GCSE

Angled panel for soles of feet to go against, with a ridge to stop feet slipping off. Not too high or it might make knees hurt. 20 cms sounds right. Dark wood. No shelf or anything required.

Dougal I think many of us want something soft and padded on top. That may be something you hadn't thought of. I think my ideal would be about 70cmL x 45cmW, and 30cmH, with a padded central area large enough to rest my ankles on. Maybe the outside sections could be wood, for resting things on, although I tend to put coffee by my side, the tv remotes usually sit on the footstool I have, along with any paperwork and sometimes it would be useful to have a hard surface to write on - maybe it could be lidded on one side, a small place to keep pens, remotes, any small useful things.

I don't like dark wood. My footstool is in beech. I had it made years ago, and it has a padded top, that I can remove as I wish and re-cover. It's in the dimensions described and I love it - I do just wish on occasion that it had a flat part for the occasional scribbling/coffee mug/glass of wine.

I don't like things with slanted wooden pockets at the side, they just fill up with dust.

My son's best friend made a beautiful one for his mother two years ago, when they did their 'A' level projects, it was designed to have the padded lid come up, and inside it was all fitted out to hold her embroidery silks and instruments.

Your version sounds far simpler!

I think the height and angle need to be adjustable as we all have different aches and pains.

Stressless recliners come with the most perfect footstools/leg rests. They automatically adjust to the most comfortable angle for knees and are softly padded. You won't be able to copy them but you could check them out as I expect you have to demonstrate that you have researched the area

I agree height/angle adjustable would be good if it folded for stowing away even better. I wouldn't buy anything without a padded top which ideally would be removable cover for washing.
I have no preference over wood of any colour or metal.

Good luck DougalH

Nothing to add to the above DougalH, other than to say janerowena's suggestion of utilising the space as storage sounds excellent.

good luck

I like the one I currently have, so I will list what I like about it, and then suggest improvements!
Size W60cm L50cm H36cm
It came with the sofa so made from same material.
You can lift the lid, and it is a storage area in it.
It is wide enough, for husband and I to sit near each other, with both having our feet on it at the same time.
It is on castors.

Possible improvements
It could do with being a bit higher. We tend to put a thick old cushion on the top of it sometimes.
It is a bit bulky.

Mine doesn't have castors, and is reasonable light, I do think that if it had storage as well castors would probably be needed, as it would be heavier. I can easily pop mine up on a sofa when vacuuming, if it were heavier that could be a problem. It would be easier to just roll it to one side if it had castors.

I would love to see a photo of the finished product though.

Mine is probably better described as a pouffe rather than a footstool; it came with the sofas, and is leather covered and upholstered in just the same way. It measures 54cm square and 36cm high. Perfect for resting my legs, not just my feet!
No storage, about which I feel a little ambivalent because on the one hand I feel that it could be useful, but on the other hand I know it would just fill up with 'stuff' and become cluttered and need turning out and cleaning every so often .
No casters, which I'm glad of, because in my experience they dent the carpet badly - as it is, this slides about quite easily when vacuuming, but is heavy enough to stay put when I'm using it.
I think if you're considering an angled footstool, then I would agree with others that it would be useful to make it so that the angle is adjustable, and definitely with a lip so that feet don't slide off!
Good luck with the project - and yes, it would be good to see a photo of the finished project (you can post photos on the 'pictures' forum).

Thank you for all your comments and suggestions so far I will take each and everyone into account when designing my project. It is so useful to have a resource like this for doing all my research. Once again, thank you.

Good luck!

Storage - yes. Sharp corners -no.