Playing With (staple) Guns and Fabric Part 2

In the same breath that I made the new pillow covers I decided I hated the fabric I had used to cover a bench that Ryan and I had made together. Just a side note, the bench is SUPER easy to make and we will be making another one when he gets home because I have left over material, wood, batting, foam, and paint and cannot let it all go to waste!  Ok, back to the reupholstery story!! I had bought this fabric when I made the ottoman out of an old end table I found at a second hand store. I really bought it because it was on sale and the right color scheme. Now I feel like I should be in Florida or Hawaii when I look at it and my house decor is no where near what you see in those 2 states. As for the ottoman it would be a pain to recover because my Dad helped me add buttons for a tufted look and I decided that is more stress than it is worth right now! However, the bench we made would be SUPER easy to fix! Here is what it looked like before:

So the lesson here: Don't buy fabric simply because its ivory and on sale. Spend your money on something you really like!!!  

What you need: 

fabric

scissors

staple gun ( I use an Stanley electric staple gun)

decorative nail heads (optional) 

hammer

screwdriver 

I started by removing all the decorative upholstery nail heads along the bottom of the bench. For this I just used a screw driver to get underneath the head of the tac and lift it out. I actually left the fabric on the bench because number 1, it didn't show through, and number 2, I was in a hurry (and lazy).  Again, I used the curtain fabric in the same print as the throw pillow shams.  I ironed the fabric to eliminate wrinkles and then put the fabric on the bench and eyeballed where to cut it to get the piece I would use to reupholster. 

 After you have your piece of fabric cut to size, you can begin stapling from the middle out toward the corners. I do both sides out to the corners and then tackle those tricky little corners. I usually have extra fabric hanging down around the corners and this usually will get cut off so that I have clean corners underneath. I don't really have "directions" for the corners except to say I fold them like the corners on a present, pull them underneath tightly and staple down with the staple gun.

Here is what you will have after you finish stapling the corners down.

The bench looks awesome and you could totally stop here and be done, but I love the look with the nail head trim. They are really reasonable at about $1.99 for a pack of 50 at Hobby Lobby.  I spaced them out about 2 3/4" on the short sides and about 3" on the long sides.  So basically, measure, line up the nail, and hammer that baby in! Easy as that!  

This bench looks super awesome at the end of our bed and matches our decor SO much better!! The fabric is so much more chic than my Hawaii 5-0 print (which I will still have to bear with on my living room ottoman :( )