A White Chippy Footstool

Well hello, do I have a classic for you today?  Those of you on instagram will know that I recently bought an Ikea Ektorp sofa for my 'empty room'.  I love it to bits.  It's so nice to have a little area where I can sit and read.  Problem is you need somewhere to put your cup of tea or glass of wine where it won't get knocked over.

I have seen so many lovely chippy stools on blogs and pinterest, so I decided that's what I needed.  Well I didn't need to look any further than the storage area above the garage and I found one.

This was the stool my husband made at school for woodworking.  Do they still even do woodworking as a subject anymore?  It has his name and class 10GA1 written underneath.

Look at that handywork.  How good is that glue joint?  Despite appearances, it's actually a very solid and sturdy stool, so I gave it a lick of paint and a little roughen up.

How I did it

Step 1 - Lightly sand and give the stool a coat of burnt umber paint (I use Jo Sonja's acrylic).  I wanted a deep brown to come through rather than the orange colour.

Step 2 - Give the stool a couple of coats of white paint.  I used Dulux aqua-enamel in Whisper White.

This is an instagram photo I took while I was doing it.

Step 3 - Roughen it up a bit.  Sand the edges and use a screwdriver or blade to scratch some paint off.  Kristen from The Painted Hive uses a surfboard wax comb.  Mine ended up looking like this:

Some of my favourite books and a rose from the garden, and it's all pretty.

Even my husband is happy with it.  I did ask him if I could paint it first ... just in case.

I'll be back in a couple of days to share the best pancake recipe for the weekend ... yum.  Don't forget my tin hearts giveaway is still open.  You can enter here.

Sharing at French Country Cottage, Miss Mustard Seed, Scandi Coast Home