New Stools!

Our last post, I shared the progress of our first week in the house.  And I'm sure a few of you noticed my rusty yet shapely bar stools in the kitchen:

 Well now that view has improved greatly, because this weekend I gave them a bit of a makeover:

I had been casually looking for a few stools, but apparently counter height bar stools that are pretty [and preferably vintage] are either really hard to find, or they cost about $1000 each. So one day I saw that a friend on mine was selling these on facebook, and after checking the height [counter height!] I told her to hold them for me.  They were a whole $20 FOR THE PAIR. To freshen them up I got some spray paint, and found a remnant of the perfect non-shiny black vinyl at Jackman's Fabric for $4, and since this weekend was gorgeous, got to work!

To back up, here's what they looked like when I got them:

Fun shape, delightfully vintage, not too bulky or distracting from my gorgeous counters, and the price was definitely right.  SOLD.  All they needed was a little love!

 Materials needed:

1: Sanding block in 100 grit

2: '00' steel wool

3: 2 cans of spray paint [I chose Oil Rubbed Bronze because it matches my faucet, light fixture, and all of the hardware I'm -eventually- putting on the cabinets.  And because I'm addicted to that color] 4: A pretty place to corral the screws that keep the chairs together after you take them apart.

____________________

Step 1: Get started!  Figure out how the padded parts are attached, then unattach them.

Step 2: Sand every surface. The 100 grit was perfect for knocking off the rust and smoothing out the scratches.  After sanding them all down I went over them again with the steel wool to smooth everything else out really nicely to make a perfect surface for the paint.  This only took about half an hour.  Not too bad!
Step 3: Paint!  I did about 4 light coats, with about half an hour of drying between coats. Step not pictured because spray painting is messy, it was getting super windy, and I was feeling lazy with the photo-taking part.  [Tip: to get the ugly over spray off of your hands that will inevitably get on you, use a scrub with olive oil and baking soda to get it off]
Step 4: Slowly and painstakingly take out all of the staples from the old upholstery.  Sometimes you can just put the new fabric on top of the old, but the vinyl I bought was quite a bit thicker than the old vinyl, and I figured I wouldn't have the wiggle room for the extra thickness and have it still fit.  I was right, since it was still kind of a tight fit when I put them back together.  Also, if your floors seem to hide dirt and -in this case- rogue staples, keep a piece of paper nearby to put them on so you can see them and clean them up easier.

Step 5: Get to stapling.  Do one side, then do its opposite side while pulling tight.  Turn a quarter of a turn, pull tight and staple, then do its opposite.  This helps keep everything centered and not wrinkled as you work your way around the circle.

 Step 6: Trim off all the excess fabric.

Step 7: Repeat with the seat backs

 

And they're done!  After $20 for the stools, $6.76 for each can of paint, and $4 for the fabric, I found two lovely stools that fit the kitchen perfectly, for less than $19 each.

The kitchen is slowly but surely getting closer to being finished!