Bar Stools

If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, you probably have noticed that I've been doing a lot of DIY projects.  This one was, by far, my most difficult.  I had a really hard time getting the screws out of the stools and an even harder time getting them back in.  I've dubbed myself a frugal crafter, as there is apparently already an official Frugal Crafter out there. Kindred spirits.  I will have to check out this site more closely soon.

I found these wood bar stools on Craigslist for $50.  Now that I've been doing more Craigslist lurking, I've realized that I can get better deals, but you live and learn.  I have also been stopping at garage and yard sales when I see them.  I think I'll be hitting the flea market soon as one of my coworkers says that he goes there every weekend and comes back with some awesome deals. I also have learned that you can get much better deals on fabric than what I got at Joann's for my speaker bench.  There is a store called Home Fabrics right next to my office.  I've always seen this store and never gone in.  I had even wondered how they stayed in business.  Well, let me tell you, IT IS A JEWEL.  I was able to buy 6.5yd of fabric for $24 when at Joann's I got the fabric for my bench at $27 for 2.25yds. Highway robbery!  Home Fabrics doesn't have any of the notions, zippers, or crafting items like Joann's, but if you need fabric, this is where you should go.   I was practically skipping back to my office once I bought the fabric for my next project (haven't started that one yet).  I felt robbed after realizing how much I've been spending at Joann's for fabric.

Anyway, back to the project.

$50 for two.  You can't really tell from the picture, but the foot bar is gold. 

After much struggling, I was finally able to get all of the backs off of the stools.  I then used a solution of bleach and water to spray the cushions down.  I saturated the fabric pretty well since you never know what other germs or bugs people have. 

Using a pint can of $2 paint from Home Depot that I was intending on using for my new-used coffee table, I sanded down the frame and painted them a light seagull gray.  I found the paint on the discard rack at Home Depot a couple of weeks ago.  I always check there first to see if there are any discounted paint colors that I like.  A lot of times people will ask for a color to be made but then never go to pick it up so they get sent to the discount rack.  I'm all for the discount rack especially since I like neutral colors and there always happens to be some sort of neutral on the rack that I like.  

I had spray painted the gold foot rail with a dark gray spray paint that I found in my parent's garage.  I covered the bars fully with scrap paper and then proceeded to sand and paint the legs of the stools. 

This is how nasty the cushions looked even after the bleaching.  I've Scotch Gaurded all of my fabric for these projects.

Using my staple gun, I reupholstered the chair cushions.  By this point it was starting to get dark and I was getting really tired and hungry.  I stopped at this point to eat dinner. 

On the second day I was able to put the backing on.  For a more experienced DIYer, this whole project probably could have been done in a matter or hours.  It took me about eight hours in total, but it was my first big project. 

I was feeling rather bold and got a second set of bar stools from Craigslist for $40.  The frames of these are on the tan-brown side.  To compliment the first set that I gave a makeover to, I got gray-toned fabric from my new favorite fabric store.  I liked the color of the frames so there wasn't much work to be done there.  The disassembling and reupholstering of the stools was much easier this time around also. 

I don't think that they match perfectly together, but they go together well enough and were only around $110 for four stools.  If you look in any store for brand new stools, you'll have a hard time finding any at this price unless it's from Ikea and feels like it's going to fall apart if you lean the wrong direction.   I'm quite pleased with my handy work.