Stool Makeover

November 25, 2011 in Building and Repurposing, Furniture Makeovers, Gettin' Crafty

A couple weeks back I posted this photo of a stool I brought home from my Mom’s garage:

It’s been hanging out in the garage for YEARS. In fact, it still had the moving company sticker from our move from Pennsylvania to Missouri…. circa 2002. Hard to say where it came from,  but I’m so glad it found me!

Here’s a rundown on how I tackled this stool and (if you don’t want the nitty gritty) photos of the finished product!

  1. Removed the seat and seat back and sanded them down.
  2. Applied a coat of Minwax Special Walnut. There’s not rhyme to my reason for picking this stain. Just had a quart on hand and went for it. Truthfully, it was the only one in my shed at the time and I was too lazy to go down to the basement to grab a different shade.
  3. Let the stain sit for 10-15ish and wiped.
  4. After letting it dry, I couldn’t help but notice the seat back had a deeper, more red tint than the seat. Hmmm How to fix?

Yup!  MUCH better!  I gave the seat a coat of Minwax English Chestnut… which I also happened to have on hand. LOVE when I have everything I need oh-hand for a redo!

I couldn’t help but want to personalize this stool a bit. I decided to add a simply letter D in a type-writer font.

  1. I printed out a letter D on cardstock and cut a home-made stencil with an exacto knife. Using painters-tape doughnuts, I held the cardstock snugly onto the seat.
  2. I don’t own a stencil brush so I used a cheap-o foam brush (like the kind I stain with) and dabbed the acrylic paint on.  It was a home-made mix of slate grey, a little black, and then a lighter grey (when I accidentally made it too dark).
  3. Woop! It’s on!  I wanted it to look a bit more worn though…
  4. So I took a foam sanding block to it. The only downside was it took off a little of the stain along the edges of the letter too. No worries!
  5. (Not Pictured)  I took the seat back outside and gave it one more coat of Minwax Special Walnut over the entire seat top. Problem solved!

After the whole thing dried, I brought it back inside and gave it two thin coats of Annie Sloan Clear Wax. I’m seriously in love with this stuff. After you buff it, the finish has the perfect luster and squeaky smooth finish.

This next photo of the back of the stool most accurately depicts the color of the finish. I’m seriously loving it.

The best part… it’s the perfect height for when I want to pull up a seat to the Craigslist Island while working on something crafty! No more standing and watching TV while painting and what-not. Woop!

I promised Christy I’d try to finish up the banquette this weekend. She’s itching for an update and I can’t wait to share it with all of you!  PLUS – My Mom is going to come for a few days on Monday and she’s bringing her TILE SAW. Oh yes…… there’s a good chance I’ll be sharing some bathroom updates in the coming weeks. That lady is seriously talented and I can’t wait to tap into her free labor creative genius.  :-)   Love you Mom!

Hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving. I was lucky enough to share it with good friends, lots of laughs, and a stinkin’ cute baby. I still find myself today walking around bouncing… apparently my body hasn’t realized I’m no longer holding said baby.

Have a great weekend! …and happy Christmas decorating!


Linking up at these fabulous parties! Special thanks to Home Stories A2Z for hosting!

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