"Antique" Bar Stool Makeover

A few months ago, I decided that our existing bar stools were just not working. Literally. They were not only falling apart, as in: Studly once leaned back in one and the entire back of the stool came off, making for an interesting display of unintended contortionism, but the seats were microsuede and my kids had eaten more than a few Del Monte fruit cups on them...AKA...They were stained as hell.

So, I went ahead and sold them on KSL to some poor mom with like, 500 kids hanging out of her mini-van (and yes, I did tell her they were broken) and then I went in search of new ones.

Originally, I wanted some that looked sort of like this:

Overstock.com

Then, I pictured the beautiful white leather after about 5 minutes in our kitchen and changed my mind.

Once, I (sort of) snapped back into reality, I decided I wanted the Pottery-Barn-ish look that I am always in search for and found these on their website, falling in love instantly (of course.):

Pottery Barn

But those were around $250 per piece,and after doing some careful math....

(3 X $250 = WAY TOO MUCH FREAKIN' MONEY!!)

...I came to the conclusion that I needed to look for ones that were a little more budget friendly.

Eventually, I found these ones also on KSL:

{Yes, you are right. They look nothing like the first two "inspiration" styles. However, they were super cheap and because I knew my kids would trash them anyway IF I ever got around to painting them, they were soon in the back of my SUV and on their way home.}

Anyway, This week, I decided that I may as well tackle them while I had my little "workshop" still set up in my bedroom from the Christmas Mantel project and got to work while watching an episode of  Sister Wives. 

First, I used the chalk paint recipe I have used before from the Liz Marie blog here and painted them the same color as my kitchen walls, which is Valspar Sea Breath

Then, I dry-brushed them with white latex paint:

After I dry brushed them, I sanded them a bit in order to distress them and to let more of the blue paint show through, and then glazed them with Valspar Antiquing Glaze.

The good news is that I love how they turned out. The bad news is that the finishing wax didn't hold up like I was hoping it would, and I've got to do some repair painting in order to fix a few marks from someone's rhinestone studded back pockets on her jeans.

ARGH!!!!

Once I get them fixed, I'll probably use Polycrylic instead of the finishing wax this time.

(which kind of sucks because I liked that the finishing wax didn't have any shine...It makes them look more antique-ee.)

Project Breakdown:

Bar stools (KSL): $20
Paint and Glaze: I already had all of it, but the Valspar Antique Glaze is right by their regular mixing and clear glazes and runs about $10. It's in a small jar, though instead of a jug.