Table To Bench DIY

Today I worked on the entryway a bit. I wanted to make our old Ikea end table into a little bench for the kids to put their shoes on and off from. It is one of the very few things we have left from when we first got married eight years ago. It was previously living in the playroom in between the leather chairs. Before that it was in our bathroom for five years. It has experienced the variety of life and is ready for it's next adventure!

Here it is before:

Tired and ready for a change, no?

I finally found something to use as pad yesterday. I was trying to think out of the box a bit, since I didn't want to have to buy foam. I knew there HAD to be something I could use. I took a tour of the house, in hopes that something I hadn't thought of would jump out at me. Well, something did. In the linen closet. Honestly, it is irritating that I didn't think of this earlier because I specifically bought this to use as padding a couple of years ago:

Yes sirree, a mattress pad. I bought this for $4 on clearance from the college section during back to school time. I don't remember that, but, it still had the clearance sticker on it. Perfect!

Let's get started. Oh and let me just say this. This "tutorial" of sorts, it is not coming from the mouth (fingers?) of a pro. I have recovered a couple of chair pads in my past, and every time I think to myself that I should have looked up a YouTube video on how to do it even better. That said, it worked for me! I am not a craftsman, and when I do a project, I don't like to over invest in something. I don't want to spend more time on something than it is worth to me. It doesn't have to be PERFECT to be nice enough. Onward we march!

Supplies:

Stapler ($13 at Lowes), Staples, Measuring tape, Scissors

You also need a table of some sort, fabric, and a pad of course.

Step 1) Measure your table top and cut the foam to size.

Step 2) Cut your fabric, allowing room for it to be stapled under the top of the table.

Step 3) Turn the table over, with the fabric and foam underneath it.

Step 4) Pulling your fabric tight and taut, start stapling. I do the short edges first, then corners, & then long edges.

For my corners, this is what I did. First I folded in the short side and held it there.

Then I folded up the long side, trying to make the seam right on the corner.

I think they came out pretty decent!

Keep stapling around the fabric. I made them pretty close because I didn't want too much puckering or bunching. Speaking of fabric, I used Premier Prints, Chipper Twill, in Storm. It was $7.48 a yard and I used less than 1/2 a yard. You can buy it HERE.

After this, I painted mine white, to match the frames and mirror and trim in the entry. I also bought silver nail heads to add all around, but I haven't quite decided if I want to use them.

Here it is in the entry. Notice, we also decided to go with the coat hooks. For guests. I really like what they added to the space! All we did is pick up some primed MDF from Lowes, as well as some hooks. Then we screwed the boards to the wall and added the hooks. We still need to paint the MDF, but you get the gist.

Nice! It is the perfect height for the kids, yet still usable for adults. It also isn't too high, so as to interfere with things hanging on the hooks. Just what I was looking for!

In other happenings, I am working on the roman shades for the master bedroom. Here is a peek at the fabric I am using, it looks great with the gray walls. Which, Steve painted last night. Trim tonight!

Tomorrow I will be featuring a tutorial for a West Elm reproduction. Come back to see what it is!

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