We had the choice of buying new barstools for our apartment and hoping that they fit or to DIY these old barstools that we had. We decided to go the cheaper options and DIY since we most likely will only be in this apartment for about a year.
So if you want to learn how to DIY your own barstools in less than 24 hours keep reading!
What you will need:
- -Screwdriver
- -Sand Paper
- -Flat head screw driver or staple removed
- -Spray paint [Should be spray paint + primer. Just ask in stores if you are unsure, that’s what we did!] 3 cans for 4 stools
- -New Fabric [ I got mine from JoAnn Fabric and asked an employee how much fabric to buy]
- -Scissors
- -Staple gun
To Start:
To start we removed the upper part which was just taking off the cushion from the top.
Then we completely sanded down each chair. You want to remove the shine from the chairs so this might take a little while. It helps if you have someone else to help you. This step helps so the paint sticks to the chairs. Once you are done sanding them- wipe them down with a wet paper towel or windex. This is just to remove the excess dust.
From there you are ready to spray paint your chairs. I would do this before you start reupholstering the top since it takes a little while to dry. If you want to make sure you like you paint I suggest testing a little area on the stools and letting in dry [10 minutes] before fully spray painting it.
Once you know you love your color start spray painting. Make sure you put down a tarp or newspapers before you spray so it doesn’t get everywhere. Ours took around 3 coats to get it where we needed them for 3 stools. This took 3 cans of spray paint total. Give about a half hour to an hour between each coat and let it dry fully for at least 12.
While the stools are drying you are ready to get started on the cushions. To start places the fabric under the cushions and cut around about 3 inches further than the actual cushion- like the below!
Cut out as many cushions as you need. I always make sure I have enough fabric for one extra incase I mess up. Once you have your fabric cut out you are ready to reupholster them.
*If your current cushion has an excessive amount of staples like mine did you may want to remove some. You don’t need to remove them all but just enough to be able to re-staple the fabric over.
You are then ready to re-create your cushions. For a circle top we staples 4 corners first to get it in place. Make sure you are really pulling the fabric to make everything tight and no loose ends. After that you are going to bunch it into little sections and staple- again making sure to pull and making sure the edges have no wrinkles.
If you mess up no worries you can just remove the staple!
After your cushions are done and your stools are dry all you have to do is re-screw the tops back on and you are done. So simple and this was my first time ever doing this. Let us know if you have any questions!
