Last summer, I was gifted an old Costco kitchen step-stool by my father-in-law. I had been wanting one and it turns out, he had this one just sitting around in the basement! So it came to live at my house, with my grand idea of refinishing it. Just one more item for my hunny-do list :-)
Here's the before (JULY of last year)....
It's hard to tell, but it was in really rough shape. The chrome legs were starting to rust and there was a tear in the vinyl on the seat. Not to mention the foam padding on the seat was totally squished flat. It wasn't super comfortable to sit on, but it was super functional for my kitchen. I have a peninsula that I use for my computer station and this was the perfect height to be able to get off my feet and still be able to use my computer. But the plastic covers on the feet were splitting and the feet actually started marking up our floor, so we had to put it away in storage until time/finances allowed for the redo.
I don't have any during pictures, because it just lived in the garage and Andy would work on it a little at a time here and there, usually before he would leave for work. Anyway, I don't have any during pictures. So basically, he sanded down the metal, including the steps and seat after the cushion was removed and the sprayed it all with automotive primer. We figured automotive because it is durable and formulated for use on metal. The rubber treads on the steps were still in pretty good shape, so he just taped it off really well before spray painting the whole thing. We decided on just plain white since it was easiest to find and would match the fabric for the seat and the general kitchen decor. Andy picked out an enamel paint, again for durability. He wound up using two cans on it, I think. Since the chrome was rusting and chrome paint never really looks authentic, we just painted the legs and bag white along with the seat and steps. It made it a lot easier.
I purchased a piece of 1/4" foam and a piece of the thinnest available vinyl at JoAnn's for under $10 after my coupon. The fabric was actually a tablecloth that I got from Target about 2 years ago. I used the ends to make curtains for the kitchen and another piece for the top of this stool. I still have a whole heap left, so who knows what else I can find to use it for! Anyway, we estimate the total cost of the project to be about $30. Here's the result....
I absolutely could not be happier with how it turned out! According to Andy, the something-or-other still needs to "cure" for a bit before we're allowed to use it heavily, so it's still sitting in our spare room, but Ellie wanted to help me with supper tonight, so we pulled it out to give it a test run. It's fabulous. Here's a few more pictures, just because I'm so pleased with the result...
It took a while to complete, but I think it was totally worth it! Now if I can just get the kitchen cabinets painted and a nice new countertop and the chairs finished to match the table and... ;-)
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