Side Stool Makeover

Sometimes, inspiration strikes me at the oddest times. And since the 4th of July is just around the corner, my latest project was inspired by the U.S.A.

But it’s not the stars or stripes that caught my attention, even though I love them with all my heart. This girl is a super proud American!

This time, I was inspired by the year we first declared our independence: 1776.

Side Stool Makeover by The Wood Grain Cottage

A while back, I found myself at the right place at the right time…. an estate sale! And the best part? They let me walk through before the sale began to pick out things I wanted to buy before the sale. And they negotiated on prices. Be still my heart!

One of the things I grabbed, was this little stool.

Stool Before | The Wood Grain Cottage

Really, it was in terrific shape, but it didn’t exactly feel like me.

To give it a bit more character, I started by sanding the top of the stool.

Step 1 | The Wood Grain Cottage

Then, I stained the top with Minwax Early American and painted the frame with a mix of several different colors…

step 2 | The Wood Grain Cottage

Once the paint dried, I roughed it up a bit with my block sander and then hand painted 1776 on the top with some black paint. Once the paint dried, I sprayed the top with a couple coats of clear poly.

step 3 | The Wood Grain Cottage

This is the heaviest sanding that I’ve ever done on a piece of furniture. I’ve always preferred my furniture to have little or no distressing, but I’ve been stepping a bit out of my comfort zone lately. I must say, I love it!

Side Stool Makeover by The Wood Grain Cottage

The addition of the painted black numbers pretty much did me in… I love how they pull out the dark distressed areas.

Side Stool Makeover by The Wood Grain Cottage

Right now, I have it in the kitchen. It makes me smile every time I walk by it, which just happens to be about 100 times a day. That’s a lot of smiles!

Side Stool Makeover by The Wood Grain Cottage

One happy change at a time… That’s all it takes!

Shayna | The Wood Grain Cottage

Linking up to:

Tatertots & Jello

Design Dining & Diapers

Love of Family & Home

The 36th Avenue

Miss Mustard Seed

It’s Overflowing

House of Hepworths

27 Comments

  1. Gorgeous! 🙂
    It must have taken you several hours to sand it but the outcome is beautiful Shayna!
    love everything about this stool, the contrast against the white and then the 1776!
    I would love walking by it every day too! 🙂

    Reply

      1. You’re so welcome sweet friend! I will have a great wknd ( you as well), as I am going on vacation!!! Don’t do too many amazing things, (while I’m away lol:) I don’t want to miss out! Truly enjoy WGC:) See you soon…blessings M

        Reply
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  7. I Love it!! Pinned it to my “Awesome Furniture” Board. I think stools are one of my favorite thing to makeover…They are small and quick and the top is just the perfect little canvas. 🙂
    Nicely done!
    Denise

    Reply
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  11. Wow, Shayna the stool looks so much better with a little character! Pinning and sharing on FB later this week.
    Thanks for much for linking up to support Habitat! Good luck and hope to see you back Thursday night. 🙂

    Reply
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