Bar stool makeover

When we moved into our home 5 1/2 years ago I bought these very cheep bar stools from Lowe's for $24.00 ea. Of course I had been really drooling over some $150.00 bar stools from Pottery Barn. Let me tell you folks, I'm so glad that I didn't have the money to get those expensive bar stools when I wanted them. Since moving into our house I've had 2 more children and my then Innocent 1 and 2 year old baby boys have grown into active and imaginative big boys. The bar stools have been everything from fort beams to rocket ships. As you can see from the next two pictures below they have been well loved. Being a Mother of a 2,4,6 and 8 year old I find myself cleaning up about 20 spills a week. The rattan tops on the stools have definitely seen better days. I can't stand cleaning these things and trying to scrape spills and food out of the cracks. The last time I had to take one of the chairs outside and hose it off I thought,"that's it! These chairs need a makeover!" I decided to paint them in a bright turquoise color and cover the tops with something I could easily wipe off.

Here is what they started out like. The round screw holes are from my husband did to keep them from falling apart after all the stools wild kid adventures.

More than half of the chairs had strands of the rattan missing

 and some kind of gunk stuck in the cracks.

I took the stools out on the back porch and sanded and washed them off and then gave them each 2 and 1/2 coats of semi gloss latex paint. The paint had good coverage so the .5 coat was just to double check and hit any spots I might have missed. Oh...I also used putty to fill in the screw holes.

I have an upholstery staple gun, but with all the batting and original weaving on the stool seats we figured out it worked tons better to use a power staple gun. My sweet husband even pitched in and helped me cut fabric and cover the seats while I was still slaving away with my paint brush. My 5 stools took longer than I thought they would.

Stan did a great job folding in the corners. He was finished in no time at all. Originally I was going to use a cotton fabric and then cover it with plastic. I changed my mind after I found this very cheep...3.50 a yard felt backed plastic material at my local Walmart. I liked the pattern and it was way less expensive than buying yardage of a cotton print and plastic. And much more simple.

Ta da! My finished chairs. I adore them. They're bright and happy and now when the kids spill I can just wipe the tops right off! The kids love them too :) Some of the old chairs were getting a bit prickley on the tops and I had received a few "there's a sliver in my bum" complaints!

Isn't the black, white and turquoise a great combination?

I loved the color on the chairs so much that I decided to paint my pantry door too! :)

It felt so good to finish a project that makes my kitchen look better and makes my life easier at the same time. Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully I'll have some more projects to post soon.