A Painted Barstool

Summer’s winding down here, school starts next week.  I am always sad to get  my kids back to school.  But we have a had an incredible summer as a family, camping, hiking, BBQs, and warming up (we had a record breaking summer here, and it was quite nice).  As we’re winding down and getting ready to be back in a routine, I thought I’d share a furniture project I did at the beginning of the summer.

Sometimes, in the land of creating and re-creating, there is a lot of movement of furniture in our house.  I find something I think that will be an upgrade (once I upgrade it) for our home and I purchase it.  I sell the old, and move the new in.  A few months ago I found 3 matching barstools at a thrift store.  I reupholstered them and made slip covers (so that the upholstery didn’t look like the way I found them originally). See the reupholstered bar stools here.

In the midst of the switch-a-roo, the bar stools had a slight soap opera drama going on.  I reupholstered the above barstools.  I loved them, they were smaller and a x-back, but it was too stressful with kids trying to keep them clean and the slip covers on perfectly.  So I sold them.  I decided I would buy a set of three off-white bar stools from a friend.  Then when I saw them in person, one back was a little wiggly, and I didn’t know if my boys (sometimes being a little unrelenting on furniture) would be a good idea. In the mean time, thinking I would be getting rid of the three black bar stools, I was bored one day and deiced to paint the middle, unmatching bar stool. We had a beautiful and sunny day earlier this summer (well, actually, we had a lot of them, but I didn’t know we would when I painted this).  When the sun shines, I like to work on furniture projects that I have been holding in hibernation all winter.  We don’t have a garage to work in, so my chance for sanding, stripping paint, and painting it really in the summertime. I didn’t have any of my big projects ready to dive into, but I thought of the unmatching barstool.  At least I could hang out in the sun, make it look better, and potentially sell it.   I used some old chalk paint I had mixed up sometime last summer.  I used a recipe I found somewhere on Pinterest (sorry I don’t know the exact location), using calcium carbonate, water, and latex paint.  I had some cream colored and a dusty dark blue mixed up, so I thought I would paint what I’ve been loving lately, grain sack stripes. (Since this job, I have used real Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I will tell you more about that in another post.  But I just want to say, I do not recommend making your own chalk paint, in the end, it still looks and feels an awful lot like latex paint, which if you’ve been following me, you know, I’m not a fan of latex paint on furniture.) I made a the “No. 3” stencil with the help of my printer and contact paper I carefully cut out. I lightly distressed it and finished it off with a mocha colored burnishing glaze. My husband commented that he liked it better than our “new” ones, and really, I agree.  So the barstool drama continues.  I have this now unmatching barstool sitting in the middle of my two black ones.  (I guess that is a lesson in, don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched).  I am still looking for the perfect barstool scenario, which honestly don’t know if it’s possible.  We have four boys, the counter only fits 2-3.  In the mean time, I have a pretty grain sack looking chair mixed up with the others…. Story to be continued (when I figure out what the continuing is)… Have a great day everyone!

Thanks for stopping by.

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Canary Street Crafts – Your Turn to Shine