DIY Bar Stool Upgrade

Remember when I was going to do a little weekend project?  I finally finished!  And there was nothing little or weekend about it.  I ended up completing this bar stool upgrade project over the course of four days this week.  Here's how I did it.

Looks like fun, right?  Ready to start?  Here's what you need. 

 I actually ended up using three cans of spray paint, and forgot to use the spray glue. I also had extra fabric (I bought one yard) and only used a little bit of the foam and batting. The foam I used was just a cheap-o mattress topper.

I started by sanding the legs to rough them up a bit.  I have never done this before, but I read it helps the spray paint stick.  I used a higher grit sandpaper, and then gave them a little wipe down before painting.

Next up was to spray paint.  I can't even tell you how many coats I did.  Probably ten?  Is that normal?  I sprayed both upside-down and right-side-up to get all around the rungs.  It really was necessary to do this.

Once the stools were nicely coated, I let them dry for a full day before going on to the next step. 

To get started, I measured around the stool and cut the foam a couple inches wider than the stool top size.  Then I cut the batting a few inches wider than the foam.  I then got to stapling.  First the foam, then the batting.  This is the step where I forgot to spray glue the foam so that it stuck to the top of the stool.  I'm not too worried about it, but you might want to just to make sure it stays in place.  Once it was all stapled, I trimmed off the extra batting.  (I had erred on the side of "too much" rather than "not enough," so I had quite a bit extra to trim.)

 Next I did the same thing with the fabric.  Again, I cut way farther around than I needed to, and ended up trimming 1-2 inches all the way around after I stapled. 

The last step is to admire your new stools! 

What a difference a little paint and fabric can make. 

Total cost of this project?  For me, about $35 for the spray paint and fabric.  Everything else I had on hand. 

Total time for this project?  Mmmmmmmaybe about 3 hours by the time it was all said and done, more if I include paint-wait time between coats, but remember I'm stopping along the way to take pictures.  Also, I've never done any of these things before!  I was a total rookie.  A seasoned pro could probably knock it out in half the time. 

So while my work certainly isn't perfect (you can see the underside is sticking out a bit around the legs), I'm definitely happy I did it.  It's a nice change and was for sure cheaper than buying new bar stools.  The slightly off white color matches our baseboards perfectly, but I think a fun pop of color would have also been nice!  Maybe one of the blue or green colors from the fabric.  But really, I'm way happy with how they turned out! 

So, what do you guys think?  Anyone planning a furniture upgrade soon? 

Linking up to:

Simply Designing

AKA Design

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Finding Fabulous

Homemaker on a Dime

The Dedicated House

Uncommon

Organize and Decorate Everything

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