Un-Boring for Cheap

This weekend I got a little bored (as it was 109 degrees and being outside was out of the question) so I decided to take on a project.

One benefit of having lived in NYC is that everyone puts their trash out on the side walk. One day my fiance came home with a wooden stool in hand. As he mentioned that he picked it up outside on the curb I freaked out and Lysol-ed the entire thing. This ugly stool has now followed us with every move and I simply got sick of looking at it. So this weekend I took on a project to turn this "free" stool into something more appealing.

Supplies:

• Sanding sponge - $1
• Crown Bolt Nail Heads - $1.24 for a pack (I used 3 packs of 7/16")
• Spray Paint - $3.68 (I used a can of Rust-Oleum Metallic Finish)
• Vinyl to cover seat - $12.99/yrd (you only need a 1/3 yrd)
• Padding for seat - $3.59/yrd (you only need a 1/3 yrd)
• Staple Gun
• Newspapers for spray painting
• Hammer for removing seat from stool
• Stool

Step by Step instructions:

1) Remove seat from stool - you can do this with a hammer

2) Use sanding sponge to sand down the stool + seat. You only need to sand down enough to get the paint seal off, enough for the new paint to stick.

3) Wipe off the stool + seat to remove all the debris.

4) Set up area (preferably outside) to spray paint your stool + seat: lay down newspapers and make sure to wear clothing that you don't mind accidentally getting stained with paint.

5) Spray stool with color of your choice. Let dry and spray again to get a nice, even coat. (lady at Home Depot told me to use a primer or else it'd be disastrous...she was wrong. So in my opinion a primer is not neccessito). Also, you only have to spray paint the bottom of the seat as the top will be covered with vinyl.

6) Cut padding into circles the size of the stool seat.

7) Cut vinyl into a circle from that has a diameter larger than the seat by 4 inches.

8) After placing padding on the seat, seal with vinyl circle and start stapling the vinyl to the bottom of the seat.

9) Once the vinyl is stapled on, remove any excess fabric from the edges (you don't want anything to hang down once you put the seat back on the stool)

10) Time to nail in the nail heads - make sure to space them evenly. This is a pretty difficult step as the edge of seat was rounded...this part took forever.

11) Attach seat back to stool and voila! New and Improved piece of furniture.

I know that this look is pretty modern but you can play with colors to make it fit your home decor. How about black stool legs and a zebra-pattern seat?