Good morning! Happy Monday, did you have a good weekend? Mine ended up being fairly busy but I did manage to finally finish up those stools that have been plaguing me for almost a month now. (You can read about that here and here)
Last I had posted about them I was going to try transfer newsprint onto them via a technique I had seen on Pinterest for finger nails. Well, that was a dismal failure and not even worth a picture. So, I pulled out my handy red paint and this is what they look like now:
I jumped on the numbers bandwagon (they seem to be super trendy right now) and I really like how they turned out.
To give them the rustic country look, I first sanded them down and then did a coat of homemade chalk paint. After the fist coat I did a second coat but while that was still wet, I brushed black paint on in some areas and blended it in to the wet paint with more red paint. I found that blending in the black while the paint was still wet gave me greater flexibility in the final darkness of the black. I also accidentally got too much black in some places but I just kept adding more red on top until I liked the results. When dried, I stenciled the numbers on the seat and took a piece of medium grit sand paper and scuffed it all up.
I have been reading and hearing a lot about chalk paint recently, it was developed specifically for painting furniture so it has really great adhesion and better coverage and finish than latex. The best part is no priming or completely sanding down pieces before painting! Genius. The down sides are that it is expensive, and in Ottawa, not the easiest to get unless you order it online, making it that much more expensive with shipping. I found a few posts online regarding homemade chalk paint by mixing latex paint with plaster of Paris. It was worth a try. I didn’t have any plaster of Paris so I mixed my paint with some wall plaster I had and it actually worked! The paint covered really well, dried a workable
matte finish, and not at all tacky which some of my other straight latex pieces have done. I finished off with a few coats of wax and they are ready to go!
That is all I’ve got for today, how were your weekends? Did you get to finish up any projects that have been “plaguing” you for a while? What project is next on your list?
I linked up to:
{thelivedinroom} 
Is one of those stools the random stool from the woods? Or is that still in the to do pile?
Still in the To Do. Thinking of going all Texas ranch style on it. Leather or Cow print and a stud detail of course!
Still in the To Do. Going to go all Texas on it! cowhide or leather and a studded detail around the edge!
Love this idea, love the end result and LOVE your blog! Thank you for sharing these great ideas with everyone – I am passing the Liebster Blog Award on to you. Keep up the great work!
-Jacque
Wow, I am so honored! I don’t know what to say, Thank you!
Visiting from Debbie Doo’s! Those stools are is amazing! Great take on the homemade chalk paint.
Thanks for the inspiration.
blessings,
karianne
Hi Karianne,
Thanks for visiting! I am glad you liked the stools. I made the chalk paint again for another project this week that I’ll show on Monday, but it worked well again. I think this may be my new way of painting furniture. If you try it you will have to let me know, I’d love to hear how it works for you!
Rachel
They look great Rachie!!! Love the colour!!
Thanks! I love the red too
Well done Rachel!! I have 3 bare stools that need painting. Do you think silver would work? Or what about black and white together? Ah decisions … decisions …
It’s can be so hard to decide, either of those options would work but to make your decision more complicated, what about doing the legs white and the tops stained wood? or, maybe painting them a bright color as a little accent pop? Decisions, decisions!
Love them, Rachel! A very cool country look, and countrified red is the best! Great job.
I knew you would love the red!
Oh, I love these! Great job Rachel. I probably wouldn’t have even guessed that they were once those standard old boring stools beforehand, very cool.
Thank you Michelle, I was so happy they turned out as well as they did!
Looks awesome Rachel!
These stools are super cute. Love the color. Thanks for sharing and linking up to my newbie party.
Thanks for hosting Debbie, that was my first ever link party, I am glad I did it right! I really appreciated the idea of a newbie party because it takes some of the pressure off and a great way to ease into the linky world!