A Passed Down Footstool

 I don't have any furniture or items that have been passed down t0 me from my family or anything, so I've never put much thought into passed down, sentimental furniture pieces.


Well, a few weeks ago my husband's mom gave me an old footstool that had been passed down in her family. We think that it originally belonged to my husband's great-great grandma who came to the United States from Holland in the early 1900's.

I was grateful for it and put it in my daughter, Lainey's, room with her other footstools for her to use with her tea party table. Then one day my husband noticed it there with all of my thrift store finds and recognized it. His face lit up when he realized (on his own) that this was the same little stool that he had grown up with, resting his little head on it while watching cartoons. It meant something to him that Lainey would grow up sitting on it and sitting her stuffed bears on it for tea parties. I have a whole new appreciation for this tiny, old footstool now. It's not just another piece of furniture that I picked up for cheap at a thrift store, it's a family heirloom! It's been used and loved by our loved ones before us, as a matter of fact each one of them actually recovered it!

Here it is after being loved by me :)

When my mom in law gave it to me it looked like this:

Sorry about these pictures, I recovered it at night while watching tv with the hubs. She had recovered it once years ago with the polka dot fabric. I pulled it all off and found this:

This layer was attached with nails instead of staples which made it a little bit harder to remove, but not impossible! So I pulled it off and found this layer:

This was the original layer so I stopped there. I'm trying not to spend any money this month so I needed to use what I had on hand to finish it. I painted the legs with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White and distressed and waxed them. Then I searched through my leftover fabric scraps for a piece big enough to fit over the cushion. I ended up with some tan linen. I just pulled it over tight and stapled it underneath folding it around the rounded ends. 

It was a quick and easy redo and looks so nice with Lainey's tea party table. Hopefully I will be able to recover these thrift store footstools soon too!

And one day when Lainey has a home of her own I'll pass this little footstool down to her. I hope that she too will make it into something that she loves to look at as much as I love it now!

Linked up to:

The Shady Porch

Domesblissity

Seven Alive

Miss Mustard Seed

Bear Rabbit Bear

Funky Junk Interiors

Craft O Maniac