DIY Stool with Plaster of Paris

One of my favorite things to add to a bathroom is a cute stool. Why? I take at least one bath a week and I like a place to put a towel or book or drink by the side of the tub. It’s so convenient, looks cute, and is a fun way to accessorize in the bathroom. After I decided to add a stool, I thought maybe I could make something? How about a diy stool?!

In my Fairview cottage bathroom, I have a ceramic stool right off the claw foot tub. That tub was in constant use (especially in the winter) and I loved having it to sit on or rest things on.

The first bathroom I ever designed had a stool in it too. I wanted something rustic to balance all there clean and new pieces in the bathroom. This is the bath I had when Don was a little so I spent a lot of time sitting there and bathing my little guy. Can you see why I wanted to make a DIY stool?!

how to make a diy stool

I’ve been working on my bathroom renovation and it started really well with the vanity resurfacing. Then we pulled the old medicine cabinet down and got ready to replace it. But once the wall was open, we could see that there were a bunch of termites in the wood. So that part of the renovation has been put on hold until we can get that area sprayed for termites.

I had a bunch of projects lined up to work on, but those halted to a stop since I need to leave the wall open to the studs until it can be sprayed. At first, I felt a little stuck. Then I dreamed up this DIY stool and I was excited to work on another project in the bathroom!

SUPPLIES

Note- I went with an 8″ tube because it was between that and a 12″ one (that’s all my local hardware store carried). I would have LOVED a 10″ option because 8″ is a little small and 12″ is too big. But if you have more space than me, or your store carries more sizes go for what’ll work in your space.

step 1

The cool thing about this project is that it’s based on a 8″ round cardboard tube. It’s made for being a concrete form, but it’s super sturdy and affordable, so I thought it could be the base for the stool!

Start by cutting the tube down with a saw. We wanted the stool to be 15.5″ high- the same height as our tub.

step 2

Next, cut out the top and bottom for the stool. To do this, we traced the tube on a piece of MDF. Then my husband cut the circles out with a jigsaw. Last, I sanded the edges and any irregular edges.

step 3

And now, it’s time to paint the tube with chalk paint. I was worried that the plaster of Paris that I wanted to later apply directly on the tube would be too wet and ruin the project. So instead, I painted the tube in hopes that it’d create a barrier between the cardboard and the plaster.

Once the top and bottom were sanded, I put construction adhesive on the edge of the tube to glue them on.

step 4

Now it’s time to start mixing the plaster of Paris! To do so, mix two parts plaster to one part cold water. I mixed the plaster in a paper bowl.

I used a clean paint brush to apply the plaster lightly onto the tube. The plaster dries in 6-10 minutes so you have to work quickly. After every coat of plaster, it’s important to wash out the brush so the plaster doesn’t ruin it.

After my first coat of plaster, I used some wood filler to fill a few gaps between the tube and wood top.

I continued adding 2 more layers of plaster. My goal was for the stool to look like stone, not cardboard. The more plaster I added, the more like stone it looked.

After my last coat of plaster was applies, I used a wet brush to clean up any thick brush marks. This softened the whole project. There was still lots of interesting texture after it dried. You can see it in the picture below.

step 5

Finally, while the plaster was drying, I prepped for painting the stool. Since it’ll be sitting against a white tub, I wanted something other than white. So I went with pink ombre stool. For the prep, I mixed three variations of pink- light pink, medium pink, and dark pink. I’ve painted an ombre piece before and I thought this would make it easier (spoiler alert- it really worked!).

First, I started by painting the top half of the stool Cotton white with chalk paint. I wanted most of the stool to be white, so this worked nicely.

Next, I brushed on the lightest pink from the middle to the bottom. Then I took the darkest pink and painted it on at the bottom. This looked pretty good right away!

I continued down the stool by layering on the next darkest color. I used a paint mister to mist the paint to blend it from one color to another. Pretty quickly, I had a nice ombre effect!

For my very last step, I used some brown glaze to add a little depth to the stool. This helped it look less new and more textured.

After everything dries, I applied a finish coat of wax. The idea is that the wax will repel water to protect it in the bathroom. When my son bathes, I’ll probably move it from the edge just to be safe though.

after

Right now, since the bathroom is under construction, the light isn’t installed. I finished this DIY later in the evening and it was too dark by the tub to get a picture. Instead, I put it next to my accent chair. It actually makes a pretty good end table!

Somehow I got a rainbow in that picture! I love the texture and the ombre! I think it looks unique and not at all like cardboard. It’ll be perfect for holding a book or candle and I think it’ll give the bathroom a lot of personality! These forms also come in 12″ widths. But our bathroom was so small, I liked how this came together. What do you think?