Minwax Polyshades on Round Top Stool

One of my favorite features of my kitchen is our enormous island.  I remember when I was first looking at this floor plan, prior to seeing the model, I was contemplating not getting the island.  My realtor at the time looked at me, raised her brow and asked "Have you seen the island??"  I got the island.

Materials Needed

Stool of choice

Minwax Polyshades (color of your choice)

foam brush

foam roller

Q-tips

I didn't want to spend a lot of money since I wasn't quite sure what stools I wanted but, I knew we needed stools.  I purchased three of these beauties at Target for I believe they were $14.99 each.  We have a couch in our living room and everyone sits around the island on these.  My only complaint is that my kitchen has espresso cabinets, my morning room has a very dark stained table and these were a tad too light for my liking.

I really like the look of distressed furniture.  However, I was afraid if I painted the furniture, the paint would peel or rub off when my guests sat upon the stools.  I decided to paint the chairs with Minwax Polyshades.  Minwax Polyshades has coloring that is suspended inside of polyurethane.  

I do not like to do a lot of preparation work when it comes to painting.  I like to see quick results.  I purchased some of the "fake" Scotch Brite pads at Family Dollar. I read a post that using the Scotch Brite pads was better for this project than steel wool as the pads didn't leave a residue.

When I picked up the Polyshades, the only color at Lowes was Classic Black in gloss.  The Lowes associate told me that there wasn't a high demand for the Polyshades and their colors were limited.  I really wanted a different color and sheen but wanted to try the Polyshades.

I started by gently sanding the stools with the Scotch Brite pads.  When I say lightly, I mean I went over them quickly in less than ten minutes.  I next applied the stain to the stools.  I painted it on and did not pull it back on.  I previously have used a gel stain by General Finishes in Java and think they both applied the same, but I think the Polyshades was a bit thinner and I definitely liked the consistency better.

Starting with the stool on it's top, I worked from the top (which was toward the floor) I put the first coat on primarily with a small 6" foam roller.  I tried applying the stain with my hand in a sock and the roller worked much better.  It did a fairly good job of getting most of the spots on the stool and the coverage was good.  Some of the spots didn't adhere but I didn't want to go too heavy with the first coat.  

This is what the stool looked like after the first coat.  You can see where in some of the corners and in some places the coverage was sparse.  I let this dry overnight.

On evening 2, I took the Scotch Brite pads and sanded any place where I saw I had dripped the stain or any area the paint was too think.  This was fairly easy.  The paint didn't get gunky or peel when I did this.  It sanded pretty easily.

I used the roller again and did a second coat over all of the stools.  This time, I used a foam brush and in some cases used a Q-tip to get into some of the tight corners.  You can only use the Q-tip once or twice as the paint gets sticky and cotton sticks to your piece.

Here is the stool after the second coat.  Because the stain has Polyeurathane in it, it did a really good job of self leveling itself.  I had virtually no brush strokes.  I would have preferred a less glossy finish but like that they don't look like they were "painted".  I absolutely love the tops.   

Here are the stools finished one month later.  They have been pushed around by a one year old, sat on by various neighbors and our family.

The only thing I did notice was in some areas I had a heavy hand, it orange peeled a bit.  You can see it in the below picture but only if you look closely.  I haven't decided if I want to distress them or not. If I do, I will sand those areas and then spray them with a Matte Spray.