Revamping an old stool

We all move into our homes, purchase things for our homes to make it our own and to create these happy spaces to come home to at the end of the day.  As time goes on and our tastes change, some things start to feel like they don’t quite fit anymore.

They are “soooooo 10 years ago!”

You look at that item and ask (yes, I may have conversations with side tables and pillows 🙂 ):

• Do I donate you?
• Do I give you away to someone else?
• Can I give you a mini face-lift?

This blog post is about giving a stool (and it’s sister) a face-lift.  So easy you’ll be inspired to try it on one of your own pieces! (Trust me!)

Here’s the Story

Once upon a time, there were these adorable, cross-bottom stools I found at Home Goods.  The top was tan and the legs were a dark brown.  Perfect fit to go in my neutral home.

Before:

But as the years went on, the tan began to look dated and the dark brown didn’t match anything in our house.  Aaaaha!  I have a lovely faux fur over-sized pillow that could slip right over that cushion to freshin’ it up.  And so I did just that: cut the pillow in half, took out the stuffing and pinned the cover in place on both of the stools.

After, Round 1:

But as time went on, those slip covers “slipped” and people got poked from the push pins (ouch!) and the faux fur began to thin.  It was time for another change.

On a whim last week, I sent the kids off to school and headed to the garage to see if we had some black spray-paint.  And this is how my cross legged stools began to get a face-lift.

The Tools

For this project I used the following:

• item to redo (in this case, a stool)
• fabric (approximately 1 yard)
• screwdriver-manual or motorized
• staple gun (best present to yourself if you don’t have one already!)
• staples
• pins (optional)
• white pencil (optional)

Step 1

First you need to separate the cushion from the base.  Use a screwdriver (a drill made this step go faster) and extract all the screws attaching that cushion to the base.  Set the screws aside.

Step 2: Spray Paint

I took the bases outside and over the course of an afternoon, I spray painted those lovelies from 4 angles: both sides, then top and bottom focusing mostly on the legs (not the underside that no one will see). 🙂

Step 3: Cover the Cushions

I had this dalmatian fabric that I used for my mom’s 70th birthday “head table”.  I also used it at bunco a few months back on my dining room table where I folded it in half to make it fit.  There were yards to spare.  I decided to cut off a yard to use to cover the cushions for this project!

Measure Your Fabric

Lay your cushion on your fabric and cut your fabric with enough spaced around the cushion so the fabric can fold up the side and over the top of the base, leaving an inch or two to attach to the underside of the cushion.

Pin the fabric on one side and using your staple gun, staple the fabric in place, approximately every 2-3″.

Rotate the cushion and repeat on the opposite side.

Once both sides are stapled, you are ready to “hospital corner” the last two sides.

Fold the fabric in like you would a present, and then with your other hand, pull the fabric up.

Staple the top in place and repeat on opposite side.

Step 4: Attach Cushion to Base

Now you are ready to line up your base screw holes with the screw holes on your cushion base. (Note: I took a white pencil and made an X at the hole so I could see it easily when aligning the base to the cushion.)

Place your screws in the holes and press down to confirm you have aligned it properly.  Then start screwing those screws back into the cushion base.

Done!

That is it, y’all!!!!  You now have a beautiful, fresh, newly face-lifted stool!

Are you gonna try this with one of your sad, old pieces?  If so, I’m here to cheer you on!!!  YOU CAN DO IT!!!  Just think about how happy you will be to walk past that fresh and sassy little friend in your home every day!!!  It willn definitely SPARK JOY! 🙂

Happy DIYing!

xo, Melis