Re-upholstered bathroom stool

Our bathroom stool was moving from 'looking tired' towards 'no longer functional'.  The time had come to re-cover the seat!

I found some instructions that looked workable but I didn't have enough vinyl to do it without buying more.  A check of TradeMe revealed that vinyl is surprisingly expensive.  What to do?

Just then, Martin had to go out.  He went outside then popped back in to pick up a piece of bicycle inner tube rubber, marvelling as he did so that they seemed to be an inexhaustible resource around here.  Ah ha!  I bet they'd make a nice wipeable cover for our stool :-)

A quick internet search revealed that others had had this idea before me.  At first I thought I'd follow these instructions, but Martin thought a woven top would be nicer and I could always seal the edge with more inner tube, rather than metal.  (Aren't the prices being charged for those commercially-available stools astonishing!!)

So, I set to and ripped off the old vinyl.

I pieced together some scraps of vinyl to protect the foam from any drips of water that might make it through the woven cover;

then wove strips of inner tube together in situ;

and finished it with a strip of inner tube around the sides.

 

All up it only took me two 'up times' (a bit under two hours) and was immensely satisfying!  Photos of the whole process are on flickr.