Farmhouse #4 Stool

Lori Saenz
Jul 6, 2017
2 min read

Picked up this plain, old, simple, dirty, Walmart like stool at a flea market my husband and I visited in Louisiana. These typically run $15-20 at walmart. So I felt a 'rush' when I was able to 'bundle' (Picker talk) this stool with 3 other future projects for only $15. Until I got home. That's when I noticed that one of the foot rail/spindles was broken off. And that's why it's called DIY!

First step on this project was to clean, sand (concentrating on removing the glossy finish on the seat), and then clean the stool again!
Removing the broken, embedded foot rail was the most difficult part of this project. Then I headed to my stash of chair legs and spindles and found an old croquet mallet that was the perfect size diameter to fit in the hole I had just dug out.

A little wood filler here helps fill and hide any imperfections. Sand once dry.
Time to paint - My favorite part!
Tape off your seat area and paint the stool legs with a Matte Black spray paint.
Then I painted the seat an off-white color with a brush using my infamous 'OOPs' paint from Home Depot. Let dry overnight.
Using my electric palm sander, I sanded the edges of the legs to distress them, as well as the entire rim of the seat, plus some random spots on the seat.
TIP: You can use a sanding block if you don't have an electric sander. I pick them up at Dollar Tree and they are pretty decent for a buck!
Next, stencil the stool top with 2 rows of stars and a number. I chose 4 because this is the 4th stool I have made now!

Last Step is to age the top a bit. Many different ways you can do this. I like a technique I shared in last weeks 'Joy Cheese Lid' post that uses baby oil and dark stain. Concentrate on all the areas you distressed with your sander.

And that's how you turn an old, plain, boring, slightly ugly bar stool into this adorable, cute, shabby yet chic, farmhouse style stool.

Pull up a chair, I mean a stool, a No. 4 Stool, and have fun cruising around on the internet. Thanks for visiting my blog. And remember, if you don't want to make your own stool, this is available for purchase over at my 2 booths at Alamo Craft Co., 6151 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78238. Have fun craftin'... or shopping ... your choice!

Here's a sneak peak of next week's Thursday post; stay tuned to see what I do with this old cupboard door!