Aluminum Kitchen Stool Rehab

Here is a super simple, but really stylish update for the kitchen: Aluminum Stools, done with spray paint. Originally the kitchen stools looked like this. We purchased them 19 years ago, so I have certainly gotten my use out of them.  

4+ years ago they needed a little sprucing up, natural wood tops had yellowed and the paint was chipped. After a good cleaning, I repainted the whole stool white. I printed off a Fleur de Lis from some online clipart, traced around it and painted it in with a pretty blue. I loved them like this!

But I was ready to try something new and had been admiring the new aluminum and metal stools I've seen around and wanted to copy the affect. I thought about buying new stools, but I already have two perfectly good ones, so why not paint them!

 I started by cleaning and sanding the stools and used a spray paint (Krylon Metallic Matte Aluminum) I already had. I always use a Spray Grip when I spray paint, and I LOVE mine! I started on the bottom and always make sure to shake my spray paint cans really well. I spray back and forth in a line, starting and finishing off my piece. I stop a few times in the middle to shake my can again.

Once the bottoms and insides were complete, I flipped the stools over and worked on the top and edges. Since I had painted these before, I knew where all the wear would show on them. After two good coats of the Aluminum paint,  I did a coat of clear finish and a 2nd clear finish coat just on just the heavy use areas (seat top and edges, spindles)

And here they are, the beautiful finished product! These get very high use in my household, so I hope they hold up well. They have definitely inspired me to find a few more metallic paint projects, what about you?!