Her Makeover Is Complete.....Finally!

This is how I found her



She was falling apart & full of hay & horse hair :{
Took the nasty cover off & this is what I had to deal with
Lots & lots of nails!
Notice my mangled thumb..ouch!
Still working on getting the nails out

Well I finally finished it. What you may ask? The little victorian bench that I picked up at a church barn sale a while back. This is how she looked when I bought her. Not in too bad shape but she was falling apart from the bottom. As a result no one wanted her :(......but I was happy to have her & she was half off too!! :) I think the fact that she was stuffed with grass (yup, you heard me right) scared a lot of people off. Not me. After taking her apart I also noticed what looked like horse hair!? Ewww! That was pretty gross. So I made sure to dispose of that nastiness quick,wondering how old that horse would be now?....There were a ton of staples in her so I don't think the dirty red fabric was original. Once I got the tons of staples out I found out my next surprise. There were a zillions of teeny, tiny nails in her. Most of them were rusty & had been in there forever. I'm sure these were original. Hours later (it was night time when I finished this step) and one mangled thumb (hello tetnus shot) I finally got most of them out. I just gave up on some of them & hammered them in flush. You won't see them anyway. Shhhh...my little secret. ;)

She has a new coat of Sea Green milk paint on!

Close up of the paint job
If you look carefully you can just make out "made in fra..."

Ready for some fluffiness!

Getting her fluffiness.....

All fluffed up :)
After giving her a good clean up & decided to try something different with her. I had read about Milk Paint from Miss Mustard Seed's blog & decided to purchase some. I choose the color sea green. It was easy to use, just like chalk paint except it was a little thinner & took more coats. Probably because I added too much water, it's not like I was going to actually measure or something.....geesh...what do you expect from me? So I just followed Tim Gunn's advice & painted multiple coats to "make it work". Next time I will try to use less water when mixing it up. Here she is all painted up. I really like how she turned out. This paint was much easier to "beat up" & give a weathered finish to. I even noticed on the inside of her were words stamped "Made In Fran...." my hubby thinks it's France but it's hard to read so I can't tell for sure. I then went about putting her back together. This is a first for me since I have recovered furniture before but not built it up from scratch. I think it turned out ok, probably not perfect but I'm happy with it.

Working on her outfit....

Close up of her stripes

Her makeover is complete!

She's hanging out with some of my bottles....

Close up of the top

I think she's pretty now.....
The next step was deciding what kind of outfit to give her. I had a lot of different ideas but of course I choose the most complicated one. I used a bunch of different fabrics that I had laying around & made a union jack flag. Not the traditional one, but my version. If you have been reading my ramblings you might remember my union jack table (which I'm still planning on selling) I definitely have a "thing" for the union jack design.

Originally I was going to put her in my bedroom but my dog, Bella has taken ownership of her. Bella is a stubborn dog & no matter how many times I shooed her off it she just hopped right back on. So now my little bench belongs to her. My hubby threw a pillow on it to keep Bella from destroying it.....hopefully I can make something else for her & eventually get the bench in my room...sigh...
My dog Bella likes her too :)

Tip Junkie handmade projects

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Comments

  1. Hi Katie,
    I've been remiss in working on my blog and reading others. Today I finally posted and you commented. Thank you! I took a wander over to your blog and I have to say OMG I love this wonder stool (my name for it). Love the paint but I really love the cover you gave her. Again love, love it.

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  2. It looks like your dog is really enjoying it:) I like the fabric that you chose to go with along with the paint application! Looks fabulous:)

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  3. Ummmm...LOVE IT!!!
    You have GOT to share that picture of you in the VW all packed up - I am sure you will do that again!
    Great job.

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  4. That stool is absolutely darling now! ~ Maureen

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  5. Alot of love went into the foot stool...good for you, looks fab and your puppy is adorable too!


    Visiting from Savvy Southern Style's WOW linky party :)
    Smiles,
    Suzanne in NW Illinois

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  6. so cute! the colors are gorgeous and al that hard work totally paid off!

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  7. This is really off the hook gorgeous. Love the paint. I have been wanting to try milk paint. Love that color. Your dog looks so stinking cute and comfy. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. I absolutely love this stool. Love that milk paint which I need to try some time. Great fabric on top. Thanks for sharing at Wow.

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  9. Seriously... this is the CUTEST stool i have EVER seen. and im not just being dramatic. i totally love it. great job! im your new follower!!

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  10. wow. does the creative juice ever run out in you? :) That's awesome.

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  11. love the redo but it's the texture that rocks it!

    fabulous... esp w/ the pup!

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  12. Beautiful! You did a great job on the little stool.

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  13. I can't even tell you how much I love this! xo

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  14. Love the stool. I don't blame your little doggy for taking it over. It is beautiful. I really want to try the milk paint. Thanks for sharing. Karie

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  15. Love the stool just as much as your dog does. I think I usually just do makeovers for my cat to enjoy lol.

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  16. So cute!!! I love the milk paint on it....just shared it on my facebook page (perfectly imperfect). Keep on painting!
    :-)
    shaunna

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  17. My first visit to your delightful blog..what a beautiful job you have done to the footstool...and your wee dog is adorable!

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  18. Saw this on Shaunna's fb page! Wow what a great job! I love the color!

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  19. This is fabulous! The colors, the script, and the dog! :) Beautiful

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  20. Beautiful lines and I love your version of the Union Jack! So pretty!

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  21. Amazing!!! I'd love it if you linked this up to my party at Project Queen! Turning the Daunting into the Do-able.
    http://projectqueen.org/link-party-9-turning-the-daunting-into-the-do-able

    Hope to see you at the party!
    PS I'm a follower.
    Mandy
    www.projectqueen.org

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  22. Wow!! She is sooo Pretty!! I love the Union Jack idea with the light color fabrics. The paint color looks great...I am wanting to try milk paint. What did you use as the base fabric? Found you over at Newbie Monday...now a new follower.

    All the best,
    Rachel~

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  23. Absolutely beautiful! I love the paint color and the fabrics and the way you made the stripes. What type of fabrics did you use?

    I stopped by from Debbiedoo's and so happy to find your blog! I'm a new follower and look forward to more of your creativity. Stop by and say hi when you can ~

    Pat

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  24. P.S. Bella is adorable! Is she a Shih Tzu? I have a male and he is my love. They do have a stubborn streak though don't they? :-)

    Pat

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  25. I saw you feature at Debbie Doos and had to come over. You did an amazing job, rebuilding and covering the stool. Its beautiful,and I'm now following you.

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  26. Did you see Debbiedoo featured you today...OF COURSE because this stool is AWESOME!!!
    Congrats!
    ~Tami

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  27. So adorable... the stool and the sweet dog. Really love the way you created your custom Union Jack. If the Queen saw it she would love it! New follower from Debbie-dos.
    Audrey at eleganteconomies.blogspot.com

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  28. I found you at Debbie's wonderful Newbie party. I LOVE this. I love the way the Union Jack has become an all purpose vintage flag. We're just proud to see it there in all its Fabbness. (is that a word?) Thank you for posting pictures of the whole process. My Steampunk Study blog has a bottomless chair and I'm not sure how to proceed. You've given me some pointer, thank you!

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  29. This is adorable! New follower from Debbie Doos.
    Donna G.

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  30. You did a beautiful job on this! I found you on Debbiedoos; I'm your new follower. Please visit when you have a chance.

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  31. Wow, a lot of work, and such a great job! Bella has good taste! Found you at Debbie's, newest follower! Stop by for a visit and enjoy your Thanksgiving!

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  32. Hi Katie, I'm featuring your Union Jack Stool that you linked up to Project Queen's "Turning the Daunting Into the Do-able" Party from last week!

    I ADORE IT!!! It should be posted tonight or tomorrow.

    Thanks for linking up and I hope you come back and share something this week!
    Mandy
    www.projectqueen.org

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  33. I love this! everything about it is awesome! I am so enamored with union jacks these days. I so want to do one but can't figure out exactly what yet! Thanks for more inspiration!

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  34. BTW, following along now to see what you do next! :-)

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  35. very impressive! super cute...i love anything Union Jack!
    you did a wonderful job :)

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  36. this turned out beautiful, i love what you did with it xxx

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  37. Truly inspirational work..love that you took it apart completely and built it up. I love the paint job too..have never tried milk paint but should. Love the Union Jack (lived in London for 11 years)! visiting from Savvy Southern Style. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  38. THAT. IS. GORGEOUS. Really, I love it! And how brave of you...I thinkt the grass and horse hair would scare me right off!
    Shannon
    www.akadesign.ca

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  39. How cute!! Thanks for auditioning for OMTWI!!

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  40. Wow! This is fabulous! I love what you did with it!!

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  41. That Union Jack design is so pretty, and so unique! The whole thing turned out beautifully. I've featured your ottoman today on my blog: http://addicted2decorating.com/union-jack-ottoman.html

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  42. Hi Katie, I just saw you featured over at Addicted 2 Decorating. This is one of the best upcycles I've seen in a long time. I adore the layered fabric and that touch of sea green fabric with the script print. Absolutely fabulous. Thanks for sharing.

    I'm your newest follower and email subscriber.

    Merry Christmas and Hugs...
    Tracy @ Cotton Pickin Cute

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  43. This is awesome! Great job. I love the chunky nail head trim you chose! I'm a new follower! I hope you'll follow me back!

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  44. Katie, your work with this seat is INCREDIBLE! Fantastic looks, texture, colors! I just love the way you have made the fabric to look - AMAZING!
    Thank you for sharing this wonderful inspiration!

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  45. WOW! amazing work, I absolutely love it. I found out about your blog through a post about this stool on Addicted 2 Decorating

    gonna wander around your blog now :) ciao

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  46. Absolutely inspiring transformation!

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