Chalk Painted Foot Stool

On my way home from work the other night I popped into the local antique mall.  I spotted this cute little foot stool marked for $20 and I snapped it up and carried it through the store.  It didn’t look quite like this when I bought it.  I knew it needed just a little help from my paintbrush in the way of a chalk painted finish to turn into the cutest little foot stool around.

I loved the fabric on the top but wasn’t in love with the antiqued wood stain on the bottom.  I knew it had potential though so I quickly pulled out my newspaper and paints and started coming up with a plan.  I have quite a few chalk painted pieced in my house and wanted to add another pop of it.

The first thing I did was cover the whole thing in Martha Stewart’s Antique White chalk like finish paint.  I actually thought this was going to be the answer.  But as I stood back and looked at it I felt like the cream on its own was just a little too boring.  Cute, but boring.  Crazy right?  A creamy white chalk painted finish is so where it is at right now in Florida.

Going through life being cute is okay.  Going through life being boring…not okay.  Not even for a stool.  So to liven her up a little I pulled out a little bit of green I felt would tie in nicely to my hutch located in the eating nook.  This one.

I love the green/blue color of this piece and it makes me happy every day when I walk into my kitchen.  To tie a color into a space it should be repeated three times.  Once it is used three times it makes each piece look like it belongs in the space.  Since our family room, eating nook, and kitchen all share one space, I thought it would be nice to put another hit of this color in there.  So this is how it turned out.

After painting the green color on, I used Miss MustarSeed’s White Wax.  I just love that stuff.  It’s magic.  Everything I have put it on I adore.  I may be having a serious addiction to using it.  Then I sanded some spots to let the cream show through and sanded some spots a little more to let the stained wood peak through.

I love that the top opens.  My little one told me it’s the perfect spot for secret stuff.  It has become his favorite place to sit in the family room.  It has made my thrift store wing back chair my spot in the family room.  This family loves to put their feet up.  Just about every spot had a spot for feet except for this chair.  Now that this is solved, I predict it will become a sought after spot.

I kept the fabric it came with.  Someday I may change it when I actually do the design for the family room.  But for now, it ties in nicely with the creams and beige colors in the room.  It pulls in the brown from the rug and cream from the curtains.  The little bit of green in the fabric gives it just enough pop of color to make it interesting.

The greens aren’t an exact match, but that is what I love about it.  It’s not too perfect.  Now it is cute and interesting.  Not cute and boring.

I’m sharing this at some great link parties:

(DIY Show Off)  (Under The Table And Dreaming)  (I Should Be Mopping The Floor)

(Something To Talk About)  (Sand and Sisal)  (The Scoop)   (Your Designs This Time)

(The Girl Creative)   Cozy Little House  (Savvy Southern Style)

A Stroll Thru Life Miss Mustardseed