Easy Farmhouse Style Foot Stool Makeover

A few weeks ago I was at a yard sale and came across a wooden foot stool for $2. I snatched it up, happily drove off, and immediately started planning a fun little DIY. Today I’m excited to show you this easy farmhouse style foot stool makeover. And you might be surprised to see how I did it.

Supplies Needed:

• Foot stool
• Spray paint in Flat White
• Sanding sponge
• Annie Sloan dark wax
• Small pillow
• Staple gun
• Decorative upholstery tacks
• Burlap

Here’s the before of my little wooden stool:

Not bad, but definitely in need of a little TLC. Notice that vintage chair? My goal for this foot stool was to make it match that chair so the two would look like they belong together. The first thing I did was spray paint the stool in flat white. You want it to be matte and not shiny. I chose spray paint because this stool is solid wood, so I knew it would adhere really well. Plus I felt lazy and spray paint is super quick.

Then I distressed with a sanding sponge. I went in with a fairly heavy hand, keeping the look of the chair in mind. I wanted the stool to have that same weathered vibe as much as possible.

Next up was antiquing the stool. The best way I know to do that is with Annie Sloan Dark Wax. This was a big part of giving the stool that aged look and it is super easy to do. If you’ve never worked with dark wax don’t be intimidated by it. I just brushed it on and then wiped it down with a cotton t-shirt. Super quick and easy.

Now here’s the fun part. I found a pillow on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $3. It’s small and fits perfectly on this stool, so I went with it. Remember I said I felt lazy, right? I knew the linen color of the pillow wouldn’t show through the burlap, but I did remove the black piping just to be safe. It just snipped right off.

The pillow seemed a little too thick, so I just made a small cut on the front there and removed some of the batting.

I placed the pillow upside down, so the writing was face down on the stool. Then I covered it in burlap, folded the edges over, and stapled it in place.

I then took upholstery tacks and nailed those over the staples to hide them. It worked beautifully. This one here on the edge is the only one that didn’t perfectly cover the staple beneath it. And that was my fault, because I totally squashed that staple when I put it in. Having both the staple and the tack holds the burlap in place really well. Plus the tacks give it a bit of farmhouse charm!

All done!

So that’s it. Super quick and easy. And it only cost me about $10 in supplies, including the stool! I’m really happy with how well the chair and the stool match–that dark wax really was the perfect touch to get that antique look. And who knew a little pillow would work so well for this. I originally thought I’d have to buy one of those large foam cushions from JoAnn’s for this project, so the pillow was a huge time saver. And that makes me a happy girl. Thanks for stopping by my friends!

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