This one was a simple DIY that I did on my own. We had some cheapity-cheap stools that were looking pretty shabby. So naturally, I shabbied them up a little more.
There are 8 million tutorials on how to do this, so I'll share what I did plus a round-up of other sites that have clear, concise tutorials on how to do the same thing!
*NOTE* I used this same recipe to make my own chalk paint. I used chalk paint so that I wouldn't have to sand the stools beforehand. I used a basic black chalk paint underneath. The top paint color is Crystal Aqua by Valspar.
For ours we started with this:
and turned them into this:
The process was fairly simple.
Step 1//wipe down & clean stools thoroughly
Step 2//Paint chairs with black chalk paint & let dry for 24 hours
Step 3//Paint stools thoroughly with topcoat color *see above* & let dry for 24 hours
Step 4//Lightly sand down with a 220 grit sander. *TIP* Be sure to only sand areas that would eventually wear down like corners and edges. Don't just sand large random spots in the middle of the stool. It doesn't look natural. I've found this to be the trick to shabbying things properly. :)
Step 5//Wipe off all dust. To keep stools from discoloring or from getting unwanted nicks or dings, spray stools with a satin polyacrilic. It sprays thin, so more than one coat may be necessary. (Protective wax works too)
Now my kids can climb on our stools (and fall off and scrape their knees....cough cough) to their hearts content. :)
And here are links to 7 other tutorials. Enjoy!