This stool used to be super ugly!

A while ago, I found this $3 sewing stool at the flea market, and naturally had it sitting around for ages, meaning to turn it into a faux fur stool. Yep, it turned into one of “those” projects… But I finally did it and it was worth the long wait because the transformation is epic. Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.

When I first picked up this vintage sewing stool, people thought I was insane.

It was an eyesore – without an especially attractive silhouette. But I had a vision…

Sometimes it takes time to turn our visions into reality and I neglected this for half a year while I worked on perfecting my craft room. Finally, I needed something to reach my higher shelves and it was time to give this stool a makeover.

I’m not a pro (at all) at making over furniture but I’m handy and artsy and knew I could work with this. I did not want to strip the fabric, as I wasn’t sure what was underneath it and didn’t want to start investing in padding.

Since I was making this for myself, I figured it just needs to be pretty and durable.

The faux fur stool makeover would be even easier if not for the hinged lid which caused me to actually have to touch a tool (no way!), but it can be done (possibly more easily) with any simple wooden stool. The sewing stool is awesome for extra craft room storage, though, so I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A while ago, fabric.com sent me some cool faux fur to redo this cheap metal folding stool. I wanted this one to coordinate but not match. On the first stool, I created a neon base to go with my craft room. For this one, I wanted to keep it more classic so that I can use it around the home, and possibly in my bedroom at a future date.

Two more differences between this faux fur stool and my previous one:

On the metal one I used spray paint.. On this one I used Dixie Belle mineral paint (I had left over from what the brand sent to me for this project.) The mineral paint requires no priming (just clean the surface from dust) and I got good coverage in a single coat.
On the metal one, I glued the fur in place using this glue. Since this one had a penetrable base, I used a staple gun. It’s a lot neater than glue, though I’m not sure which is more durable.

Also, I didn’t video this one because I just wanted to get it done…

As I mentioned above, I used mineral (or chalk) paint. I did dilute it a bit as I wanted the natural texture to show through a bit. You probably need to see it in real life to experience the subtle difference between this project and this one, but it’s there and it feels much more natural this way. If I ever want it thicker, I can just leave it open a bit to thicken.

Of course, right after I made my faux fur stool, M stole it, but that’s another story…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSMTrL9hQoX/?taken-by=menuchadesign

Now, on to the details of how this old (okay, vintage) sewing stool got transformed into a beautiful faux fur stool…

What you need to make a DIY faux fur stool:

Faux fur….
A stool to make over
Chalk paint
Paintbrush
A garbage bag or something to protect your surface
A staple gun
Good fabric scissors

How to make a DIY faux fur stool:

1. Isolate the bottom/wooden part by removing the hinges. You’ll need to adapt this to the stool you’re using, obviously.

2.Paint any parts you want painted with neat, even strokes.

3. Lay the top part down on the wrong side of your faux fur. Fold over and measure so that you have 1-1.5 inches overlapping to the front (or whatever makes sense for the stool you’re using.)

4. Trim to size.

5.If you have hinges or other hardware, make sure to cut out notches so that it goes around it. Try to leave enough space to staple it in place, but make sure it doesn’t interfere with movement.

6. Cut your corners however you’d like. You can completelly cut out the corner notch, just make sure not to do it too deep so that the corners show through.

7. Start stapling at your tricky areas. Reinforce the corners, and add another staple every 1.5 or so inches.

8. Continue stapling around your stool top, making sure to reinforce corners and then adding staples about 1-2 inches apart, or however much you feel is right.