Yardstick Stool Makeover, Pinterest Inspired!

This is the before pic!  Lovely, huh?  This baby was only $2 and I knew that I could do some thing cool with it…yup, last summer I thought that.  So it sat and sat in the garage, minding its own business for the past year.  Did I mention it has been out there for a year waiting for me to make it wonderful??

For some reason I thought I needed to replace the seat with a round seat.  I looked all over, even bought a few round precut pieces of wood, thinking they would fit.  That was a big fat negative!  They always looked right in the hardware/DIY store but when I got them home, not so much.

So anyway, I thought I would get out there in the garage and beat the heat.  Hmmm, that didn’t work.  91 stifling degrees before 10am!  I had seen this stool on Pinterest  pinned from ThistleWood…and thought hmmmm…I could do my stool that way! 

Source: thistlewoodfarms.com via Ellen on Pinterest

So that is what I set out to do…I looked all over town for some vintage, well used yardsticks.  I came up with not one even after three junk/vintage/antique shops. So I decided to use these…

They were cheap and could be found easily.  I bought a few more than I actually needed, just in case of mistakes.  I wanted to add some color to the top since I had decided to use a black hammered metal spray paint on the base of the stool.

I used a yellow and a few shades of blue and some reds.  I mixed the paints using acrylic craft paints and a brown metallic glaze, so each color is unique. 

I bought a 2 x 12 x 6 foot board to use for the seat.  It was a perfect fit.  I had the store where I bought the board cut it down for me to an 11.5 inch square. 

I arranged the colors and styles of yardsticks in a pleasing order…

and this is what I ended up with.  I trimmed the yardsticks to fit the board and then glued them to the board, letting them set overnight. 

Meanwhile this is the temp…and I dropped the board (remember it is 2 x 12 inches  x 6 feet) on my right foot…ouch!

Meanwhile, I had sanded and painted the stool base with Rustoleum Hammered Metal in black. 

 

I did about 3-4 light coats….until I was happy with the finish.  The hammered finishes are very forgiving, eliminating imperfections in the finish.

I used a barnwood grey glaze from Valspar for the top, let it dry and applied two coats of satin lacquer.

I am very pleased with the end result…

I love the muted colors of the seat and the black legs together. 

I initially bought this for my son’s room, but now I am thinking it will look great downstairs in the living room.

That year long wait in the garage was worth it, although I should have tackled it earlier!

Have I mentioned that I really like the end product here?

Looks good in my living room…

I love the rugged edges…

I am linking to these great parties!
I am also linking to the Summer Pinterest Challenge at Young House Love!