First thing I did was sand them. The one pictured on the left has already been sanded. I used Fine and Extra Fine Sanding Paper left over from my painting supplies.
You'll also need:
- Fine Sanding Paper
- Interior/Exterior High Gloss Enamel Paint
- Extra tin can to mix paint and water to create whitewash
- Old rag for wiping off extra paint to get desired effect
- Paint brush
After you've sanded the furniture, make sure you wipe off shavings and dust left over before you start painting. My mixture in the tin can was about 4:6 ratio of paint to water. I eye balled it to do 50/50 but ended up adding more water to achieve what I was looking for.
With water and paint mixture, your brush, and rags, start applying to furniture and wipe off some of the paint as you go. I noticed that while I was paint the water left bubbles so I start to dry brush which means essentially, I took one of the rags and squeezed out some of the paint and water before applying it to the wood. I liked this look a little better but, I have to warn you, it gets pretty messy with paint on your hands so don't attempt if you have a nice manicure!
I only did one coat on the stools because I didn't want them too white plus I really liked how they looked. The only thing left I want to do to them since they will be outside in the elements is slap a coat of polyurethane to protect them. Note: this will also make them more shiny than what they are now.