I think the term "Ikea Hack" has become so overused, yet here I am using it! I started this project back in August of 2015 when I thought I was going to be part of a blogger's challenge whose theme was "Inspired By...." At that time I had recently come across another blogger's redo of an Ikea step stool when I realized -hey!- we have that same  step stool! Somewhere....maybe in the basement....or in the garage...Either way, I knew we had had that stool for probably over 10 years and I had never done anything with it. No time like the present, I always say.




This must be a particularly popular item because even though we got ours years ago Ikea still carries it. If you look on Pinterest you'll find quite a few hacks of this Bekvam stool. It was hard to choose one at first, but I decided that I wanted to go with what I call a grainsack design from Freckles Chick. No surprise there. I'm always on the lookout for farmhouse touches that I can add easily and inexpensively to our home.


I gave it a good wipe down and light sanding, then I gave it a coat of white paint. After the white paint dried I taped it off with painter's tape and painted inside the taped lines with my Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint by DecoArt in "Escape". It's the same paint I used for my inspirational chalkboard and faux pumpkins. It's a color I'm really loving right now.





And here's the finished product. I added the numbers using some gray chalk paint I already had sitting around and my Antique Farmhouse metal number stencils. They're quite a step up for me from my usual Martha Stewart cardboard stencils that have seen much better days. I just use a very small paint brush with very little paint on it to ensure that the paint doesn't bleed through the stencil.







Okay, I don't usually show her on the blog but I thought she looked so cute here I couldn't resist. I sometimes call her Queenie. We also call her Bear. Or Riley Pie. No, she's not spoiled at all.


Back to the topic at hand. I apologize for the electrical cords in the background. Probably should have done something about that.


And here's me keeping it even more real. Notice the ladder on the left (being used to put up something on the wall above the armoire) and the armoire with doors open wide, showing the flat screen T.V. Oh yeah, and the lovely purple dog toy. With three kids and a dog life happens, right?