*Before & After* Painted Step-stool

Last week was the last of our "nice" days (as in warm days).  One afternoon, during Ella's nap, I decided to throw open the windows and redo a step-stool for Ella.  She is getting to the point where she wants to be where I am...all.the.time.  Which will be a bit easier once she's at counter height, rather than knee height!!

(Before - ick!)

Here's the step-stool before.  Lexi and I picked it up in the "returned items" section of Ikea two years ago, and it has been spending most of the time since then outside as a plant stand.  Now it's stained, dirty, yuck.

(After - yay!!)

After giving it a cleaning and light sanding, I whipped out some blue and yellow paint samples and a can of olive green returned paint (as in, the original recipient didn't feel it was quite the right shade). 

The green paint is an indoor/outdoor paint, so that was the first all-over layer.  I then painted the steps blue and edged them in a creamy-yellow. 

For a whimsical touch, I stamped the alphabet on the front of the steps and a few letters on top.

All in all, I'm really happy with how it turned out.  It's a bright touch in our kitchen, and best of all, Ella is now able to see what all the fuss is about during dinner prep!