10.19.2012

stools, sample



the kitchen upgrades continue, slowly but surely. 

in true us fashion we came out of the gates like crazy folk on the big monster aspects of the redo and now are procrastinating and putting off the final easy little details. we arent great finishers. 

however a little bit of progress was made recently.

we bought our bar stools back in september of 2006 from IKEA. we loved them because they were cheap and they went perfectly with the cherry cabinets (which were years away from inducing vomiting in me). 

the 3 small bar stool boxes were part of a MASSIVE truckload of furniture and boxes that we were moving into the house we had just bought (and which jesse would live in for a few weeks before our wedding).

we seriously had all the furniture for our entire house in the bed of a truck at one time: two couches from my parents, a futon i had from college (with a sketchy looking rubber cement stain on it), and approximately 14 hecto-tons of  flat packed IKEA boxes reeking of cinnamon rolls and yearning to be assembled by many tiny allen wrenches.

we borrowed jesse's dad's old truck and stacked that mother higher than i would have thought possible. we drove the 30 miles from IKEA to our house and aged about 10 years in the process. 

if there was ever a snapshot for jesse of what life would be like with me it was this. i was beyond stressed out about the contents of our entire house being disgorged from the dilapidated truck bed and into immediate oblivion on the 8-lane thunderdome that is the atlanta connector. if only we could have harnessed the strength and power of my butt cheeks as they clenched in fear and used those PSI's to secure the furniture, we would have had nothing to fear.  

"TOOOOOO fast, jesSEEEEEEE!"

"drifting, DRIFTING!!!!!"

"you have to ANTICIPATE the bumps!"

"the MALM, jesse! think of the MALM! that bed cannot die a virgin!"

so yeah, he had fair warning about my stress-management skills. everything made it in one piece (or in the case of the IKEA things, in 97 pieces that we would spend hours putting together) and most of those things still reside in that very house today. the MALM has thoroughly enjoyed its role as the marriage bed and has been fruitful in its production of two little dukelets.



so the stools looked great in the old kitchen and served us well for years.

but when we took over the dining table and made it my sewing area, the stools became the main (re: only) kitchen seating. this was fine, if less than comfy (with no back support and a seat that seems to be shrinking beneath m'rump as years go by). and since toddlers and stools make a bad combination, we mostly just ate in the living room at their little table.

so after the kitchen makeover these stools were not only unused, but also looked really out of place in our new blissfully wood-free environment. 

i was on the lookout for new seating that would look good in the new space AND be more suitable for humans to sit at. 

but, ew yall, there seems to be no bar stools possessing the qualities i required: under $60 each, backed, and NOT hideous. 

and then, after scouring every online furniture place i could think of,  the goodwill fairy smiled upon me when i least expected it:

 TA-DA! 


i almost screamed when i came across these. they were the perfect height, there were THREE of them, they were solid wood with padded leather seats, footrests and a beautifully simple and clean shape. i am pretty sure that these were hand-made by someone (there are no signs of any factory and i send up a mighty praise of thanks to the talented hands that crafted them because these are gorgeous and so well-made. 

did i mention they were $15 each? 

and silly jesse tried to tell me not to get them. he lacks the vision, yall. but he's oh so cute, so we forgive him.

it did hurt to remove the awesome leather (a decision that scandalized the goodwill ladies when i told them my plans), but it just would have worked in that room. i have diligently saved the squares of precious material and will surely use them for something grand.

i had bought a target shower curtain a while back with the intention of making new window treatments for the kitchen, but we opted instead to leave the windows bare and open to ameliorate (somewhat) the light-deprived situation that plagues our house.

i knew that this fun grey print would be perfect for recovering the seats.

4 yards of unique fabric for about $15...thats a win.

a few cans of white spray paint and some quality time with my staple gun later, we had 3 perfect additions to our kitchen! 
.
oh man i love them!


 look how nice they play with the current decor! (ignore the wicker baskets and red trivet...they are not invited to this party)


i was stumped about the dingy white french doors in the kitchen (now that we had decided to forgo the curtains) and was getting a little nervous about the room being too overwhelmingly greyscale. 


i had seen a pinterest project that involved painting the inside of doors and thought that might work well in this instance.



for a $3 paint sample and a small surface area, it was a low risk gamble and i love how it turned out:


still need to change the color of the door hardware


so much fresher and cleaner and crisper and just all around better, no?

epilogue: 

the bad news- now that we have these stools, we are trying to table-train the kids. they spent the first years of their toddler-hood just swooping in for a bite to eat and then running around. we were bad since we never ate at a table, we didnt make them sit in high chairs or anything. this has made them look barbaric when we go to restaurants or other people's houses and it must end. therefore, we are making them sit in the chairs for dinner.  it's not going well. but parenting aside, they also spill like crazy and the beautiful fabric is taking some hits. i see myself recovering these again sometime soon in oilcloth or laminated fabric. live an learn.

the good news- i listed the old bar stools on craigslist and ended up making $55 bucks on them! more than enough to pay for the new ones and the spray paint. an upgrade in style, functionality, and quality for free?!?! thats a HUGE win. 

16 comments:

  1. Oh, man, these look GREAT. They don't look anything like the originals. Well done! Has Jesse come to the dark side and admitted that you are right in all things? You deserve it.

    I was considering painting the white on our nice storm door to match the yellow I want to paint our front, wooden door (which, obviously, resides behind the storm door--continuity is making me consider this.) The storm is metal, so I'm hesitant. I know your French doors are, what, vinyl? so it's not the same thing. But did it go okay? Did you use a roller or brush? How did you protect the glass? Just gathering info here. p.s., the blue is serene and adult and a great contrast from the gray. Good choice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jesse HAS entered the light. this conversion was completed yesterday when i bought a chest at goodwill for $35 for our house that we ended up not loving. he kind of threw down on me despite my assurances that i would at least get our money back. naturally we sold it yesterday for $75. holla.

      i think our french doors are actually steel? when we drill into them there is shiny metal. that is the extent of my alchemical knowledge. maybe they have a vinyl coating? i dont know. i used a brush and, after trying to just use a piece of cardstock to protect the glass as i painted the trims (FAIL), went ahead and taped. it was annoying and halfway through i just went for it and painted like crazy and then wiped the paint of the glass. it should be noted that i didnt go nuts on painting the trim perfectly...but i have yet to even notice it in daily life.

      Delete
  2. Karla Aukerman10/19/12, 11:27 AM

    YAY! I bought that same shower curtain a few weeks ago for my newly painted grey bathroom:-) It's a great choice for your new barstools! I love what you've done with the new stools and with the sale of your old ones....free sounds amazing! As for learning to sit and eat in chairs at a table goes....don't give up on your kiddos! They will eventually get it!:-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yay shower curtain twins! ugh, right now the kids seem to think that sitting in the bar stools is an invitation to aerial maneuvers. usually ON me and jesse.

      Delete
  3. after our text conversation last night I saw this title and was fully prepared for you to be picking on us. :)

    noah says to me this morning when i told him why i am treating the whole family with meds -- "Oh yeah - I saw a worm in my poop last Saturday" -- I was all "WHAT THA?? WHHHYYYY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME???" -- he said "I wanted to play video games and not have to stop to tell you."

    lovely
    stool. sample.

    you make me laugh lady. thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hahahaha, what if i came here and did a post about your parasites?!?! noah may be on to something: a video game where you FIGHT the poop worms. eh? eh? btw. i love you hard.

      Delete
  4. Your kitchen looks amazing! Several things...
    Love love love the painted french doors - such a great idea! The barstools are a great find - and it was pretty genius to use the shower curtain for cute fabric (i am totally stealing this idea). Also, I think you might be able to spray the chairs with scotchguard upholstery/fabric protecter. I laughed about not being finishers, because that is us, exactly. We do this big project, and then are so ready to get moved back into the room, we just never finish the details. That is our goal for winter...but I am doubtful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love how your kitchen is turning out! The door color is fabulous, and I really like how the chairs match, but don't.
    Some of my friends with solid-food-eating littles have recovered their chairs, and they put clear vinyl on top of their pretty fabric. (If we ever eat at anything besides the coffee table, I would consider it...I don't think my couch would do well covered in plastic.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. A few funny things. One, we've been living without table or chairs for the past two weeks and have been desperate for bar stools (which we finally scored today, 4 for $50, holla). So, you and I have both had barstools at the forefront of our brains - and I'm glad you got good money for yours because if you had given them away, it would have been tragic irony. Two, I almost bought that shower curtain yesterday. So gorgeous. Three, we started the cabinet painting process today! The glory of white cabinets await. And our walls are also a pretty gray, like yours, but I think the decor similarities between us will probably end there, because I'm all about the natural wood. (In the proper tones, of course.)

    ReplyDelete
  7. A few funny things. One, we've been living without table or chairs for the past two weeks and have been desperate for bar stools (which we finally scored today, 4 for $50, holla). So, you and I have both had barstools at the forefront of our brains - and I'm glad you got good money for yours because if you had given them away, it would have been tragic irony. Two, I almost bought that shower curtain yesterday. So gorgeous. Three, we started the cabinet painting process today! The glory of white cabinets await. And our walls are also a pretty gray, like yours, but I think the decor similarities between us will probably end there, because I'm all about the natural wood. (In the proper tones, of course.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. You rock!!! So great to see you and the fam today. Thanks for stopping by. You were amazing with Judah! Way to go! So cool that your mom saved your clothes and Layla loves them! Such a cutie pie is she!!

    The stools and doors are awesome...so love you carrying on the scavenger tradition ... you do a much better job of bringing life to old things. Too bad I didn't get the sewing gene from my mom!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You rock!!! So great to see you and the fam today. Thanks for stopping by. You were amazing with Judah! Way to go! So cool that your mom saved your clothes and Layla loves them! Such a cutie pie is she!!

    The stools and doors are awesome...so love you carrying on the scavenger tradition ... you do a much better job of bringing life to old things. So sad I didn't get the sewing gene from my mom!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love the color of those doors!

    ReplyDelete
  11. You had me at stools, sample. If I knew how to make those hearts out of punctuation symbols those would go right here.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What was your process for cleaning, prepping and painting the wood? What brand/type of spray paint and/or primer did you use? I am about to tackle a similar project with a chair going from wood to white and need some advice please! love.your.work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. honestly, i just went at it with white semi-gloss krylon. the only prep was also using the white krylon primer. it worked like a dream, even though chairs are SO annoying to paint because there are so many faces to every little piece. the only thing to watch out it is the curing time. make sure you read the label and stay within the window for reapplying coats (i believe they need to be within 1 hour or after 48 hours). i fudged on one and it caused some insane spiderwebbing texture that we have to sand off and repaint (i think this is called 'crazing' and i makes me nutty). good luck!

      Delete