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2.04.2015

Table leaf turned DIY Bench

Hello world! Greetings from the worst blogger in blogger history. I am still winding down from the holidays in Texas, moving to another apt., school and adjusting to the snow (I totally underestimated the winter in the north)
 
Anyway, sorry I went off on a tangent there. So we moved into a slightly bigger apartment and you know when you move you realize how much stuff *junk* you really have. Well that is what happened.
 
I found the extension leaf to our dining room table in the attic and it was headed straight for the trash since we were never going to use it. As I was driving it to the new place I realized we needed a bit extra seating since we were going to have people over for the Superbowl and decided I was going to make some type of bench. Keep reading to find out how I did it.
 
I did not get a picture of the underside but this is what it looked like when I started. It was a perfect size too, it was 18 in. x 38in.
 
 
I unscrewed the "lip" thing it had on the underside, you know the thing that let's it blend with the rest of the table. Also, I removed some staples it had sticking out and the plastic little pegs that stick out of the side.
 
 
 
I took a trip to Hobby Lobby armed with my 40 % off coupon and went to work. I bought 3 inch foam, 1 yard of fabric for $9.00 and 3 packs or upholstery tacks for about $1.50 each. Foam was 30 % off that day so to my surprise the $9.00 fabric was the most expensive part * start happy dance now*
 
I have never "made" a piece of upholstered furniture before but I had a general idea and went for it. I did read that some type of serrated knife works best for cutting foam so I used my big bread knife and it worked PERFECT!.
 
 
After I arranged the pieces I took them outside to spray them. The spray adhesive did not get every where and I had pretty good control over it but just in case. I sprayed the wood itself and I sprayed the  two foam pieces as well as the section where they connect. I waited until it got tacky (however long it took me to bring the pieces back inside) and then just connected the pieces.
 
 
I flipped the entire thing over on the foam side and let gravity and the weight of leaf do the rest. I don't know if this helps but remember we are just going for it. After about 5 minutes I covered the entire thing in batting and stapled my life away.
 
I made sure to pull it really tight.
 
Now since I only bought 1 yard of fabric I knew I was going to be cutting it close but I wanted it to be tight. As you can see I barely had enough at the ends but on the other two sides I had more than enough. I pulled it super tight and did a double staple line to make sure I didn't have any loose fabric showing on the bottom and to make sure it stays.
 
 
The pulling and the stapling is where the "fun" is. The second line of stapling is much easier since everything is in place already all I had to do was go over it . Keep pliers handy because trust me you are going to need them.
 
 
 
 
 
I attached the tacks with a regular hammer about half inch apart. It does not show it in the picture but I did go all around.
 
I bought 14 inch legs at Lowe's for about $4 each. Sure there are cheaper ones but there caught my eye immediately. The mounting plates are about $1.50 and they are in the same section as the legs. All you do is screw them in where you want them. It is your preference but I made the mistake of getting angled ones at first and it did not look right at all. I ended up going back and getting straight ones.
 
 
I stained the legs with some leftover Minwax stain in "Provincial." The picture does not do it justice (note to self invest in good camera) but the legs are dark but not too dark. It's perfect for our space.
 
 
I am extremely happy with how this bench turned out and it help up great for the people we had here for the game. My boyfriend and I both fit on it and it didn't break with both of us on it so yay! It didn't take a lot of money and it was a good day project.
 
 
 I hope you enjoyed my little project and thank you so much for stopping by.