My mum was ferreting around in her basement and inside the old dark room and tool shop room my dad used to use, she found a rusted out utility stool that was clearly left behind by some workers 20 years ago when my parents had their house remodeled. It was in rough shape, having sat in that dark basement for decades.

She offered it up to me as a great place for someone to sit in my new kitchen when I’m cooking, or as a plant stand, if I was willing to do a little work on it to get it in shape.

All it took was about 20 minutes of sanding off all the rust and splattered paint, then cleaning it with a firm bristle brush. Once that was done, I slowly spray painted it in stages with a great jade green color, which we happened to have two cans of lying around in the garage for some unknown project.

Alas, after about two hours with this little stool, it was brought back to life. It now resides in my kitchen, the home of my large jade plant. But, it will be a great spot for someone to sit and have a drink while I’m cooking up some dinner. I also love that, while these are pretty popular these days, I didn’t have to spend a ton of money on one sold by some store–some sell updwards of $150.

What’s more, when my mum and I were recently antiquing in New Hampshire, one shop had several of these stools, as rusted out as mine, for sale for a whopping $70. I’m so excited to have scored this stool for free, and barely any work to get it to where it is now.

Recycling is the best, no?