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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Cue the Choir...

                                                                                                                                                                

...cause these bad boys are FINALLY done! Hallelujah!

I've kept you all waiting long enough!  Mom's barstools were priority number 1 for Spring Break.  I've been working on them since Christmas break and had to postpone my work when school started.

You can read about the first half of the transformation here.

They started like this:


Then I painted and distressed ALOT to make them look like this:


And that is how they sat for almost two months! Thanks for understanding Mom!

I personally kind of liked them how they were, but they're not my barstools!  Mom wanted a more golden color, so I busted out the Minwax Dark Walnut stain:


I used t-shirt like material, poured a little bit of the stain on the cloth, then just started rubbing it on the chair.


It took longer when I first started because the rag would soak up alot of the stain.  Once I was almost finished with the first barstool the rag was pretty much saturated and it was much easier to apply.

DON'T FORGET TO WEAR YOUR SUPER COOL RESPIRATOR!

When I first started doing projects I would never wear one and I could smell the paint/stain fumes for hours.  I put my mask on and I don't smell a thing.  And if you breath (or in my case sing your heart out) just right, it makes a fun whistly noise! =)

Here is the comparison again of how the stain makes the wood pop and tones down the yellow:


And here they all are ready to dry:


Now what I've learned about Minwax stain is that it can stay tacky for days.  I'm not so great in the patience department, especially when I'm on a time crunch.  I applied my poly after the stain sat for 24 hours.  Although the stain was still tacky, the poly dried just fine on top.  Sometimes the stain just won't dry right, so don't be scared to put your poly on a tacky surface.

Now with that being said, the wipe-on poly that I used will try to remove some of the stain on your piece.  I just wipe very quickly, in long straight strokes.  I've found that if I do tiny areas and really try to rub on the poly it will remove a lot of my stain.  So I just saturate my cloth (the t-shirt stuff again) with the wipe-on poly and work quickly. 

Once I was done I let the stools sit for about three days.  Not because they needed that long to dry, but becauseI was doing other things. 

Here is the bowl that inspired Mom:


It had to match her counter-top too:


And here they all are in their new home!


It was really gloomy outside, and I was in a huge rush, so pardon the sub-par photo!

And here are some more just for your viewing pleasure!



Cheers!

Linking to these Parties

16 comments:

  1. They turned out really great! I would like some now please ;)

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  2. Phew, I bet that feels so good to be done! Now you can move on to your own projects! yay! Oh and they look really good! Great job! Oh, just so ya know, I'll be posting about my giveaway today!

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  3. These are great! I would love my kitchen stools to have backs like these, well to look like this too!

    Saw you on At The Picket Fence :D

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  4. katie you did such a beautiful job on those!!!!

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  5. Those look incredible. I love the color. You did a great job!

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  6. Jumped over from French Country Cottage.. Those look fantastic! Great colors.. your kitchen is so pretty.

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  7. I heard the chorus! :-) Yay Katie! They really do look fantastic and I know your mom must just love them! So glad to have you linking them up to the Inspiration Friday party this week!
    Vanessa

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  8. Those turned out great! I'm on the hunt for great stools for my kitchen. Hope I can find something like these!

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  9. Great job! Love the color.

    I am having an antique auction on my blog. All sorts of lovely and romantic finds looking for a new home. I hope you'll stop by.

    Have a wonderful weekend.

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  10. I absolutely love them. I am embarking on my own adventure. I am weaving 4 vintage ladder chairs with natural rushing. Pray for me!!!!

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  11. Hi there- I stopped by earlier but couldn't get my comment to go through.
    These are just gorgeous~love the color and finish- and they look wonderful in their new home! Thank you for sharing at FNF! :)

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  12. these are so pretty in yellow. great paint job!

    megan
    craftycpa.blogspot.com

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  13. Those look gorgeous and they really do go well with your countertops!

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  14. They turned out lovely, Katie! Bet your mom is thrilled - I would be! Thanks for the Minwax/poly info too. I sprayed some drawer pulls today and it took For.Ever. for them to dry. I'm too dang impatient to wait for the weather to warm up ;)

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  15. Love the color and distressing and the stain technique! So pretty! :)

    Roeshel

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