Monday 23 June 2008

Shabby...a shabby old bathroom stool

A lot of the people I garden for are elderly ladies.I have a lot of time for elderly ladies, I love listening to their fascinating stories about the war and admiring all the old fashioned things like granny blankets and embroideries in their houses..they find it quite surprising that I like their 'old stuff' and know a little bit about it. My gardening often takes far longer than it should as I'm inside drinking tea and talking! Lots of them think its old tat and want to replace it with new..new is better than old in their opinion..and old is better than new in mine! I always ask if they are throwing something out whether it could find a new home with me.
One such item was this old bathroom stool..heading for the tip, I sheepishly asked..If I might have it instead..I feel like such a scrounger sometimes, especially when they say "you want this old thing?" in that tone of voice that makes you feel a bit silly...but I hate to see things discarded that are pretty or have potential and I always offer to pay. My kitchen dresser came this way too, taken out of the kitchen of a fantastic old converted chapel to make way for very modern units it was heading for the builders skip and if I took it away I was doing them a favour... if you don't ask you'll never get!!
I love the colour of this stool, a sort of 1950s duck-egg blue,I love its scruffy layers of paint and overall shabbiness. I do like shabbiness.

Most people would probably sand it down and want perfection, and I must admit I was tempted to repaint it pink at one point..but I couldn't bear to lose the history of it and that gorgeous original colour.
After a quick wipe over and brush off of all the loose paint, I decided to cover the top, which was originally cork but had long since gone,with a piece of Cath Kidston oilcloth, trimmed with some pretty ribbon..in the perfect shade of blue and red.
It's going to go in the bathroom..somewhere to put your cup of tea and magazine on whilst you're soaking in the bath..(or is that just me!)...not bad for a freebie me thinks!!

29 comments:

  1. Wow! What a find. I recently found a tatty white chair with the same style holes in the seat, but I had to pay £4.99 in Oxfam for it. My best ever freebie was a battered old shabby-chic style suitcase, complete with torn and faded labels. It was by the door in a charity shop and I asked if it had just been donated. I got told it was going out for the rag 'n' bone man but if I wanted it to help myself! It's currently languishing on the top of a cupboard in my workroom, but one day it will fit in a room ... one day! Maybe I should blog about it?!

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  2. Gorgeous. And the oilcloth is stunning.

    Great job!

    Lisa
    Knitty, Vintage and Rosy

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  3. Very jealous of the stool! Where did you get the trim from? I dont suppose you could recomend a website with good trims etc. Your job sounds perfect for getting out, exploring areas and finding interesting things. I am always reversing past skips and piles of junk on the roads!

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  4. You can see what good taste you have when you know less is more. You were right to keep the original paintwork. What you did on top is lovely.

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  5. the bargain and the make over of the week!
    just lovely x
    t x
    p.s - i will reply to your email - i am just a little behind on them at the mo!
    speak soon :)

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  6. I love the stool, very vintage, shabby and chic! A great project. Thanks for explaining how it was done. I think possibly I could give this sort of thing a go? x

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  7. Lovely job and the oilcloth lifts it to perfection.
    Hope it gives you many hours of pleasure.

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  8. very impressive-if you don't ask you don't get! Youve finished it off beautifully-good idea keeping the blue as well, very bathroomy!

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  9. I love what you've done to the stool I too have a little stool for my cuppa in my bathroom but I much prefer yours! Next time I pass a skip I'll have a good nose inside!
    Sarahx

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  10. Gorgeous! When you get a chance, I've given you a little award on my blog, so stop by!

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  11. Lovely!You've done it so well!;-)

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  12. Oh it's lovely. I wish I was better at finding these sorts of things! I'm pleased to see you didn't re-paint it. The colour is so pretty, and as you say, it's nicer to keep the history of it. Love the fabric you've used to cover it. Just perfect.

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  13. Wow! What a make over? I'd love to have it my house that is for sure!

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  14. Just stopping by quickly to let you know that I've moved blog homes, you can now find me at:

    http://catondarlingandmoore.blogspot.com

    Hope you can drop by sometime, I'll be back soon to catch up with you.

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  15. Oh I love the table and wierdly enough I've just done a similar thing for table in our garden this week. Its newer but came to us from a colleague of my dad's who was going to send it to the tip too. It's my new potting table and perfect for lunch on the patio, must blog about it soon.

    I've got some great female friends who are in their 60s/70s. Our new neighbour is a wonderful lady who was a journalist during and after the war and once dated some of the Australian cricket team players in the 1940s! Our chats over the hedge, nattering about gardneing turn up some real revalations!
    Enjoy a long bath and your new table.
    Stephx (blimey, sorry for going on a bit there!)

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  16. I love what you have done to the table! and I like even more with the chips and all....you must get to hear some great tales from your garden ladies.
    Carol x
    Actually I need a table just like yours - for my camp! you have given me an idea!

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  17. Really cute bench ,great find (:)
    Patty

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  18. THE STOOL IS GORGEOUS! Excellent find, and the fabric is too nice! I know what you mean about the elderly, they are a fascinating bunch, I just hope there are people about who will appreciate me when I am old, whittering on about the 1980's etc! hehehe

    Kath
    x

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  19. This is great, i really love it. I knocked on someones door this week as they had put a lovely old pine stool outside on the street and i thought it would be lovely when its cleaned up. So i brought it home and now its just waiting in the garden to be cleaned and painted, its VERY dirty! Il try and post photos when its done, hopefully this saturday!

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  20. Oh it's gorgeous, and I love it even more now you have added your personal touch! I brought home a piano stool the other day that was going to be throw in the school skip. That does need painting and a litle mending but will look lovely when done. I'm with you on the love of old things.
    xFaye

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  21. Great minds etc... I'm doing something similar with an old sewing box at the mo (for selling) Can't decide whether to put fabric or oilcloth on the top though.
    Don't ever paint it ~ I too love a bit of flaky paint. It's not tatty, it's called patina! x

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  22. A perfect make-over! Yes, shabby paintwork is the best and in pale blue too - perfect!

    Your Delphiniums in the background look stunning,
    Niki x

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  23. you were right not to paint over it, i love peeling old paint...afterall there's no point in having something vintage if you do it up so that it looks prestine. It looks stunning! :-)

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  24. That's so pretty. I think it's great that you are bringing things back to life that would otherwise just end up at the tip...well done!
    Margaret and Noreen

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  25. Great job! Just darling!!

    M ^..^

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  26. It's just beautiful, a fantastic rescue job. Love that shade of green - shabby perfection!!
    Lucy x

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  27. I love the fact you've left the paintwork as it is, it's very tempting to paint over old furniture because not everyone quite "gets" the look. I recently bought an old kitchen stool for £1 which had wood effect Fablon stuck on top (probably from the 1970s!), when I laboriously peeled it off I discovered a lovely shade of red, chipped but very vintage looking. I left as it is but I'm sure visitors to my house might look at it and wonder why I've got that tatty old thing in my kitchen!

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  29. Hello there i think your blog is lovely and your home is adorable , i love the colours of your table , i love saving old furniture and revamping it , not that im an expert by far but i often buy second hand furniture really cheap , repaint it and use it round our house, much to my childrens amusement !

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