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Since moving into my new home, i’ve been constantly sourcing out pieces of furniture or home accessories. Sadly it would seem the demand for such things is high lately, particularly the shabby chic, rustic, kitsch furniture styles, which frustratingly means prices are high for these types of home treasures (who knew that a 50 year old used step ladder would cost more than a brand new one?).

So rather than spend a fortune on refurbished furniture I thought i’d just do it myself. And with the queen of craft as my mum, we made a family DIY day out of it.

So first off, I was looking to create a rustic bedside table / coffee table and loved the idea of using a small step ladder for it. I managed to find a super cheap plain wood one in Ikea which I snapped up immediately (£17 per foot ladder). I then spent a few hours browsing pinterest to get inspiration (and there sure is a lot to be had) – if you don’t already follow my pinterest boards then you can do here.

Once I had an idea in mind my mum and I set to work with her Annie Sloan paint (chalk paint) which I just adore. It was in keeping with some furniture we already have … a mirror and table and chairs that my mum renovated and gave us when we moved in (see here).

We set up shop outside in the sunshine and dedicated an hour or two to completely painting the stool. The Annie Sloane paint is expensive but is so brilliant, you don’t need to do any pre preparation with it as it can go straight on wood.  After giving the stool a full coat we left it for 20 minutes to dry through and then went back for round two.

The final touch to the stool was to wax it, this is for protection but also to give it a little shine at finish. The wax coating takes a bit of heard work to polish it all off / rub it in, but is well worth doing. I let my mum to do this bit, she’s the pro after all.

The finished look was perfect, just what I wanted. A simple & chic coffee table which now takes pride of place in our lounge for my cups of tea and magazines to rest on.

A final addition that I may add at some point (but just haven’t got round to buying) is rubbing in some gold leaf along all the edges and corners. Just to finish that shabby chic look off :)