Stool Re-do

We use our kitchen ISLAND all the time!!

So, of course, we needed stools. When we first moved in, we used stools that we had from our old house that were quite high – it worked ok when the kids were little as it brought them up higher (less food spillage which is a good thing)…

…but adults could not possibly sit at the counter as the stools we had did not allow for adult kneecaps to enter the space under the counter.

So we had to come up with an alternative……

I was on the hunt…prowling the furniture stores, all the department stores, etc…..seeing some stools I liked alright (notice nothing I found that I loved!) for $50 - $150 each (cough!)

Then -- I found these plain ol’ stools at a garage sale this summer for $3 a pop & I thought I could make them work. They actually worked fine for a while – they blended in with the beadboard of the island front fine – but that was the problem –

-- they blended.

I wanted them to pop.

Here is the final product -- This is how they turned out & the kids adore them!

Here is how I made the ‘transformation’:

Of course – started off with spray paint – my buddy, my pal. I started off by sanding & then painted an undercoat of yummy seafoam blue (It’s a pretty aqua-ish blue). I figure if - when – they get ‘distressed’ – the pretty blue will pop through – score!

And then sprayed black satin over the top:

After doing a few stools – my thumb started to go numb & thought it might fall off so I grabbed the handy paint gun adapter (love it!)!

Notice that I painted right on the grass (it’s dying for the season anyway!) so it was an efficient move not to have to pull out cardboard or drop cloth, etc. The only disadvantage was that I had grass removal to take care of – ha! Not just bits blowing in the wind – entire chunks of grass so that was fun!

ok -- Spiffy black stools back inside:

Now on to adding some detail:

I took house numbers from the home improvement store (I thought I was being so smart & I’d be able to just paint the numbers & stick them on but alas the numbers were within the black square background – not cut around the numbers so that initial idea didn’t work. Plan B - I cut them out myself with my handy dandy exacto knife. (So if re-doing I’d probably just print a font on the pc/paper & trace that!)

Traced the numbers onto the stools:

Filled that in with paint & covered with a sealer:

Whew! Done – Yeah!

I am linking this post to:

Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage!

and

Shabby Nest – for the fabulous …..Frugal Friday

Chat soon dearies-

NORTHERN COTTAGE