my DIY paint by numbers

there are no real numbers in this DIY project, I just liked the title.


Awhile back I posted about a lucite stool I picked up from Craigslist.  It originally had an old vinyl cover that smelled something awful- yuck!  I ripped that sucker off and temporarily replaced it with some leopard print fabric.  

As seen from my Christmas decoration photos

Then last week I got paint itchy.  You know that feeling where you are just itching to paint something?  OK, maybe I'm the only one who gets that. 

I decided to do another monogram based on the Leotine Linens designs (I just cant get enough).  I used photoshop to design my own monogram and printed the largest size I could using an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of copy paper.  I traced the outline in black marker so I could see it through my orange fabric better.

With a disappearing fabric marker I traced my monogram on the fabric.

I almost went out to get new fabric paint because I keep reading all these wonderful things about Simply Screen paint- but I just used what I had at home to keep this project at $0 (can I get a woohoo for free makeover projects)

Tulip brand white fabric paint

I painted a few thin coats of the Tulip paint, rather than one thick coat and it worked perfectly.

And here is how my new married monogram stool came out!

After I took these photos I thought about taking it off and adding piping detail to make more of a taylored cushion- doing that might get rid of the puckering that's happening around the edges.

But after I kept looking at it, I kinda like the soft look of the puckering.  It's like a pillow is just resting atop the hard lucite.  It also happens to be the nature of the thin fabric I used.  So it stays as is for now.

With all my projects space in the family room seems to be limited these days.  Because of that, the Lucite stool lives next to the fireplace for now. Plus its easy access when someone needs to grab a seat in a flash.

PS- when I got this little stool it was covered in little marks and scratches.  To clean it I picked up this set from The Container Store and it worked WONDERS!  Highly recommend it for any Lucite purchase.