Finishing A Child's Footstool

[Steve Kohn]

I recently threw together a small footstool to allow my grandkids to stand high enough to wash their hands at my house. The stool is made from pine, sanded to 180 grit, and painted with Rustoleum flat white primer and color coated with Rustoleum gloss protective enamel. Both paint and primer were straight from a rattle can. The gloss on the stool is perfect. I'm very happy with the finish, but have concerns if the finish will be durable enough.

Should I coat the piece with oil based polyurethane? If so will I need to scuff coat the gloss paint?

I'm looking for suggestions.

[Steve Schoene]

The overcoat you propose will give a yellow cast that will continue to go more yellow over time. The overcoat of poly won't keep the look pristine forever, but when it does get a ding, it will be extremely challenging to repair. If the enamel gets dinged, it's easy to scuff sand and add a new coat. Paint is plenty durable.

[Prashun Patel]

I made exactly this for my son. I didn't even prime the pine; I just sprayed several coats of Rustoleum gloss protective enamel. It held up fine. It did get antiqued on the corners after a couple years, but we all liked the effect. It felt warmer and well-worn.

One issue I did have is that it was slippery with socks.

[Dan Hulbert]

I made something similar out of MDF when the granddaughter came to visit last fall. Wife gave it a coat of white trim paint and then sprinkled pink sand on the paint before it dried to combat slippery socks. Pink may not work for your son, but this past weekend we went through Hobby Lobby and they still sell colored sand is small packets.