Benches, Footstools and other Landmines

I found another cute stool last weekend. When I find a piano stool, I use it as a stool because they are sturdier than others. While Rod calls footstools landmines, I actually like using them as...footstools. They work good under the desk, and I have one right now as I am typing on the sofa, staying comfy. A lot of the stools are too high for modern sofas to use as a stool. Then I use them to stack books as I love reading everything and have piles of books everywhere.

Here's a picture of the new stool. The needlepoint is original, and the trim looks original even though it looks bright. It seems to have some wear to it making it shabby enough to be vintage. I can hear the crunchy horsehair underneath the needlepoint. It was especially appealing to me as I thought the base looks like a flower. It no longer swivels, but I think it originally did. I picked it up in Seattle at an antique shop. I think I'll keep it in the living room, it goes really well with the rug in there.
Here's another piano stool that we use at the desk. It's a swivel, making it easy to use at the desk. The needlepoint is not vintage, it is an Elizabeth Bradley needlepoint kit, which is a copy of a Victorian design. It has the original horsehair stuffing, and is very sturdy.
The last music stool, below, came from England. It was an Ebay purchase. I really loved the needlepoint that it came with. Unfortunately it was completely threadbare and I had to redo the needlepoint. My dear friend Beverly had great fun helping me design the needlework (she had cancer at the time and the project was one she seemed to really enjoy directing).

I was pretty torn about getting rid of the old design, but my friend was so enamored with doing the animals, it was worth changing it. She was going through radiation, and would look forward to my progress every week. (I took close photo's of the old piece, threw it back on Ebay, and wound up shipping it back to England.) I'm still thinking of replacing with the needlepoint design below.

Another weakness is a stool with "animal feet". This stool has a cane top, so it definitely for books, not body parts... It's really adorable, it has goat feet! It is painted black.



This one has paw feet. I covered it in toile fabric. It belonged to Beverly, and I love having it.

The stool below I'm not too sure about. It's pretty wobbly, and I didn't like the fabric on the stool--it has a seam down the center. I replaced it with a piece of antique toile, but I'm not liking that cover either.
These little footstools below are what Rod called landmines. the calla lily stool had a lid that opens so you can store your needlework project in it. The entire top is beaded.

This one is really wonderful, the color is amazing. Kitty would like to claw it, so I had it tucked away.

The knobby feet are really cute, the wood is all burl. You can see a few of the wool pulls are courtesy kitty, (now in footstool heaven).

All of my posts are around needlepoint so far. I am definitely obsessed with antique textiles. Hopefully this will inspire you to hunt for works of art that someone spent hundreds of hours making. I'll try to move on to other subjects....I'm thinking mirrors next. Have a great weekend!