DIY Dry Brush Blanket Striped Ikea Step Stool

3 Materials
$30
2 Hours
Easy

Ever have a plain paint job you want to jazz up fast and cheap? Try dry brushing! See step by step instructions here!

I recently purchased a painted white step stool from Ikea that I wanted to do something fun with. They are super heavy duty and a great design! There were tons of images online of fun ways people hacked their step stools. If there's no Ikea near you you can buy one on Amazon! I was really afraid of making a mess painting it, so I decided to go for some simple blanket stripes. After reading a few articles about dry brushing I thought that might be a good technique to use on this. It's very forgiving, if you make a mistake it's pretty simple to dry brush over it. So here's the basics...

It's much easier to do the painting before you put the step stool together. I started with the square to mark where I wanted the stripes with pencil. I had both the top and bottom steps of the step stool. I taped both of them off after measuring.

Basically after placement of the tape I came back with some French Blue acrylic craft paint, and gave it a good coat-

I did have to do two coats for full coverage, then I let it dry overnight. I planned on dry brushing white paint over the blue.

I test drove it on an old paint stick. When they say dry brush they really mean it! I used very, very little paint. I brushed a tiny bit onto a used paint stick to get an idea of what it would look like. I highly recommend doing this!

I did the top first, then the bottom, so easy when it's not assembled!

It has that great faded, sanded look! Dave and I put it together and it is sturdy, very solid wood. I think it came out great and I really like the look! So don't be afraid to dry brush, it's really easy, but just use very very little paint! Great for kids, as an end table, displays, as a stool. They are very multipurpose! You can use this for almost anything! See my blog for more photos.

Suggested materials:
  • Ikea Bekvam Step Stool White   (Ikea)
  • Folk Art French Blue Craft Paint   (Michael's Crafts)
  • Paint brush small   (Home Depot)
Little Homestead In Boise
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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