation
Easy and Cheap DIY Window Cornices
Installing an Ikea Farmhouse Sink in Existing Cabinet
DIY Island Transformation and Butcher Block Staining Tutorial
or click on the Kitchen Remodel tag to see ALL of my kitchen remodel posts!
And as always, thanks for meeting me (and my new cabinet feet) at the picket fence!
oh, I love this…you are soooo clever!!!!
I actually gasped when I saw how pretty these feet look (I know it sounds dramatic, but it’s true)! I love the beadboard at the toe kick… they look so fantastic together. I would love to add feet to my cabinets… thanks for all the great tips!
Great thinking outside the box….er, cabinet!!! Very clever, very frugal!!!
Genius! I may borrow this idea for my kitchen! Thanks for sharing. Chris
Darling idea! & love that you made it look so easy to bring “charm” into a home!!! xoxo, tracie
I love this. I’ve been wanting to do something like it. Thanks for the idea.
That is such a GREAT idea, Heather! I love this! If I didn’t have my house on the market, I would definitely do this {and paint my oak cabinets white!}. I’ll keep it in mind for the next house though!
Oh I just love this!! I have been wanting to do this to my cabinets since forever… what a great way to make it so affordable! Thanks for the tip!! I may have to do this.
This is so great!!! They look darling now, I MUST try this 🙂
http://www.iheartmygluegun.com
Your feet look amazing! What a creative solution! Love the cabs painted, too! Can’t wait to see the final reveal.
OK. You. Are genius. Enough said.
Ruthie
thechristiangirlscottage.blogspot.com
I heart these ALOT!!! I have tried so many things and these are perfect!! I am going to have to go see if I can find some. Everything is looking so beautiful Heather!
What a clever idea! Why can’t I ever come up with ideas like this? 🙂
Stacy
GREAT idea!! I love the look and the bead board is fabulous too!
Way to go, Heather! You made a wonderful knock-off of cabinet feet–I think your version is smashing! Here’s an idea. . . if you paint the wallpaper on the toe-kick black or dark brown, it will probably recede into the background. That will make your cabinetry look even more like footed pieces. You could try it on one cabinet and see what you think–and if you don’t like it, you could always just re-paint with white! 🙂
Looking great! I can’t wait to see more of your kitchen!
WOW! WOW! WOW! You are so creative! what a great idea!
Awesome idea. I am a convert can’t wait to go to the kitchen and try those. I am your newest stalker, I mean follower 😉
This is fabulous! Just love it! Those little feet are so pricey, we cut one of ours in half to get 2for 1 🙂
XOXO
Kristin
This is brilliant! Oh my goodness what an amazing solution. I’ve been wracking my little brain trying to think of a way to add feet to my cabinets that wouldn’t send me to the poor house. Thanks for sharing this. I’m following you know. Visiting from Wow us Wed.
These feet are a great idea…I have always wanted them but my cabinets are built too low. That beadboard wallpaper is amazing stuff…I swear it looks like the real thing. Can’t wait to see the rest of your transformation! At the moment my kitchen is sitting in my dining room. Starting to paint the cabinets tomorrow. What a mess! I’ll just keep thinking about your beautiful cabinets and what the end result will be…Have a great rest of the week! ~Ann
You are SO CLEVER! They look fabulous!
Well, aren’t you smart and creative. Those turned out great. Thanks for sharing at WUW!
i love all your thrifty but high end looking ideas in this kitchen!
I had never seen kitchen cabinet feet… and now you have me hooked! I can’t believe how expensive the ones you originally found were! My real HUMAN feet wouldn’t sell for that price… so you are genius for this idea! Can’t wait to start our kitchen!
Those feet are fabulous!! I had been wanting to do the same thing but was put off by the cost. This is great.
Thank you so much for sharing this tip. Kudos!
hugs, Ginger:)
I’m in love!!!
I AM SO EXCITED to be the winner…Thanks so much!!!
Love, love your new frenchy look and so cost effective! Feet always make cabinets look like furniture pieces. They really look amazing!
Blessings,
Cindy
Wonderful Heather-I love to find creative ( and less expensive!) ways to replicate a look too – well done!! 🙂
What a great idea! They look fabulous.
Kathy
I read this yesterday but got distracted before commenting.
This post is an inspiration to me. I might have the courage to paint the kitchen cabinets if I can make it all come together like these with the little feet. Love it.
your cabinet tootsies look amazing…i’m thinking you should sell them for about $60 each! just kidding…sort of…great ideas every time i stop by!
I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to do this for the longest time… this was a perfect tutorial for me, and the price is just right too. Your little kitchen feet look wonderful!
Cindy
Heather,
These cabinet feet are fantastic! I wanted to achieve this look when I was renovating my kitchen last spring, however I shied away from it because of the cost. This idea is total genius and looks amazing!
Warm Wishes,
Jodie
Smart, smart, smart…looks great! Laurel
you are so clever – they look fantastic!
WOW, I love this….what a great idea. Those feet are so expensive. It’s amazing what one can do with a little imagination and elbow grease!
Marianne 🙂
You are so, so clever! Your kitchen is going to look amazing. I can’t wait to see the rest of it!
Heather it is look fab girl! You are getting so much done and we are at a stand still and it is driving me INSANE!! It totally puts a damper on my mood and The HUbster does not understand why. Urgh….
I know can you believe how expensive they are. we priced them 7 years ago when we did a re-do on our 70’s kitchen. We used molding and shelf brackets to make it look like feet. They turned out so great. You can visit my kitchen on the sidebar of my blog. Much cheaper at $1.99 each instead of over $60!!!! Great choice and yours looks great!! Kathysue
Such a smart and thrifty idea! I like “feet” on cabinets too!
Blessings!!
Brilliant, I’m in love with these feet! Big, huge love. I love all of your talent!
What a clever idea! I love this and it really does look like furniture. So creative! I’m passing along the Versatile Blogger to you gals!
Becca
http://gardenberger.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-05-26T08%3A33%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=1
Heather, you are one creative gal!! Way to go. Over $50.00 for ONE finnial??? Unbelievable. Your kitchen is looking wonderful!
xo
lynn
I think I have to do this to my newly painted white cabinets – they looks sooooo cute!!
Super idea. I have been looking for something like this, to no avail. This is a fabulous idea you came up with and it looks great!
Your cabinets are beautiful, what a clever and affordable solution. I once bought a big old kitchen farm table for $5.00 at a yard sale that turned out to be too low for my chairs. I bought four chunky wooden knobs and 4 double ended screws, screwed it all together and the table is now the perfect height. No one can tell that the legs were ever any different.
Hi Heather, I had priced these before and could not believe how expensive they were. You came up with a very creative and cost effective substitute. The feet add such charm to your cabinet. Love them!
xo,
Sherry
That is a beautiful transformation! I will want to do the same when we upcycle our cabinets in the future! Thanks for sharing! Very beautiful!
Wow, I would have never thought of that, thank goodness for bloggers who do:) Just a wonderful idea! Love your painted cabinets too!
I’m your newest follower btw!
Rondell
This is brilliant! I just finished painting my cabinets and wanted to add some kind of feet under them. Thank you so much for the idea!
Jen
Scissors & Spatulas
Love the painted cabinets and the three tier tagged stand in that last photo. Might try something similar to the feet alternative in my bathroom. Only problem being that I live in the land of giants with oversized everything in this place. So I’d need something pretty substantial. We’ll see what I come up with. Good inspiration here!
Bernadette
http://www.b3hd.blogspot.com
I love it! I’m definitely going to try this in my kitchen. How clever and creative. And at a great price!
Very nice, love the beadboard idea!
Paula ~ Mise en scène
I love this! I’m book marking the page so that I can use this idea in our new house. Thanks for sharing.
WOW!! You are sooo creative! I would’ve never thought to do this.
Love this addition to the cabinets, very French. I found you from Kim at Twice Remembered Cottage and FB
Genius! You are so creative!
HELP! I absolutely love what you’ve done here! I think this is just the idea I’ve been looking for to revive my pink (yes, pink) kitchen cabinets.
Can you tell me where you found the finials and plugs? Thanks!
@Bec Hi! I hope you will see this reply. I wanted to email you but didn’t see an email address attached to your blogger profile. 🙂 I purchased the finials and plugs at Lowes. They are located in the unfinished wood section where you find crown molding and wood trim. They have several different sizes. The medium finial combined with the plug worked perfectly size wise for my cabinets. If you need any additional help feel free to email me through our contact page and I’ll be happy to help in anyway I can! So glad my idea might work for you! 🙂
Heather
I am re-doing my kitchen this fall and now I can add feet to my cabinets! Thanks for the tutorial.
looks fabulous! i love the look. may i ask a silly question… how do you figure out exactly where you need the little feet? my cabinets go around corners/etc. and it isn’t evident to me…
also, i just ordered the beadboard wallpaper for the sides of my cabinets after reading another post. and, i was wondering about baseboards. you did it! i’m definitely going to copy that as well 🙂
thanks!
ps. what color white did you use for painting your cabinets?
Hi Jules! I hope you’ll see this. I didn’t see an email address for you.
First the paint color is Greek Villa from Sherman Williams. It is cabinet grade oil based. Messy to work with but gives a nice durable finish. You could get the same color in latex too though.
I placed a foot in the corner of each cabinet not matter how big or small it was. So there are some that have feet almost right next to each other. I also put them under the corners of my lazy susan cabinet that is a corner cabinet. I wanted each cabinet to look like it could be a free standing cabinet. It means you have to use more “feet” but they are so inexpensive you can get away with using more. I will post more up close details on the kitchen when I finally do a full reveal when the whole kitchen is done so you can see how many I used.
The beadboard wallpaper worked great on the baseboards. Just make sure to seal the seams well since they do get a little more wear from people kicking their feet under it. I haven’t painted it yet, which should help some with wear as well. 🙂
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Heather
thanks, heather! one more question… where did you get the cute trim for your beadboard? i looked at home depot and found nothing like it. i’m guessing if you got the finials at lowe’s you might have gotten your trim there too… thanks again!
Your kitchen is absolutely wonderful! I love the furniture feet! Can’t wait to see more!
Ok maybe I missed something . . BUT, did you tell us where to find these? Because I’m not finding them as affordable as you have!! Thanks for the help!
Hi! This is a reply to the last comment, I wasn’t able to email you directly since I didn’t have any information.
The finals and the wooden buttons were purchased at Lowe’s. They can be found in the wood trim section. I am sure Home Depot would carry something similar. These are the types of finals that you would use at the end of a curtain rod but I removed the screw. If you look at one of the first pictures in the tutorial it will show you the packaging so you can try and find the exact ones. My finals were approximately $2.86 for a package of two. You then glue the final to wood “buttons” these are also located in a package of 6 in the same area. Hope that helps with some more information! If you have any other questions or need more details please feel free to email me as well through our contact page and I’ll try and help!
Heather
LOVE the feet!
Question: I have a U shaped kitchen. My cabinets are divided by my dishwasher, stove and fridge. SO, would I purchase a pair for each division, right? What about my corners? Do I need one there? (My email is diannwilson@wildblue.net if you would just email me.)
My U goes in this order:
Cabinet, dishwasher, corner cabinet, stove, corner cabinet, fridge, cabinet. The way I look at it- I need 8. What do you think?
I can’t wait to get started on this!
Diann
Amazing! God bless Pinterest, or I might have never seen this. I just LOVE this idea! Now I need to find the right paint color for my pearl maple cabinets so I can do this. THANKS!!
Genius! You are so creative!
Great Idea!!! I’ll be re-painting my cabinets soon and this will be a wonderful add on! Thanks for sharing.
Hugs, Maki
Maki’s Little Red House
maxinemcdole@gmail.com
OH I just love this! how did you attach them please? Thank you! snowmanlover 2 at yahoo dot com
I haven’t seen this question here. Do these come in different sizes.
I have 3 1/2 inches from the floor to the bottom of the cabinet. I am sooooo going to do this to my kitchen cabinets. You are awesome! Thank you for sharing! My email is rprichard81@yahoo.com
Rhonda
How ingenius! I am going to do this to my bathrooms too! I have been wanting to change out the legs of some dressers, that have plain ones, this is giving me some hope. Thanks!
OMG–when I saw your kitchen cabinet feet, it struck a chord…almost identical to my bathroom feet…which I also use finials and white beadboard!!! Here’s mine: http://nellieskitchenbarnsale.blogspot.com/2012/04/beadboard-bath-with-birds-and-twigs.html
So funny! Love the look…nice job.
I am SO GLAD I found this post! I have a ‘naked toe-kick’ in my kitchen and the beadboard wallpaper is perfect for it (hubby fixed a leak under our sink and didn’t quite finish up). All great ideas in this post and I plan to use them all. Thank you!!
I plan on putting feet in our kitchen when we renovate this year, but haven’t checked out pricing yet. Based on this, I’ll be going the same route! Fantastic idea, and I do love how feet give a finished look to the room. And your beadboard wallpaper…perfect! Pinning this…thank you!!
Debbie 🙂
That has got to be one of the smartest ideas I’ve seen out there. Amazing!!!
YES, WOW, WOW, WOW, what a fantastic idea, I am definitely going to try this. How would I do this when cabinets come to a inside corner……use a finial at each corner? Thnx for sharing, Love & Blessings to you/yours…
Hi! I have an inside corner that is a lazy susan and what I did is put the final at the end of the cabinet that was to the left and then one finial in the right edge of the “corner cabinet” which is next to the stove. Technically if it was a a stand alone cabinet it would only have one foot but aesthetically it looks better this way.
Heather
There is no doubt…YOU are brilliant! The cabinet “feet” look amazing!
Genius! I love the look. 🙂
We JUST finished our kitchen . . . . painting over maple something. This is such an
amazing idea!!! I “slap” a lot of white paint around so I did a Ha Ha Ha at that. Is the bead board actually wallpaper??? WOW! where? (:
I just found you when I did a cabinet leg search…..YOU ARE AWESOME!!! So glad I found this….I think though if I find the same ones to work with I MAY TURN THEM OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU HAVE AND PUT THE “BALL” PART ON THE FLOOR>>>>.either way ..GREAT JOB!!! and Thanks for posting 😀
Freak’n genius! I live Pinterest!!
Thanks Diana!
Where can you now purchase a finial that fits a cabinet base 3 inches tall? July 2014 and Lowe’s only carries the larger finial, which is too tall. Thanks = it is a fantastic idea.
Wonderful idea! Would you please tell me how tall the toe kick area is there? Mine is 4-1/2″.
Thank you!
Hi AK, I don’t live in this home anymore but I think it was what yours is. 🙂 They were just standard cabinets. ~Heather
Thanks for getting back to me! I’ll find out I suppose. Again, great idea!
Great kitchen cabinets!!
Where did you find a bag of finals at such a cost? Is this post 20+ years old? lol
HELP!
lol
LOL! Hi Staci! Heather is traveling right now but I did something similar to my kitchen island and found mine in the moldings section at Lowes. Hope that helps!