You can DIY: how to turn rusty stools from drab to fab for only $24

A few weeks ago I moved house and our new place has a breakfast bar. The only problem – I had no stools. As luck would have it, I drove past a house with furniture out the front for kerbside pickup, and what did I see? Anyone else would have seen two rusty stools, better off at the dump, but I saw opportunity! That is the key to DIY furniture – find something that you can make your own and 1000 times better.

I transformed my stools from drab to fab and it only cost $24 for the pair!

What you’ll need:

– Two stools or chairs
– Fabric of your choosing (make sure you measure before you buy)
– Scissors
– Pencil
– Staple gun
– Screwdriver
– 2 x cans of spray paint in your favourite colour
– An electric sander or coarse sandpaper

Steps:

Step 1: Get your stools ready…this is what mine looked like:

Step 2: Take off the cushion

Step 3: Cut the fabric around the cushion, making 4cm extra room to be stapled

Step 4: Fold edges over and staple down

Step 5: Go around, folding neatly and stapling until finished

Step 6: De-rust the stools/chairs with a sander or sandpaper. Here’s my finished product:

Step 7: I used this Rust-oleum spray paint and it was fantastic. It has great coverage and a glossy finish, plus it protects against more rust.

Step 8: Wait for them to dry and then screw the seat back on. All done! Here’s the end result:

Have you made something drab into something fab? What was it? And how did you do it? Tell us about your DIY masterpieces below!