Chippy Piano Stool Nightstand

This antique piano stool was in my mom-mom’s house since my mom was a kid. It used to be white back then, with black claw feet. When I stayed over there for weekends, I’d spin around on it, and pop the top off.

Shirley (mom-mom) didn’t have a piano, and neither did my granny, so… I’m guessing she found it somewhere on the road, from a family member, or the antique joint. After she passed, my mom had it in her house holding plants and various things, and I have since taken it to use as a side table when we moved.

The stool has been white, another shade of white, a chalk-type-paint blue color, and all-over hammered black. I am so, so, so guilty of the green and more guilty of the hammered black. Total error in judgement, but in my defense I had it as a side table on my porch, and all my porch furniture… is black.

So this little piano stool, sat on our porch holding drinks and things for a year or so, until the poor thing fell over and the seat broke in half. We decided to bench the seat in the garage until I could decide whether or not to fix the top and refinish, or repurpose the legs and hope for the best.

This piano stool reminds me of fall.

Things begin to come full circle in the fall. We’re reminded that things in life come to an end. Nothing is permanent, trees shed leaves, things begin to fade. The beauty of fall is not just the apples, pumpkins,  corn stalks with hay bales, or cool nights; the beauty is in appreciating the value of your harvest during the winding down. It is a time to appreciate what you have, what you’ve grown, what you’ve sown.

The layer-caked piano stool has seen so many seasons, it’s time to strip it down and bring it back to it’s original glory.

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Andrew picked up a beautiful round table top at the Depot, and I stained it with my all-time favorite color, Early American (Minwax), and sealed with 2 coats of Minwax clear satin poly, with the intention of attaching this to the base, and giving it new life as a sweet night table.

We removed the stool top and hardware, and the seat screw (isn’t it technically called a seat screw?), and popped it in paint stripper to remove whatever bits of paint were on there.

We slathered a thick layer on, and let it sit for 30 minutes. As I type this, I am watching paint bubble.

So far, it’s gone through the black, green, and white, and we are seeing some red color stained wood.

Y’all, maybe this is why it was white.

We press on.

What a mess. A beautiful, paint peeling mess.

After hours and hours of scraping, brushing, peeling the layers, we were left with this beautiful piece.  Some leaves hang on through winter, and some don’t. Some paint hung on, some paint fell off. Each layer has a story, and I’m so thankful just the right amount stayed to remind me where its’ been.

After a light sanding with my favorite sanding sponge, I sealed the chippy glory with the same satin poly. 

Now that this piano stool is in its’ rehabbed state, I have it set up for welcoming visitors to the house…

…but it’s going to spend the rest of fall and winter in our bedroom as a nightstand so I can bask in all its’ chippy paint glory.

You can see more of the barn sale ladder and heirloom blanket here, and the how-to on the salvaged oak door headboard is here. Dreamy, right?

You know the drill…  if you like this project, please pin and share!

 

For more fall inspiration, these projects from my wonderful blogging tribe are perfection!