My idea was to upholster this table to cover the ruined wood veneer, and to make it more kid-friendly for my 5 year old's bedroom. So one day when my daughter and I were running errands, we stopped into the Calico Corners up the street. They have a discount section in the back that is suitable for my haphazard projects. I asked my daughter to pick out something and she grabbed some purple & gold fabric that was on clearance for $7/yard. There was less than 2 yards left but I figured we could work with that, so I bought it.
We then headed to a local sewing hub, G Street Fabrics, where we got a wad of batting. I also picked up some brass tacks. (I always loved when my Mom, an accomplished upholsterer, finished a piece of furniture with a neat line of brass tacks and hoped I could work them in).
When I got home I cleaned off this poor table. It had been outside for 2 years and kicked around quite a bit before that, following my husband to various apartments and storage centers. Its veneer was shot but it was still solid and an interesting shape. And I can't stand to throw things out. This particular piece was by Lane, the cedar chest folks.
I unrolled some batting and flipped the table over top of it. This gave me an idea where to cut the first piece of batting. I stapled as I went.
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| Getting started with the batting |
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| Top and bottom batting stapled on |
The legs were an issue. I wasn't sure what to do about them. I covered them at first, and thought it might work. With fabric, however, they looked like unflattering 80s legwarmers (anyone who remembers that weird turn Woody Woodpecker took during their childhood can get the right visual). So I tore off the batting and fabric and left the legs bare. I need to oil them up and stain them.
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| Covering the legs turned out to be a bad idea... too puffy & unflattering |
Using a staple gun, this whole process went quickly. I figured there was no great need for precision with batting. The fabric was another story: I had so little to work with, I had to maximize it. Of course, I'm not a very precise person so I still winged it! Just more slowly.
On the bottom surface, I reversed the fabric. It was really nice from both sides so I thought it might make an interesting contrast. And the lower area was certain to get less light, so more of the gold could help brighten it.
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| The vision in my head starts to become a reality... quickly, thankfully |
Finally I was ready to finish off the edges. I tucked and pulled and then quickly hammered some brass tacks around the edges. It's amazing how often a small touch becomes the part of something that I love the most. My husband hauled this inside and up to my daughter's room before it started raining... just in the nick of time. That night, she must have decided that this could be a "bunk bed" because we found her tucked into the bottom area, with her pillow and blanket, in the morning.
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| More or less a finished piece! |
Supplies: approx. $40 - specifically:
$14 for fabric
$5 for brass tacks
$20 for batting
$0 pre-existing table, existing staple gun and staples
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