Project How To's

I linked all the products I used in my Amazon store page and in the key words underlined throughout this article. For those not willing to wait for 2 day shipping, Home Depot has all of the supplies, the exact stain combo is hard to find and usually sold out but by the time you are done sanding your amazon order will be in!

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I found these stools at a thrift store for $5 each! Total Project cost was under $100, or only the cost of the stain and stools if you already have the sanding supplies. I also used these supplies on a few other projects so when calculating via girl math this diy was nearly free! You can also source the stools here on Amazon as well or Walmart. But take a look at your local thrift stores or facebook marketplace first! When buying them off Amazon you can also get them in the natural color (linked here), which saves you a lot of sanding time. There will still be a topcoat sealer if you wanted to stain them the weather oak color, but it is a lot easier to sand off a topcoat then a dark stain and top coat.

 

We had to cut the stools down to size as they were 29", we cut them down to 24.5" for proper island height. Then started the sanding process with a palm sander with 60 grit sand paper and worked up to 120-180 grit. Before the final sand with 180-220 grit I did 180 on the legs and 220 grit on the seat. You could get away with either or rather than buying two different grits, I just had them on hand. I did some weathering chips with my wood file. This really helped with the vintage farmhouse look I was going for. The stain also really took in those areas creating more detail and a weathered look into the piece. To get into the corners of the stools I had to sand it by hand. My corner sander didn't get into the small nooks well enough. Don't be fooled by Andy looking like he sanded everything, this was a team project that I dragged him into once my hands both went numb. He totally loves my wacky diy ideas first thing on a Saturday morning (sarcasm)...

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For stain, I finally mastered the perfect muddy oak look. I used Varathane's Grey Willow Shade, I did one thin coat then top coated with a classic oak polyurethane to bring a bit of warmth to the washed grey. The top coat really is the secret and also seals in the stain and protects the stool. Overall this was a quick project, minus the sanding. A single stool costs over $150-400 for this exact look so I highly recommend this project, even for beginners!