REVAMP REPAIR RECYCLE

Upholster a plain wooden stool to give it a stylish makeover with just a few supplies

Give an old stool a new lease of life with some faux leather strips and stylish brass detailing.

Sometimes all that’s needed to breathe new life into a piece of furniture is a little time, attention and a few materials. We took this plain pine stool that had been forgotten in the corner of a bedroom and gave it a whole new look with just a few strips of faux leather and some brass upholstery tacks.

SHOPPING LIST

✔ Wooden stool ✔ Screwdriver or pry bar ✔ Sandpaper ✔ Damp cloth ✔ Tape measure ✔ Clear matt varnish ✔ Paintbrush 1m flame-retardant faux leatherette fabric in Tan, £11.50 per m, Textile Express ✔ Ruler ✔ Pencil ✔ Rotary cutter and cutting mat ✔ Staple gun and staples ✔Upholstery tacks ✔ Mallet

1 Remove the seat from the stool. If it’s screwed into place, use a screwdriver to remove the screws and take off the seat. If the seat’s glued into position, you may need to use a small pry bar to ease it away. Once the seat is removed, sand the entire stool to key the surface of the wood. Remove any old scuffs and scrapes, then wipe it all over with a clean, damp cloth.

2 Take a tape measure and make a note of the size of the top of the stool – you’ll need these measurements to calculate the size of the faux leather strips and how many you’ll need. Our stool was 58cm2 (9in2) and we used 4cm-wide (1.5in) strips. When working with thick materials such as leather or faux leather you need to leave a slight gap between each strip, so we used five strips in each direction, with each strip 38-40cm (15in) long, to allow them to be fixed securely on the underside of the stool.

3 With the stool measured and prepped, it’s 3 time to varnish it. We applied three coats of clear matt quick-dry varnish all over, leaving several hours between each coat as directed by the manufacturer.

4 While the varnish dries, cut the faux leather strips. Lay the leather out onto a cutting mat with the wrong side facing upwards. Use a pencil and ruler to mark out each strip using the measurements from step 2. Use a sharp rotary cutter to trim each strip – using a rotary blade rather than scissors allows for cleaner, longer cuts.

5 Start attaching the strips of leather or faux leather. Turn the stool upside down, and measure and mark the middle of one side using a pencil. Place one end of a strip down over this mark (with right sides facing up), aligning it with the middle of the edge of the strip. Use a staple gun to attach the strip into position. Turn the stool around and attach the opposite side of the strip to the opposite side of the stool with the staple gun, pulling it taut but not stretching the leather. Once this first strip is secured into place, turn the stool onto its side and use a mallet to drive an upholstery tack into each side of the leather strip.

6 Continue to add the first layer of the strips across the stool, securing them with upholstery tacks, until the top of the stool is covered in one parallel set of strips.

7 Add the second layer of strips. Turn the stool 90° and repeat step 5, to attach the first strip to the middle of the side edge. Before you attach the opposite end however, weave it over and under the first layer of strips. Staple and tack it on the opposite side of the stool to hold it in place, as before.

8 Continue to add the rest of the strips in the same way, alternating the strips to create a basket-weave effect.

Top tip

If you pull the faux leather strips too tightly the fabric may overstretch and distort – you want the strips to be taut but not overly tight.