My kitchen stools

Step one
In order to achieve the look I wanted, I first needed to strip the paint off the stools. You could manage this with a bit of sandpaper and some elbow grease, depending on how much paint you want to remove. But in my case there was a lot of old paint to remove, and so I used XXX paint stripper from Resene. It’s a water-based product, so much more pleasant to work with than the scary paint-strippers of the past. Simply follow the instructions on the packaging and remove the paint with a metal scraper.

Step two
After rinsing off the remains of the Coating Remover, use a coarse sandpaper to sand away any final bits of paint that the scraper didn’t pick up.

Step three
Once you have finishing sanding, choose the areas you wish to paint and those where you want to leave the timber exposed. Mask these off with painter’s tape. I chose to paint the top third of each stool, and then a small segment again near the bottom of the legs, with the timber exposed elsewhere.

Step four
Apply a primer to each area that is to be painted, and then two coats of colour, making sure each coat dries thoroughly. I used Resene Black and Resene Half Black White in a semi-gloss finish, and swapped the black and white placement on each stool for a bit of a contrast.

Step five
Once your final coat is dry, remove your masking tape. You may like to finish off by applying a coat of Resene Aquaclear urethane varnish.

Handy hint:
When refurbishing furniture it’s important to prepare the surface correctly for painting so that you get a good-quality and long-lasting result. If you don’t strip the paint all the way back to the timber, at least give it a good sand to prepare it for a new coat of paint.