You may remember (or even just scroll down a bit to see my previous post on the subject!) that I was invited to be one of 9 fellow designers & bloggers to participate in the Feast Watson Re-love project. Well, I finished. Its all done! To refresh your hazy minds – I accepted the challenge to give a piece of furniture some Re-loving using some Feast Watson products to do just that! I chose this wee stool as it was a nice & simple shape, small enough that I could manageably takle its overhaul easily enough myself & small enough to easily transport it around to those who I managed to rope in to assist me in the transformation!
Here tis BEFORE some re-loving was applied:
Still before…
So on with the transformation….
I selected from the Feast Watson range Black Japan stain & varnish. I wanted the timber frame to have a bit of depth of colour that the Black Japan offers. Its not a heavy black, like a paint black – its a murky dark dark almost black with a tinge of walnut (yeah – i’ll stick with that as a colour description!)
Next I coyly sent an email to the lovely people at Signature Prints & explained the project to them & what I was planning. They were very happy to get on board with the project & donate some fabric for me to use! woohoo! After feeling a bit like a kid in a candy shop as I had so SO many gorgeous goodies to choose from, I selected one of my favorite from the Florence Broadhurst fabric range- Aubrey on a cotton base cloth in black & white.
Here are all of the goodies together all ready for me to get cracking!
Get cracking I did! I roped in my clever friend Nicko in to assist in the transformation. To be fair he wasn’t given too much of a choice about his participation!! Its true that I may have basically just told him of his participation -but as he is like my brother from another mother- I felt I could get away with it!! Also he has a shed, and lots of boy toy tools, and loves doing this kind of thing -that boy loves a project! He sanded & got it prepped & ready for me to stain.
The stools existing proportions reminded me a little too much of a Star Wars At-At walker (google it!) & as I was planning on altering the shape of the upholstered section, the existing legs length would’ve looked even more out of proportion. So whilst in the care of Nicko with his tool shed, he cut down the legs by a few centimetres. Much better!
Usually when I am sourcing or designing a piece of furniture for a project that I am working on I need to take into account everything else that is going on in the room so it fits into the space with continuity & balance – thats my job! But as I dont know where this piece will end up, it gave me a bit of design freedom to play with & try something a little different for this lil solo stool! So from out of the depths of my closet came my old sewing machine. Its been a while between sewing sessions. In fact Im not even sure that this machine that Ive had for about 10 years has ever even sewn on fabric! – its been pretty much solely used on paper party invitations!! (yeah thats a thing – I love a good party invite!) I took this sewing selfie! – you know proof that I was doing it & all that!!
The plan was just to embroider a small section of the fabric pattern & give it a lil sumpin with the copper thread. This picture shows early progress – I’m sure you can see where Im going with this!
Right, so on with the staining… Nicko had graciously sanded the stool back & prepped it ready to stain. So easy! Brush on & whamo – it changes right before your eyes!! Here tis after just one coat of the Feast Watson Black Japan.
Two coats was all it needed.
Lets just take a moment to look at this corner of Nicko’s man shed – work bench with neatly organised man shed kinda containers all stacked up. He is a perfectionist – just the man to have you assist on a DIY job!!
Next step was off to visit my upholsterer Wayne who also kindly donated his services to this project!
This picture is purely just to show off Waynes factory! See all the –stuff! I love visiting my suppliers factories! I love seeing where stuff gets turned into excellent stuff – its inspiring!! We decided to alter the shape of the upholstered top to a cushion top. I like the proportions better this way & think its a better fit for the design of the stool & the does more justice to the gorgeous fabric pattern.
Next up & finally: I wanted the stool to just have another little bit of special! So I visited my super clever friends Chris & Tim at Lump who also agreed to make a wee sumpin for this project out of some copper bits they had on hand. (its very handy having clever friends I tell you!) I just love the contrast of a dark stain with a copper pop. You may remember the kitchen I designed last year with a copper kicker? Looksee here .
So finally here tis. The finished result:
and here be a detail of the embroidery.
Im quite happy with the end result & I think it will look quite gorgeous in someones home!
The plan now is that my wee stool as well as the 8 other pieces that are part of the re-love project are going to be auctioned off on Ebay with the moolah raised going to a really great & very worthy cause – the Salvos Stores. Click here for more info on the Ebay auctions & feel free to bid to give this lil fella a happy home!
Special thank yous to the following peoples for their help on this project:
Nicko of his own domain! & of course Anna for just finding it amusing that I boss her husband around!
Helen & Gemma at Signature Prints
Wayne at Edgeworks Upholstery
Chris & Tim at Lump Sculpture Studio
Its been a fun & satisfying project to be a part of – so thank you Feast Watson for inviting me to be a part of it!