Simple project: DIY "Antique" Stool

It's been very hot around these parts as well as a little too busy for my liking.  I wanted (needed?) to do a quick little project that I could finish without toiling for hours in the heat.

This little "antique" stool fills the bill nicely!

In real life, there's nothing antique about it.  It started out as a cheap pine stool from the discount store, and it's been sitting in our attic for years.

To get the look I wanted, I started by giving the stool a coat of Rustoleum's Heirloom White spray paint.

Hint:  To spray paint an item evenly and easily, begin by turning it upside down.  And if you're painting several items the same color, group them together!  Any overspray from one item will land on the other.

Here's the stool after its fresh coat of paint.

I wanted a little more character for this stool, though. So I used some sandpaper to distress the edges.  I love distressing furniture.  You can take out your frustrations by sanding the paint off the edges of the furniture.  And when you're done with the distressing, you don't have to worry about your paint getting nicked or chipped--that just adds to the look!

Just for fun, I decided to apply a number to the stool.  This would be simple if you had a stencil or a vinyl cutting machine.  I have neither of those, so I just used Microsoft Word and printed a huge "5."  (I think this one was size 480.)  I don't know how to print an image in reverse, so I printed the 5 regularly, then flipped the paper over and scribbled all over the back of the image with a pencil.



Then I turned the image right side up and traced around the 5 with a pencil.  This gave me the outline of the 5 on my stool.   Look closely and you can see the pencil marks.  (I should have taken the time to center the number on my stool top a little better, but oh well.)

Once I had my outline, I simply colored in the 5 with a black Sharpie.  (Hint: Use a few Sharpies for this process.  When one starts making faint lines, replace its cap and use another.)  If you're going for an overall distressed look, your colored image doesn't have to be perfect; simply sand lightly over the image when you're finished coloring.

Then I distressed the stool a little more and quickly wiped on some stain, just to give the stool an old-looking finish.  (Hint: keep both a wet and dry rag handy when you're using wiping stain.  Use the dry rag to wipe off the stain right after you've wiped it on, and use the wet rag to wipe off any boo-boos.)

All done!

I'm happy with the way it turned out.  I'll use it on my front porch and won't worry if it gets more distressed!  And the best part is that, aside from drying time for the spray paint, it took less time to complete the project than it did to write this post.  And all I had to buy was a can of spray paint--everything else I had on hand.  Not a bad outcome for a $4.00 can of paint and a few minutes of time!

What do you think of my "antique" stool?  Do you like distressed furniture?

Joining Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday

and Paula at Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday