Each month a group of DIY bloggers get together and create projects inspired by the same shop or designer; this month with the busy season upon us it’s a smaller group of myself, Maggie and Kathy. I’ve never joined in because I just haven’t had anything in mind I’ve wanted to recreate until now. This month the theme is Inspired by DIY: Serena & Lily and I created my own version of their dipped stool. In all honesty, the price of their stool is really not bad (and with code BESTEVER right now you get 25% off sitewide!) but I happened to have a piece on hand in my garage that was perfect for this project and was just waiting for its moment to shine. Sidenote: Serena & Lily was founded by Serena Dugan who graduated 6 years prior to me from my alma mater, Wake Forest University, so I really wanted to participate in this one! It’s inspiring to see people who went to the same school doing pretty awesome things. Meanwhile I am over here like, “Yay, I have a degree! What am I doing with my life?!?!” Anyone else know that feeling?
If you saw yesterday’s post, you already had a little peek at this stool, but today I’ll share with you how I did it. Now, I should say that I had an unfair start… I happened to find this three legged timber slice stool at a yard sale a while back. It was clearly hand made, and after it was knocked over at Sweet Clover, a leg fell off. 
I had to get the leg back in place with glue, and figure out a way to secure it so that the table top was level. The position of the leg and top made it impossible to clamp, so with the top upside down, I placed the glue in the leg hole, put the leg in the hole, and then turned the table right side up on a level surface. Once there, I maneuvered the leg to sit where I wanted and placed a full paint can on top to give it some pressure.
Pictured above you can see regular gorilla glue, but I want to make a note… that glue did not hold for this project. I had to repeat the process using Gorilla Wood Glue which held perfectly.
Once it was all glued back together, I got to work sanding like a madwoman! I was not a fan of the reddish stain that had been applied to this stool, so I used my oribital sander (I have this one and love it!) with 160 grit paper followed by 220 for a smoother finish. I was able to sand the stain off of the legs rather easily, but because the timber slice is ringed, it was harder to get it all out of the top. However, I was happy with the look I was able to achieve. Also, I only sanded the legs about halfway down as I knew I was going to be painting them.
To prepare to paint, I used frog tape and taped off the bottom of the legs at the height I wanted. It was cold outside, so I brought this piece into my house and just painted it at my kitchen island. I don’t recommend this at home; after years of experience though I am a pretty neat painted and trust myself to work in most places. 😉 Your husband might not thank me if he walks in to you painting a table on top of your kitchen island. My husband, on the other hand, doesn’t really question it anymore.
I used Amy Howard’s Ballet White to paint the legs because I had it on hand, love how it goes on, and I adore this shade of white. I applied just two coats and the painting was done! To protect it and keep the finish feeling natural, I topped it off with Amy Howard’s Light Antique wax.
I brought it up to my room to use by my tree because I thought it fit in perfectly with the look I have there this year and added a nice natural touch.
After all of the sanding, I am really pleased with the end result of the timber slice top.
The stain is still deep into the rings, but I love the tonal look it gives.
There is just something about raw natural wood that creates a rustic and cozy vibe. This stool makes the perfect little side table to warm up my more modern chairs.
Do you know what? It felt really good to paint something, even a small something…. and it felt even better to be painting it just for me. Don’t worry guys… I am bouncing back and am ready to tackle more projects. Now head on over to see what the others have created that was inspired by Serena & Lily! And special thanks to Jessica for organizing even though she didn’t join the fun this month!
Kathy: Pom-pom Striped Coverlet
Maggie: Tassel Pillow
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