This week I tackled a fun and easy makeover of this vintage three-legged chair stool. All I needed was a bit of Fusion Mineral paint, fabric, and 15 minutes a day for a couple of days. And wah-lah! A cute chair in under a total of 2 hours. I can’t wait to share this three-legged stool DIY makeover with you!
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Backstory
One Saturday afternoon I received a text from a friend with a picture of this three-legged chair stool. It was sitting at the end of a neighbor’s driveway waiting for someone to give it a new home before trash day. She asked me if I wanted it.
It wasn’t exactly the style of chair I’d normally pick up, but the style intrigued me. It was short and compact, had only three legs, and a heart-shaped keyhole in its narrow back. Nothing like I’ve ever seen before.
I figured Why Not? So she grabbed it from the neighbor’s driveway and dropped it off at my house.
This unique chair would be cute in one of my daughter’s room. I like its compact size (we have small bedrooms) and could easily see it resting besides one of the small bookshelves in the kids’ bedrooms.
I was interested in learning more about this unique style of chair. Why was it so compact and low to the ground? Why did it have 3 legs? And why was the back so narrow?
Honestly, I didn’t find answers to those questions. And that’s OK.
Is a Seat with Three Legs Called a Stool or Chair?
As an aside, I was curious if this three-legged piece of furniture was technically a chair or a stool. That seems like a simple question with a simple answer. Several sources (including Wikipedia) indicate that a chair only has 4 legs, and a stool doesn’t have a backrest.
Hmmm…… that means my piece of furniture isn’t a chair, nor a stool.
Eventually, I found one source (Furniture.com) that provided an answer:
- A chair has 4 legs, a seat and a back
- A stool has 3 or 4 legs and can offer a backrest
Images of Three-Legged Chair Stool
After digging online, I found these images (and several more) that looked just like mine. Several from either etsy, eBay or Worthpoint.
Oh, and many were referred to as “chair stools”. So I’m going to interchange “chair” and “stool” and occasionally use “chair stool” in this post. Why not – let’s get a little crazy, shall we? ?
And these chair stools were reported to be constructed by the same manufacturer –Ma-Leck Woodcrafts based in Wingate, NC.
Who is Ma-Leck Woodcraft?
Per the North Carolina archives, in 1953, Lester “Leck” Helms started Ma-Leck (named after Mary and Leck) Woodcrafts of Wingate as a way to earn a little extra money. What started with 10 original products turned into a booming business of over 2,500 wooden gifts and decorative accessories that employed over five hundred craftsmen in five major plants in NC.
And Ma-Leck sold a chair called a “three-legged birthing style spinning chair” that was “created by furniture designer, Frank Chaney in 1964-65”. It was the “most popular put out by Ma-Leck and was always on the top 10 sales list for the company. It was sold in major Department stores as well as small gift stores all over the country.”
Unfortunately the company folded in the early 1980s due to domestic and overseas competition.
My Ma-Leck chair was a bit beat up, but not bad. I decided since it wasn’t overly old (likely 1960s) I decided to paint it. And I decided to try a new paint that my friend Sam at SwankSurroundings uses on her furniture projects. And her pieces always look fantastic (and are available to sale ?).
What is Fusion Mineral Paint?
Fusion Mineral Paint, based in Canada, features “an environmentally conscious formulation, zero VOCs, superior durability, easy one-step application and significantly improved strength.”
I liked the fact the paint reportedly requires minimal prep work, nor requires a top coat. I’m a lazy painter ?
And I also liked the supportive community on Fusion Mineral Paint’s Facebook Group. I posted a pic of my kiwi chair, and within just a few hours received support and advice from fellow DIYers as well as Fusion Mineral Paint directly.
Fusion Mineral Paint comes in 50 colors. I wanted a color that would match my daughters’ favorite colors – pink, purple, and red. The best fit was cranberry, a burgundy color reminiscent of cranberries.
(And if you happen to live north of Boston, Massachusetts, Holten Street Creative Space in Danvers carries this line of paints)
Supplies for Vintage Three-Legged Chair Makeover
Here’s what I used to transform my vintage three-legged chair stool into something my girls would love.
- Fabric for new seat
- Sandpaper (220 grit)
- Fusion Mineral Paint – Cranberry color
- Drop cloth
- Paint brushes
Prep Three-Legged Chair Stool for Painting
First I removed the kiwi cover and discovered it wasn’t the original cover! Here’s what I found underneath.
Admittedly, this fabric as more my style. If it wasn’t damaged, I might have tried to reuse it.
Next was the crack in the top of the wood. I followed this great YouTube video from Fixing Furniture using string to slide glue into cracks. But the crack in my chair was so thin I used dental floss. And it worked!
I clamped the chair, wiped the glue (not shown in pic), and waited overnight.
Finally, I prepped the wood. Fusion Mineral Paints has a great, straight-forward matrix that outlines how to prep your piece.
For my situation (i.e. painted wood) I only needed to sand with 220 grit.
Although looking back, I should have considered priming the piece first with primer such as Zinsser B-I-N shellac-based primer. But I thought the cranberry color was dark enough to apply directly over the wood. Ultimately the color was dark enough, it just needed extra coat or two.
Paint Three-Legged Chair Stool
I was impressed with how easy it was to use. It was a thinner paint that The Chippy Barn paint that I tried last summer on the Lincoln-style rocking chair.
I think it may have also helped that I upgraded by paint brush.
Admittedly, I tend to use whatever brush is lying around the house. This time I took the advice of my friend Sam as well as the Facebook Group and invested in a new brush. The tried to circular Zibra brush and was impressed.
I applied 4 coats of Fusion Mineral Paint, even though I probably only needed really 3 coats. If I had used the primer, I probably only needed 2 coats. And I still have a lot of paint left in the container. According to Fusion Mineral paint, a 16.9 fl oz container will cover 75 square feet. I might have been able to get away with just a tester!
The paint dries fairly fast. Fusion Mineral Paint is dry to the touch after 2 hours and can accept a re-coat of paint after 2 hours. (However, note that cure time is 21 days, with gentle use after 24-48 hours of drying time.)
My only complaint is that the screw jar sticks after use, making it hard to reopen. And it appears that others might run into this issue, since Fusion Mineral Paint addresses this issue in their Instagram feed – use a flathead screwdriver to pop it over if your lid is stuck and doesn’t want to pop off due to paint residue or build up.
Once the chair was dry, it was time to makeover the cushion.
How to Reupholster Circular Cushion
Honestly, the kiwi fashion, while whimsy and unique, just wasn’t my style. So I took the drive to Joann and searched for a fabric that was childish enough for my 8-year and 4-year old twins now, but would grow with them over the years.
I found this perfect dog-themed upholstery fabric. It has a natural background, but still had a pop of colors in the bowties and collars. And the pops included a cranberry/pink color that matched the Fusion Mineral paint. Perfect!
Reupholstering a circular cushion as fairly easy. First, I disinfected with Lysol and let it sit out in the sun for a few hours. Then, I drew a circle on the new fabric a few inches wider than the cushion.
I found advice on how to carefully fold and staple the upholstery over the cushion neatly on a YouTube video from How to Do It.
A secured the cushion back to the wooden stool and Wa-La! Finished!
Originally I thought this chair would go in one of my kids’ bedrooms, but it fits perfectly by the front door. Sorry kids! Now I have a place to sit and change my shoes when I come inside.
Final Thoughts….
I loved the ease of Fusion Mineral Paint. I thought the cranberry color might have a slightly more pink/ raspberry hue to it, but I think that was my fault.
Ultimately, my kids love it – one day they took it from the front door and right into the playroom and started using it! And I think the dog approves…
Shopping List
Other Fun Chair Restorations
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