During my usual scouting days at the Thrift Stores, I seemed to find quite a few small footstools. Some had storage and some had handles and some just spindley legs and all of them in need of some TLC. I couldn’t pass up the meager prices they were asking, and gathered them up knowing I would have a use for them sometime…and it didn’t take long before they solved a tablescape dilemma for me.

I was designing for the Parade of Homes this past year, and since the formal dining room was the first room you noticed when walking through the front door, I wanted a real “wow” moment. The table setting would be over the top..not something that would be practical for a dinner with friends, but a really fun tablescape to keep on the table when not in use.

I had a china cabinet/buffet where I wanted to set various sized vegetable dishes and tureens, plus on the table, have different decor that I wanted to be at different heights so everything wasn’t all just sitting flat on the table. So, what could I use as a riser to lift up tableware so heights are staggered?…hmm…that stool over there is just the right height…I could reupholster the top to coordinate with my colors, and maybe paint the legs in a fun way.

So, over the next few days, I removed the old upholstery and replaced with new, adding some upholstery tacks along the edge for accent detail, painted designs on the wooden legs and handles, and sanded and restained the wood surface as needed. I even added wheels to the bottom of an extra storage stool lid I had leftover.

The stools worked perfectly for risers both on the buffet and table. I was able to put dishes as well as centerpiece decor on top of the stools to create different heights but in a pretty way without having to stack books, or stick boxes under tablecloths. I love using my stools in different areas of the house, here is the after of that stool above where I reupholstered it and painted accent colors on the handles.   I use it to hold a tray of goblets ready for guests.

I will always look at a small footstool in the same way again…..

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