stool | you're so martha

remember this table i bought at the randolph street market?

{just realized this picture does the stool too much justice. it was not white and gross.}

i had a vision for it and totally thought it would be easy. not so much. this is a long post, but i wanted to document the process of having an idea, not having it go your way, and figuring out how to make it work (ala tim gunn).

plan a: remove gross faux leather fabric and batting, then apply gold leaf to the existing wood top for a lovely gold, glamorous tabletop.

step 1: remove the top. be disgusted.

step 2: remove the staples (with a screwdriver or pliers), fabric and batting.

{a second layer of staples. and more grossness. sanitize yourself afterwards.}

step 3: fill the mysterious center hole with wood filler.

step 4: sand (with 50 grit to even it out, then 100 grit to smooth).

step 5: brush on gold leaf adhesive.

step 6: apply gold leaf. sticks in some places but not others.

{per package instructions, using wax paper helps}

step 7: realize the glue seeped into the very porous wood and is not so much at the surface anymore.

step 8: wish you had primed the wood first. too late now.

step 9: try to use spray adhesive. works better but still not great.

step 10: forge ahead applying gold leaf, knowing you can come back to non-gold leafed spots and fill them in.

step 11: try to fill in spots. keep applying adhesive. gold leaf. adhesive. gold leaf.

{gold leaf is messy}

step who knows: dislike the gold leafed top (it was bit too…dimensional. and just did not look as glam as i had imagined).

plan b: sand the gold leaf off and paint the wood the turquoise color of the kitchen island dresser (for a fun pop of color and to bring in artwork colors from the adjoining dining room).

step 1: sand with hand sander and remove gold leaf.

step 2: realize there’s a layer of glue in some spots. sand some more.

{dark spots = glue}

step 3: sand.

step 4: more glue?! swear. leave it alone for the night.

step 5: try to remove glue with nail polish remover (per google). it starts to work!

step 6: celebration is short lived. under the layer of glue is more. glue. continue to soak with acetone, sand, soak, sand.

step who knows: decide the glue will never. come. off.

plan c: still paint it turquoise, but use the other side of the wood, though it is covered with staple holes and other disfigurements.

step 1: fill lots of holes and blemishes with wood filler

step 2: sand.

step 3: see that it’s not even. sand more.

step 4: continue to sand.

step 5: why the f isn’t this getting smooth?!

plan d: make new table top. buy wood and have lumber store cut it, then prime and paint it.

plan d version 2: lumber stores only do straight cuts, so buy a pre-cut tabletop wood circle and paint.

step 1: buy tabletop, even though it seems a bit thick and too rounded.

step 2: hate it.

step 3: return it.

plan e: back to the original tabletop. cover with fabric, and also with a vinyl to protect fabric (since this is to be used to set drinks on, and you don’t want to go through this process again after it gets dirty and gross).

step 1: joann fabrics. they have thin, clear vinyl! for only $2.99/yard! buy a 1/2 yard.

step 2: center the chosen fabric over the circle.

{i finally used this fabric–my favorite–for the first time since i bought it in march}

step 3: carefully flip it over and staple in the center of one side. pull it tight and smooth (peek on the other side to be sure) and staple on the opposite side.

step 4: repeat, but on the other opposite sides, so you will have staples at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock (again making sure it’s smooth before stapling). trim.

step 5: staple between each staple, doing opposites first (pulling tight and smoothing, of course).

step 6: to work the curves, pull fabric tight, fold over slightly and staple (may take a couple tries to figure out which way to pull the fabric tight and fold to get it smooth on the edge).