The last couple of weeks have been a wee bit unsettled for me.  I’ve been distracted by a few changes at work … so much so that I haven’t written a post in over a week or picked up a paint brush. I have openly acknowledged to my nearest and dearest how much painting makes me happy … so it’s time to find some balance and paint something! I had started on another Ikea Hack a few weeks back and it was time to finally finish it. This time I had set my sights on our kitchen step stool.

Here is the before photo. It’s a great solid wooden stool, which was painted white when we bought it a few years ago. It has served us well, acting as a step ladder for painting, a table for Miss E… However, I thought it was time for a makeover to add some much needed character.

I started by counter-sinking the screws. It’s best to drill a shallow despression in the wood with a drill-bit the size of the screw head. Drill the narrow screw hole first, then a shallow depression with a larger bit into the surface of the wood. As will all Ikea furniture, the holes are pre-drilled. I made a shallow depression, however, as the screws were quite large this meant I needed to use quite a bit of filler.

Despite using an undercoat for painting, you can still see where I have patched the counter-sunk screws. While I was really happy with the results, next time I’m going to try some wood putty instead.

Of course I went with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, mixing up my own colour using Antibes Green and Old White, to create a lovely pale green. I gave the stool one coat and allowed to dry overnight. Once dry I thought the colour was a little too “green” – if you know what I mean. So I added some more Old White to make the colour paler and applied a second coat … viola! Perfecto!

I left the paint to dry for a couple of days before distressing with a mid-grade sandpaper (about 100 grit). I thought that I would distress this stool quite heavily. However, once I started I loved the darker green which was peaking through, so I eased back on the sanding, concentrating instead on the edges and corners.

I pressed heavily in some areas to revealed some of the white paint.

Once I have happy with the amount of the distressing, I finished with a coat of clear wax. I applied the wax with a old white t-shirt and worked it into the paint … waxing a small section at a time. I allowed the wax to cure for 24 hours and then buffed the stool to a nice sheen with a lint free cloth, followed by very fine (000) steelwool.

I was really happy with the final colour. The Antibes Green is a really dark and vivid colour (if such a description is possible), but mixed up to beautiful pale green. Annie Sloan really knows how to make paint!

I love the pale green … thinking of introducing an even paler version into Miss E’s bedroom.

Any tips on filling screw holes?

Please checkout my Pinterest board “Ikea Hacks” for more awesome Ikea Hacking inspiration

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