Little Projects in Brooklyn! Kitchen Stools riddled with guilt...

If you remember rightly, the last time Mummy visited New York, she and I went on the hunt for the perfect counter stools to add to my newly constructed kitchen island... (If this doesn't ring a bell, click here to revisit that posting before continuing...)

So... we found the perfect counter stools-- 4 excellent condition Heywood-Wakefield mid-century stools made of walnut with orange vinyl seat cushions. Perfect. And I mean PURRR-FECT. Except for the metal foot rests, which I confidently reassured Mummy could be easily polished back to near perfection. And for a mere $100.00 ($25.00 a stool! CAH-razy!) I brought them home and there they have sat ever since. Unpolished.

: ( 
Guilty face. 

With Mummy's return on the horizon, I knew I had to leap into action and get those babies polished up, or she was bound to notice that I had not made good on my promise. I busted out a drop cloth and a hefty wad of fine steel wool, enthusiastically polished away, and in no time at all, my counter stools were gleaming like the day they were born (or maybe shortly after...)!

This is a super-easy trick for cleaning up vintage metal work... All you need is a little patience and a handful of steel wool, and you can usually brighten up most chrome and steel. Just go gently and start sanding in a hard-to-see location, just in case the metal doesn't take well to polishing. And have realistic expectations-- if something is RIDICULOUSLY rusted and pitted, odds are good you won't get it back to perfect, but you can definitely get it back to better. 

These little details can really make a difference when you're dealing with vintage/used furniture, and it was totally worth the effort to make my counter stools shine again.

Look left for my finished product! 

Check that off the "making-me-feel-guilty" list. Hazahh!
Now to tackle the rest of that list... : )

I hope everyone had a festive and filling Thanksgiving! Did anyone try our recipes for Cornbread-and-Sausage Stuffing or Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Lemon? If I may toot my own horn, I'd say both dishes were off-the-hook, and well worth a try if you haven't already.

Though maybe I could go another week or two without anymore stuffing!