Country Design Home

Nov 24, 2013

Teeny Tiny Tea Table

My DIY projects are being completed at a record pace this month, knowing that Thanksgiving dinner for twenty is fast approaching and our Vintage Thymes Monthly Market will be the following weekend! One of this week’s projects was refurbishing a cute little side table.

The original finish was a shiny scratched shellac with large milky stains on the top over a dark mahogany wood. After several unsuccessful attempts to remove the stains, I made the decision to paint and antique it instead. Since I wanted to show off the pretty delicate floral border, I decided to go with two coats of Annie Sloan French Linen for the base and a specialty deeper gray color that I created. (I’m calling it CDH Parisian Gray : ) I have been mixing my own colors and creating a chalk-like paint using a recipe I recently discovered online. LOVE it. Blog for another day.

For the finishes, I used some Martha Stewart products I discovered in a 50% off mark down bin at Michaels. Crackle Effect for the center, Antique Tintable Glaze for the contrast and a Satin Acrylic Finish.

Here is the How-To:

1. Cleaned the table and remove cobwebs and dust (it was in the barn…).

2. Painted the base coat with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. The beauty of ASCP is that you don’t need to prep or prime anything. Just paint and go. Two coats. 3. Sanded the edges to give the table a more rustic appearance. (You can skip this step if you want it to be a bit more refined : )

4. I had left the middle circle untouched, thinking that I would just add the crackle medium and then paint over that to allow the dark wood to show through. (For more info on using crackling medium, check out my Big Rack Attack Towel Rack tutorial)

FAIL. The crackling medium dried, and when I painted over it for the contrast, it looked fine.

Until I started to add the glaze. What a mess. All of the paint started coming off with the rag! Apparently the crackle medium did not adhere to the unprepped and shellacked inner circle. So I scraped it off,

cleaned it well, sanded it down,

painted it with my CDH Parisian gray,

crackle glazed and repainted that inner circle again, allowed to dry thoroughly,

then proceeded on to the next step.

5. Mixed the Antique Effects Glaze with my darker gray paint.

Remember, the more paint you use, the darker the glaze effect will be, so just use a small amount of paint. Paint it on, wipe it off with a damp rag. Do one section at a time, as this product dries pretty quickly and you want it to be blended smoothly and not leave streaky lines.

I started out with a fairly dark mixture of paint and glaze, then added more glaze to lighten up as I went on. The great part about this product is that it is water based, so just taking a damp rag to it removed the excess perfectly. You can see how the glaze enhances not only the crackling effect in the center, but also the medallion of flowers along the border. So country pretty!

6. Allowed to dry, then added the Martha Stewart Satin Finish for protection. Done. Overall, I give the Martha Stewart products two thumbs up! They go on smoothly (the crackle fiasco was my bad, not Martha’s), clean up with soap and water, are essentially odorless and a little goes a very long way, so it’s inexpensive as well. But the refurbishing of this little table cost me a lot of time. Good thing Coach got it for FREE-99!!

7. So, where could you use a Teeny Tiny Tea Table? How about next to a pretty pink victorian rocking chair in the Parisian-inspired guest room?

OK, I am off to decoupage the world! Or, at the very least, some more stars… Have a super Sunday everyone, and GO PATS! Susan

Nov 22, 2013

Jelly Jar Soy Candles

By countrydesignhome · 2 Comments

Nothing like a fun DIY project to get ready for the upcoming holidays! I had a box full of vintage jelly jars kicking around,

so I decided to make some candles as stocking stuffers. This is really quite easy, as most of the products I used from Country Lane

came with very explicit instructions on the packaging. I purchased the starter kit, plus all of the additional materials including the colorants

the scent bottles (so many yummy flavors to choose from!!)and extra wicks

at AC Moore, but you can also buy in quantity from various candle makers through Etsy or Ebay as well. I figured I would give it a try on a smaller scale before I got into wholesale lots of wax and wicks. Here is the How-To-Do-It:

1. Wash the little jars or whatever you are planning on using. In my case, if the tops were really rusted, I spray painted them so you could see the embossed Jelly Jar writing.

2. Bring water to a boil in a pan large enough to hold the candle melting pot, but with only enough water to submerge the bottom of the pot!

The melting pot has a handle so it hangs onto the edge of the pan of boiling water. Once the water is boiling, reduce to simmer. Place pot filled with wax chips into the hot water, making sure you don’t splash any water into the melting pot!

3. Leave the pot in the simmering water until the wax melts completely. DO NOT ALLOW THE WAX TO BOIL!!! Soy wax melts very quickly on the lowest setting, so it only takes a couple of minutes to melt the entire bag.

4. Get the little wicks and dip them into the melted wax, then adhere them centered in the bottom of the jar. Allow to cool completely!

That way when you go to pour the wax in, they will stay upright. Nothing worse than a crooked wick!

5. Add scent and colorant to the desired colors and scent levels. Obviously, the more you add, the darker the color and the stronger the scent. The melted wax appears darker than when it cools and sets, so color accordingly.

6. Pour melted wax carefully into prepared jars, making sure you avoid the centered wick, so it won’t melt and warp. Allow to cool.

7. To create some labels, I went to Staples and got these cute little Martha Stewart Brown Kraft Paper labels numbers 72428 and 72429. (If the packages look a little ink-stained to you, that is not your computer screen. They were in a bag with a jar of black grout and I was fumbling for my keys and dropped the bag in the driveway and…you can guess the rest.)

8. Go to Avery.com Design & Print Online, and plug in the label numbers in the search box.

A template will pop up and you can design it however you would like your label to look. Remember, these are enlarged on the computer screen, so when you actually print them in sheets of 6, the print will be smaller!

9. I have a pretty old printer, and it doesn’t take kindly to adjusting for different size cards and papers. So I simply taped my labels onto a sheet of standard copy paper in the proper position,

then printed them-perfectly placed and spaced!

10. Add the printed labels to the jars and put the tops on. Cute! And they smell great too! If you have questions or are looking for additional information, go to Soap Expressions.com and they have lots of candle-making tutorials using their Country Lane product line.

Have a fab Friday, everyone! Time to start preparing for Turkey Trot Thursday!! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Cookin' Up Country, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love · Tagged: AC Moore, Avery online design and print, Avery.com, Country Lane Candle Supplies, DIY soy candles, Kraft Brown Labels Martha Stewart, making soy candles, making soy candles using antique glass, Martha Stewart Home and Office

Nov 18, 2013

Todd Farm Dawning

By countrydesignhome · 1 Comment

Sunday morning, Coach and I ventured to Todd Farm in Rowley, not as shoppers, but for the first time ever, as vendors.

Coach had been yard and estate-saling all summer long, and the barn was bursting at the seams. This weekend was the last available one for us (but the flea markets are still going on until December 1) where we could try to move some stuff, to essentially make room for more stuff. Alarm went off at 4am. Groan. Pitch black outside, damp and freezing cold @ 31 degrees.

Fortunately, we had packed both cars the night before so we were ready to travel to Rowley, arriving at 5am under the cloak of darkness. We were ushered to a row of parking spaces marked with orange cones, next to the lovely Lisa from Rita Joes Vintage, who was already set up and ready to sell! As we began untying the ropes to take down our display tables from the roof of the car, we noticed flashing lights in the foggy distance,

reminiscent of an old western where the sheriff and his posse are desperately searching for the escaped fugitive. The only things missing were the baying bloodhounds. An amazing and surreal sight. And simply AWESOME. These were the many dealers with head lamps and flashlights swarming the incoming vehicles,

checking the interiors for hidden treasures and asking “any old toys, any old artwork?”

So once we set up shop,

I strolled around to take a few photos as the sun began to rise over the fields.

Pink sky at morning…

Finally in daylight, I was able to see what some of the other vendors were offering, and discovered a few of my favorite things:

A very jaunty Mr. Snowman

I have never seen a mannequin like this one, but I would be happy every day if I had her in my dressing room…

This is an entire Marionette’s traveling road show suitcase.

As the breaking daylight illuminated the quickly-occupied fields, it became apparent that there are many levels of sellers. Those, like us, who packed their mini vans and SUV’s with household wares and crafts,

and then there are those who press their company trucks and vans into service for the day.

And then there are the big guns, the vendors who we see every time we shop at Todd Farm, with large cargo vans

and trailers packed to the rafters with furniture and goods.

I love the Christmas vignette from this vendor with the antique sleigh and vintage life sized Santa…Holly Lane…Ho Ho Ho!

If you happen to be searching for anything unusual, like an antique circus wagon

or a weathered stone mermaid,

or a box of gorgeous bright blue bulbs from an airport runway,

Todd Farm is the place for you! And if you are interested in selling some of your prized possessions, they make it so easy. You drive up, park your car, pay your $35 and you are in business! Just remember, the early bird gets the worm,

so getting there before daybreak is the best way to showcase your wares to dozens of dealers before the general public arrives. As for Coach, what exactly did he sell? The signs in the above photo? Pretty much gone. As a matter of fact, some of the old metal auto and cigar signs were purchased by another vendor who promptly walked across the pathway and resold them in his booth! Shades of Killer Stuff and Tons of Money.

Those antique coffee grinder wheels we scored at The Elephant Trunk? Sold.

This antique retro table with the cool graphics. Gone to a good home. Top included, just not in the photo.

This gorgeous aqua metal trunk? Sold. (That one killed me. I loved that thing! But just had no where to put it!)

Coach did alright selling his stuff, and I loved the people-watching, the photo-taking, getting rid of a bunch of stuff and the donuts from the canteen truck that was conveniently situated nearby. The amazing Marty’s donuts. OMG.

And since Coach did so great selling his finds, I think we have may have just found his new summer job! But for now, it’s time to get out there and find some new stuff to sell! Happy treasure hunting, everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Outdoor Adventures, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love · Tagged: Flea Market hours, Flea Market in Massachusetts, flea market north of Boston, Mass, Rowley, Todd Farm, Todd Farm Flea Market

Nov 13, 2013

The Crompton Collective

By countrydesignhome · 5 Comments

A few blogs ago, I wrote about a road trip out to Signature Finishes in No. Grafton to pick up some Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. While there, I also traveled into Worcester (pronounced “Woos’tah, for those of you not from the Boston area) to visit the Crompton Collective,

a collection of local artisans and vintage vendors housed in a beautifully renovated brick mill building in the canal district. The Collective is the brainchild of Amy Chase,

who also owns Haberdash Vintage, America’s very first mobile vintage shop and she is a co-founder of The Swapaholics-quite a resume! You enter the Crompton Collective store through the pretty fancy lobby of Crompton Place, go down the stairs (just follow the antique signs), but once inside the Collective you feel as if you have stepped into someone’s vintage home

and an antique parlor wrapped in the warm glow of lace and lamplight.

The store is separated into 70+ loosely defined vendor spaces,

each one offering unique,

vintage

repurposed

re-loved

items for sale.

At every turn, I spotted lovingly repainted,

refurbished furniture

and home decor accessories,

as well as one-of-a-kind pieces (cocktail table from an old drum? Brilliant!)

and this bit of Americana created from old license plates.

One of my absolute favorite spaces was The Junk Drawer

The owner created this cozy, welcoming booth that was completely packed with inspired goods.

Have you ever seen a vintage lamp with a shade made of crumpled old sewing patterns?! Perfectly poufy Beehive ‘do!

How about a hot pink deer head? (Had I seen that first, I might have altered my color palette for the bathroom reno…)

From there, I ventured into the Haberdash space,

chock full of fabulous vintage clothing and accessories.

Of course, this was back in October, so the fur coat seemed unnecessary, but after those snow flurries yesterday, I may need to return to grab it! This is a co-operative shop that you need to walk through at least a few times,

there is so much to take in! Stopped short in my tracks when I spotted these letters in the window.

Offered for rent for weddings and showers and happy occasions, I can imagine that they are well-used and LOVED in each venue they are featured. No gift purchases made today, it was Halloween season, but I did grab my Eulalie’s Sky Milk Paint from the Signature Finishes booth.

But now that the holiday shopping season is upon us, it is definitely worth a trip back to the Crompton Collective to see the shops decked out in their holiday finery.

They are at 138 Green Street, Worcester, MA. Have a wander-ful Wednesday everyone, and if you happen into the Crompton Collective, tell Amy that Sue from Country Design Home sent you! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love · Tagged: country design, country design decor, Crompton Collective, Crompton Collective Shopping, shopping for vintage in Worcester, THe Haberdash, The Junk Drawer, Worcester antique store, Worcester Vintage shop

Nov 9, 2013

Seasonal Scenes from the Market

By countrydesignhome · 4 Comments

This weekend marks the November edition of the Vintage Thymes Monthly Market, Farmhouse Holiday.

It seems like we just wrapped the October show with pumpkins and Halloween, and here we are barreling into the holiday season!

I was blown away when I walked through the double red doors

on Friday morning. So much sparkle and Christmas cheer!

(Of course, I was thinking Thanksgiving, not Christmas, because I am most definitely a one-holiday-at-a-time kind of gal.

So when I conceptualized my booth, I was planning Thanksgiving dinner and making pies! So my space is a little less sparkly

and Santa-inspired than many others…

but I am pulling out my cans of sparkly snow and adding some bling for the December market!)

If you haven’t made it to the Vintage Thymes Market yet

and I can’t imagine why not!?!

This month’s market is a great introduction

to view all of the extremely talented artists,

craftsmen

and designers

who create amazing pieces for their magazine-worthy vignettes,

using simply vintage everyday items that they’ve dolled up and made beautiful,

and it’s all for sale : ) Something for everyone on your shopping list!

The Vintage Thymes Market is open today, Saturday from 9-6 and tomorrow, Sunday from 12-5.

And owl be seeing you in December! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Inspiration, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love · Tagged: country decor, country design home, country shopping, Holiday Christmas Market, shopping vintage for holidays, vintage items for Christmas gifts, Vintage Thymes Holiday Market, Vintage Thymes Monthly Market, WinSmith Mill Market

Nov 6, 2013

Signature Finishes

By countrydesignhome · 4 Comments

It’s Wanderlust Wednesday, and this week we are off to North Grafton, Massachusetts to visit the fabulous antiques, vintage furniture and home decor shop, Signature Finishes.

Owned and operated by the lovely Maureen Bane, Signature Finishes is the nearest vendor to me for Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paints and finishes. And since I was on the hunt for my “Eulalie’s Sky” milk paint,

a recent road trip was in order. All of the pieces for sale in the shop have been expertly and artistically rescued and refurbished by Maureen,

and she offers several workshops on how to achieve that “instantly antiqued” look using her paints and finishes.

Stocked on her shelves are two lines of paints for both the the novice and accomplished DIY’er.

The first, Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, is available in a powdered form that you mix at home with water. (Remember my Mixing Milk Paint Misstep?

Perhaps I should have taken the class before I attempted to mix the paint with my cake mixer!?) The newer line is Paint Couture, a pre-mixed, self-priming, matte finish paint that is available in the most gorgeous country colors-perfect for refurbishing an antique or “junk-tique” piece.

Along with the paints, Maureen also offers many one-of-a-kind decorative

and gift items.

LOVE these amazing canvas and leather tote bags,

and these candles and soaps by Sweet Grass Farm.,

and this beautiful vintage glassware-you’ll be sure to find something for everyone on your holiday shopping list!

So if you have a piece of old furniture that you would like to put your “signature finish” on, make sure to visit Signature Finishes in North Grafton. It’s right off 495 near Worcester, and you won’t believe the incredible scenery along the way!

Tell Maureen “hello” from Sue @ Country Design Home, and have a wanderful Wednesday, everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: country design home decor, country style decor, milk paint, Miss mustard seed paint, Paint Couture, Signature Finishes

Nov 2, 2013

Mixing Milk Paint Misstep

By countrydesignhome · 1 Comment

This past week I have been working on quite a few pieces for the upcoming Vintage Thymes Market in November. It’s fun, other than the fact that my house looks like a bomb hit it-I have bits and pieces of projects going on everywhere!

The smaller pieces I can do in my basement workshop, but the big pieces stay upstairs. Man, I really, really, really do need a studio! For my current project, I decided to use my Miss Mustard Seed’s “Eulalie’s Sky” Milk Paint for the back of a beautiful step-back cupboard I am working on.

I read the instructions and set out my necessary tools: air-tight container, measuring cup, warm water, bag of milk paint, mixer-what?!?

Yup, a mixer. You see, milk paint comes in powdered form, in much the same consistency as powdered milk we used to use as kids when we ran out of regular milk. (I can’t help but notice that in this advertisement, they are using a cocktail stirrer to mix the milk. Those were some crazy times…)

Interestingly, when I first opened the package, it appeared to be white.

Uh, oh, I thought, they put the wrong color in here! But once I added the water, the magic began. Now, according to the instructions I had read, this paint needs to be blended for 3-5 minutes, which makes sense, to break up all the powder bits and get them blended smoothly.

And it says you could use a blended or a stirrer stick. Well, my blended is reserved solely for frozen margaritas, so not using that! And, standing there for 5 minutes stirring paint didn’t seem like all that much fun, so I decided to use a single whisk on my mixer. FAIL. BIG FAIL. I should have stopped once I noticed that my paint was looking more like a blue vanilla frappe than a bucket of paint, but I didn’t. So once the 5 minutes were up, I had this:

A big container of frothy blue milk. You cannot paint with blue bubbles. I repeat, you cannot paint with blue bubbles. So, I put it in the fridge for awhile to allow it to settle-it is milk paint, after all! Once I removed it, it looked a lot less frothy, so I attempted to paint the cupboard. While it was actually useable, the color was very sheer, obviously from the aeration still present.

If I had wanted it to have a stained appearance, it would have been perfect. So I waited awhile, stirred up the paint again with a stick to smooth, then added a second coat.

Better, but still kind of streaky and with a lot of color variation.

So, then I went online and watched all of the Miss Mustard Seed Tutorials to make sure I was doing this correctly.

(You would have thought it would’ve been a no-brainer to do that first, right?) And I was doing it right, with that one fatal flaw-frothing the paint first. That was most definitely NOT in the tutorial. Oh, well, another DIY lesson learned. One more coat, and now the color is deep and true on the inside of the cupboard.

And, although there are variations and some streaks, it gives the piece some striations and depth of color-much like the sky itself. (I took this from my car yesterday-so beautiful!)

Now I just have to finish the rest of it! And I will, while watching the Red Sox Duck Boat Parade from the comfort of our ~~family room~~ paint workshop. In the meantime, anyone got a studio for rent? Happy weekend, everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, My Little Red House, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: DIY Milk Paint, Eulalie's Sky Milk Paint, how to mix milk paint, Miss Mustard Seed Eulalie's Sky, Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, Mixing Milk Paint, types of milk paint for painting

Oct 28, 2013

Eulalie’s Sky

By countrydesignhome · 6 Comments

When I was a kid and old enough to realize I actually had a middle name, it was a very long time before I was comfortable sharing it with anyone. Kids are cruel, and the “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours” game did not set well with me, being the very awkward and shy child that I was.

Because, while my friends’ middle names (and why do we have middle names, anyway?) were short and cute, like Ann and Jane and Beth, mine was unheard of, unpronounceable and French, no less! So, I would typically give the hint “It begins with an E” and let the games begin. First of all, there weren’t that many names beginning with “E”- Ellen, Elaine, Emily-kids could guess all day long and NEVER figure it out! Secondly, even if I divulged my middle name, the typical response was “WHAT?!?? no way, you’re making that up, how do you spell it?!” And so it was my well-guarded secret, shared only with my closest allies. But I never told my mother about my childhood angst because I was named after my beautiful and talented maternal godmother, my great-aunt Eulalie. (it’s pronounced you-la-lee).

She was a fashionista before it was a thing, all five foot nothing of her,

and what she lacked in stature she made up for in spunk and style.

According to my mom, when she was a small child in boarding school, the teachers would stand her on the lunch tables and she would sing and dance-a born entertainer!

What I remember most about her in my adolescent years was her fabulous spiky red hair, fishnet stockings, mini skirts and thoroughly modern style-even into her 80’s.

She would have been a star in today’s social-media-driven world. Aunt Lally, as we called her, was an amazing musician, playing both piano and organ professionally.

At every family gathering, there was always that moment when Lally sat down at the piano to play some jazz tunes, oftentimes accompanied by her sister Bernadette, a talented opera singer. So many fond memories…

So why am I sharing all of this with you now? Well, I would first like to think that I (and my friends-ahem…) are more mature now, and able to appreciate the name for what it is: a beautiful reminder of a wonderful wife and mother

who was a role model for my generation of women-fabulous, talented & sexy.

Secondly, in all of the years that I have carried my middle name, I have never once seen it in print, until recently, when a Google search (we didn’t have Google back when I was a kid. Heck, we didn’t even have blow dryers!) revealed that there is an 1845 poem by Edgar Allen Poe named Eulalie. And amazingly, a very short while ago, I spotted this on a blog that I follow,

What’s so interesting is that this beautiful shade of pale aqua-green milk paint called Eulalie’s Sky is one of my very favorite colors.

So now I am planning to use this color in some new pieces I am currently working on, leaving my own personal stamp. Last week, I drove out to Worcester to obtain my very first Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in my new favorite color, Eulalie’s Sky!

“Well-Spoken”. So perhaps the legacy my Aunt Eulalie left for me with her name was not her fabulous fashion sense (that’s for sure!) or her incredible musical talent, but the ability to communicate with all of you through the written word. To that end, I am eternally grateful that I was chosen to carry forward the beautiful name Eulalie. Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, Inspiration, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: Aunt Lally, Eulalie, Eulalie by Edgar Allen Poe, Eulalie's Sky, Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paints

Oct 23, 2013

Paint A La Cart

By countrydesignhome · Leave a Comment

Coach and I did a LOT of picking this weekend and scored many great items for some upcoming markets. Mirrors, and oak bookcases, furniture, rugs, and more mirrors-all amazing!

Saturday morning, I was busy doing house sort of stuff, so Coach went off himself, only to call me within a few minutes to tell me that someone was selling cases of paint for $1 per can! So he grabbed the first boxful of colors he thought I might use.

I went back with him later and struck up a convo with the homeowner. Turns out he had owned an unfinished furniture store for years, and had recently closed it down. These were the leftover paints, stains and finishes.

So I grabbed some stains (now, I know Hunter Green is not in style right now, but you never know when it might return to its former backwoods glory)

some Milk Paints-can’t wait to try these

and Glazes- so many colors to choose from.

This ought to be fun! But my best yard sale buy of the weekend? This awesome heavy-duty stainless steel rolling kitchen cart!

The guy was asking $10 and Coach asked if he would take $5. He said “sure, quick, just take it before my wife comes back outside-she has an emotional attachment to everything!” LOL!! We all know how that goes! So, I brought it home with the intent of finally organizing all of my paints, stains and finishes into one spot instead of scattered all over my work shop.

Before I could use it, though, I spent about 2 hours with many household products including Awesome Orange cleaner, vinegar, baking soda, bleach spray, scrubbing brushes and many kettles of boiling water to clean off layer upon layer of grease-yuck! I am not sure where this thing had been, but I sure as heck didn’t want it in my basement attracting critters! Finally, the finished cart was sparkly and ready to go. I made quick work of filling it with so many cans and bottles and pots of paints and finishes.

So now its filled with my newest additions

to go along with my ever-growing collection of Behr paint sample pots I get at Home Depot,

plus a new paint with some amazing colors

from a company called Paint Couture

and my first ever Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint (in a very special color, more on that later..).

Boy, do I have a lot of work to do in the next couple of weeks! As I try each new product, I will give my unbiased opinion on the overall painting experience. But tonight is game one of the World Series, so paintbrushes away! And Go SOX! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Color Class, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love · Tagged: Behr Paint, General Finishes Paint, Home Depot, Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, Paint Couture

Oct 15, 2013

Fancy Fringed Footstool

By countrydesignhome · 4 Comments

This past weekend was a whirlwind of events including a surprise birthday fiesta for our beautiful daughter,

followed the next day by a “leftover” enchilada party featuring our favorite legendary local sports heroes,

Illustration by
Larry Johnson

followed by yet another birthday party (we do have a lot of family birthdays in October!) PLUS the 4 day Vintage Thymes Monthly Market-whew! Didn’t leave any time for DIY’ing or blogging, but I am slowly cleaning up the final messes and getting back on the blogging bus. Sort of. This was the actual party bus we hired to move the party to Boston- fun!

Today I am featuring this little project, a before and after of a footstool that I picked up in a thrift shop for a couple of bucks. It was very outdated but pretty sturdy, even though the middle was sort of sunken in.

Here’s the how-I-did-it: Pulled off the old, tattered dirty fringe, but left the rest intact, since I was just going to cover it anyway. Piled some batting on top of the sunken middle, as I wanted it to have more of a “poof” appearance than a flat top.

I recently heard the name “gout stool” for the first time, which was apparently a term used in the Victorian era regarding footstools for people to rest their feet on while suffering from gout. So I thought that a poufier cushion might be a bit more comfy for any sore feet-this poor guy has two!

Cut the top fabric to fit over the new poufy top.

Stapled it all the way around,

folding the corners down, but leaving the rest kind of casually creased.

Measured the height of the bottom fabric- there was already a dividing line in the stool where the seam was, so I just used that. I had already finished off the top edge with a buttonhole stitch on my sewing machine, but you can just fold it over and press if you don’t have a machine.

I glued it around the edges overlapping the floral fabric, then flipped it over and stapled it to the bottom.

Since it just looked like a big lumpy pouf, I decided to add the covered button, with one large stitch that pulled through all the foam and batting into the bottom, which tucked the middle down to create a tufting effect.

The feet were just simple cylinders, but they had the nice metal sliders on the bottoms, so I simply painted them.

The easiest way to paint anything mounted on a screw is to stand it up, so I put them into place in their existing corner brackets, but screwed them in just enough to hold them upright, then added some wax paper to mask the fabric.

Painted two coats of Behr Stealth Gray,

allowed to dry and then pulled away the wax paper. Before I securely tightened the feet, I glued down a piece of burlap I had handy just to finish the base.

Added the fringe with a hot glue gun.

This is the finished “gout stool” that co-ordinates with an antique oak chair that I had already recovered with the matching Waverly Fabric. Which creates a lovely fireside vignette.

Both will be available at next month’s Vintage Thymes Market. In the meantime, I think I might use that stool to rest my weary feet while I watch the game today. Go Sox! Susan