It’s rare to find a company or product that truly innovates the way you approach some aspect of your life. What they provide is something that you might previously have never considered existed, and, once you do become aware, your whole world is blown wide open. Such is the case with Rub ‘n Restore‘s transformative leather dyes. No I’m not kidding. And while I love all my posts like children, I’m exceptionally excited about having teamed up with the mother-daughter duo behind this magic paint-potion to create this post for you.

Allow me to regale you with a real life Live Simply story:

It was this summer. I was helping one of my clients and her five children move into (read: set up from basically scratch) a new home. We had a strict budget we had to adhere to and an entire home’s worth of furniture to purchase. (For the record, we killed it–more to come on this whole project soon.)

Among the handful of furniture pieces my client already owned were a set of red leather bar stools. When the kitchen and dining area were deemed too crowded to accomodate them, and we were face to face with meeting that budget, we decided the stools would have to suffice as seating for the kid’s play/art room.

We got two counter-height tables and were in business. It was certainly not the direction most would have gone–which is down when it concerns children–but the elevated height of the table and stools lent an unexpectedly fun and adventurous vibe to the otherwise benign act of coloring.

Except the stools, well, they were still red leather. And as such, they didn’t look like playroom stools; they looked like bar stools we’d put in the playroom. I knew I had to find an affordable solution.

Thankfully for Google, I found my way to way to Rub ‘n Restore’s website, which is, in and of itself, a treasure trove in information. There are answers to just about every question you could possibly have about dying leather and vinyl, from whether the product works on faux as well as real leather (it does) to whether the paint will transfer onto clothes once applied and dried (it won’t) to what types of finishes are available (glossy or matte). There are instructional videos (those are what sealed the deal for me), and an easily navigable shop page.

Most importantly, the leather and vinyl dyes are available in an impressive array of on-trend colors. (Not to say that you can’t request a custom color if you need to color match, because you totally can.)

I had the sneaking suspicion that I’d just stumbled on the DIY-decor jackpot. Since we needed a dark neutral color–one that could go with everything and not show any kid-stains–I scooped up a bottle of Peppercorn.

So, how’d it go?

Well, it applied like a dream, it dried within breaths, and it succeeded in being completely transformative.

Nothing (no home DIY project) has ever been so effortless as Rub ‘n Restoring these leather stools.

I was so massively impressed with Rub ‘n Restore’s leather dye that I felt compelled to send them a love note, singing their praises and thanking them for helping me to save the stool-day. I said something to the effect of: “I think the world needs to know about your product and I want to be the one to tell them about it! That cool wit you?” To which they responded, “Um, yes, we would very much like that?”

And then I spontaneously ordered another bottle o’ dye, found another red leather situation for me to transform, and did it all on camera for the likes of you. So, now you can watch the magic with your own two eyeballs:

Oh, and as for how the stools turned out in the end…

Image credit: David M. Axelrod

Image credit: David M. Axelrod

Image credit: David M. Axelrod

If you are in possession of a leather or vinyl, well, practically anything, that could do with some loving, you best get yourself some Rub ‘n Restore in a hurry, so says me.

And now, we shall thank the Rub ‘n Restore ladies from the bottom of our furniture-owning hearts for creating such a stellar product and for making the process SO Simple. I’m sending virtual kisses to you, CC and Lesandre, and, as always, to all of you.