Stepping on up..

I bought this step stool years ago at a flea market for next to nothing.  I think its a beautiful little stool, and its very heavy, which I think makes it look even more expensive than it was.  It's gone through several different fabric selections over the years.  This is the most recent one-- this teal and gold fabric is from Marimekko I bought when I was in law school.  This fabric was incredibly expensive and I bought exactly one yard (which was a whole lot more than the actual stool cost!).  I still have the rest of the yard-- I still love this fabric.  The paint stain in the background happened when I was painting my bedroom in Laurel and was using this to reach above the doors.  I'm a little messy. 

What's a tool if not a ridiculous, feathered, ribboned, beaded tool?  If you ask me, nothing. 

Here's a little fabric history lesson of the stool-- the cream was the original, the red toile came courtesy of my toile period early law school-era, and the Marimekko came when I embraced color and fun patterns a few years later. 

This rug is another experiment, and I nearly used it on the stool, but instead, I decided to do something a little more... wild. 

The finished product.  Parker will be so happy-- she uses this footstool every night to jump on the bed.  In theory.  Mostly she tries to jump up on the bed from the side, ignoring the stool, and doesn't quite make it up, and keeps doing that a zillion times as I remind her of the stools at the end of the bed.  Then, I give up, go to pick her up, she runs away, and this happens a few times.  Finally, I'll get mad enough to get out of the bed, chase her as she runs away, then put her on the bed.  Its our thing.