DIYer Gives Kitchen Barstools A Comfy Upgrade With Stylish Flair

There's something kinda chic about a well-worn kitchen barstool ... or rather, there can be, but that's not always the case. When you've got stained, uncomfortable, or even just boring old wooden barstools, you either need to get rid of them or give them a new lease on life. A crafty DIYer on Taskrabbit's Instagram reveals that refreshing tired old stools, upgrading inexpensive new ones, or even just making a set more comfortable to sit on might actually be easier than you'd think. 

All it takes is a square of fabric, some padding foam or batting, scissors, and a staple gun. Also, note that this hack is really for wooden barstools, although if you have a metal-legged stool with a wooden top, this should still work. 

At its simplest, the process for this hack is basically just removing the stool's legs, trimming the padding to the shape of the seat, and folding the fabric over this to staple in place on the underside before trimming the excess fabric. Once you refit the legs, you now have the same stool as before, just as a more comfortable, more (hopefully) attractive piece of furniture in your kitchen. Upholsterer? ... I hardly even know'er!

To get the best result, if you've got thicker foam or batting, you may want to round out the topmost edge by cutting it down so that it becomes a more curved shape. Remember, though, that once you stretch the fabric over, it will also compress it slightly, so you only need to take off enough to smooth the hard edge.

Also, make sure you have enough fabric to reach the staple line on the underside of the stool. Once the staples are in, trim excess fabric to near this line and be mindful to not cover the holes for the legs to go back in. Try to get the tension as even as you can across the fabric. This tension is important; otherwise you'll have a saggy stool, and nobody wants that. To help with this, you can first place four equally tensioned staples around the underside edge. Then, go around and fill in the gaps around the edge, being mindful to pull a consistent level of tension in the fabric before placing each staple. If the staples don't go all the way in, they may need a little extra encouragement from a hammer. Place the staples a uniform distance from each other and the edge to make it look more professional. 

For bonus points, you could even hammer, glue gun, or staple on a fabric or metal trim around the bottom of the stool's outside edge. Once you're done with your stools, you can move on to some other hacks, like jazzing up your backsplash with some plates, or rethinking IKEA furniture. Even the Dollar Tree has some choice ways to spruce up your kitchen cabinets.

To see this method in hack-tion, check out Taskrabbit's video here: