HOME DECOR DIY: Modern Rose Gold Geometric Bench Makeover

I gave two benches a modern makeover using geometric fabrics from Thailand and DecoArt rose gold paint. You all know by now my decor aesthetic is a mix of industrial, vintage, gothic, and bohemian. My husband remarked that our house reminds him of a city loft, which is a look I'm going to continue harnessing. Way back in 2001, we moved in together. My parents, being down to one child at home and remodeling their kitchen, gifted us their old kitchen table, benches and chairs. I'd been using this furniture since I was a tiny girl. It's all sturdy This End Up and Bassett (benches) furniture. So fast forward to 2017, it's seen another 16 years of use. It was pretty beat up, so one day on a whim, I searched Etsy and Ebay for black and white geometric fabric. A month later it arrived. I picked a DecoArt Americana Decor Metallic paint color and started making over these benches.


SUPPLIES:
Fairfield World, Dritz, and DecoArt provided me with their products to make projects. Fairfield World paid me to create this project. I use Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made using these links will result in Amazon paying me a small commision. 

For Recovering:
For Painting:
BEFORE

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) I started with the painting, so the paint was curing as I was reupholstering the seat. Remove the bench seat. If it's secured with screws, remove those and set them aside in a plastic bag, so they aren't lost. Be mindful of where the screw holes are while doing the stapling steps, so you can easily find them to reattach the seat. Use the spray cleaner and paper towels or cleaning rag to remove any dirt from the wood. Paint adheres best to clean surfaces. Open the plastic table cloth, spreading it on the floor. Sit the wood bench on the table cloth. I left my bench upright while painting, because it has casters that I don't need to paint.

2) Open the rose gold paint. Dip the brush tip into the paint. Following the wood grain, paint the wood. I worked in small sections, finishing by stroking left to right across the full side, so the paint strokes are smooth and aligned. Let the paint cure for about 30 minutes. Give it a 2nd coat. The paint jar recommends sanding between coats for the best metallic sheen. I didn't do that, but you could. Set the bench aside to dry.

3) Have the trash bag open and ready to accept so much trash. Put the work gloves and goggles on. Flip the seat over. Remove ALL of the staples with the pliers. Open the pliers, insert one tip under the staple, close the pliers, and with force pull the staple out. Removing all the staples was the hardest part for me, because there was THREE layers of fabric and hundreds of staples. Hopefully your task is easier. Toss all the staples and old fabric into the trash bag. If there is batting, trash that too. You'll be left with foam and the bench seat bottom which should be wood.

This was layer two, an 80s throwback from mom. Below that is 70s cracked tan vinyl.

4) Inspect the foam. My foam was stained and sturdy. I flipped my foam over to hide the stains and make sure any staining wouldn't transfer to the new fabric.

If your foam needs replacing put it in the trash too. Measure bench seat wood width and length. 3" to 4" is a good foam thickness for a heavily used bench. Check out the selection of Fairfield World Cushion Foam online or at your local fabric store that sells foam. See which piece closely equals your bench measurements and desired foam thickness. It's better for the foam to be too big than too small, as it can be cut down with a carving knife. I have never done this, but Fairfield demonstrates exactly how to cut their foam. You might want to put the safety goggles back on for this part. Trust that it's ok if the cut line isn't absolutely perfect. It's going to be covered in layers of batting and fabric, which will smooth the sides nicely.

5) Speaking of batting, time to take that out of the bag. Keep the bag nearby. Unfold the batting until it's one layer, laying it on the ground. Lay the foam on the batting, top down. Lay the wood seat onto the foam. Pull the batting around the foam and wood with about 3" extra all around. Cut the batting to fit. I have two benches. so I used that cut batting piece to cut a 2nd piece too. Fold and roll the leftover batting. I slipped my excess batting back into the package for easy storage.

6) If you have NEVER used a staple gun, this video explains how to load and use one. Otherwise, load the staple gun with the correct staples. I used both the light duty and heavy duty staple guns.

7) Start on one long side of the bench, working center out. Wrap the batting around to the back and staple the batting to the wood. Repeat going outwards about every 4", until about 4" from the ends. On the opposite long side, still working center out, pull the batting tight and staple the batting in place every 4". Then, on both long sides, staple every 2" to get the tension even on both sides. My staples are about 1"-2" in from the bench sides. The wood of my bench was weird in density, so sometimes the light duty gun worked better than the heavy duty gun and vice versa.

8) Now for the short end. Staple at the center and every 2" until about 4" from the ends. Pull a batting corner onto the wood corner diagonally Staple in place close to the corner. Pleat the long side batting to smooth it by the bench corner. Pull it tightly, overlapping the previously stapled corner batting. Staple in place. Repeat for the short edge batting, overlapping the corner layers and stapling in place several times to smooth the layers. REPEAT for each corner. Use scissors to remove any excess batting at the corners and sides.

9) In the same way you measured out batting for the benches, measure out the Smooth Fleece Fusible Interfacing. Except this time, remove it from under the bench seat. Cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than the Smooth piece. Turn the iron to cotton and keep the steam on. Lay the Smooth rough side up on the ironing board. Center the fabric onto the Smooth, right side up. Using the iron, press/fuse the Smooth to the fabric. I hold the iron in place for 10 seconds. Then, move it to the next section for 10 seconds of pressing. If your fabric is thick, the pressing might take longer. Continue fusing the Smooth to the fabric until it's completely adhered. Make sure to press the edges well, as that will make stapling easier. Flip the fused Smooth and fabric over to press the other side. This will likely not take long, but is a good way to make sure it's all fused.

10) Slip the fused fabric under the bench seat just like you did with the batting. Staple the fabric sides and corners just like the batting. Make sure to stagger your staples in between the batting staples, or the staples won't go through the wood. The heavy duty staple gun will likely work best for this step, as the fabric layers are increased. Again, trim any excess fabric carefully.

11) My bench bottom is hidden by the wood sides of my bench. However, if your bench bottom is exposed, consider covering the bench bottom with OlyFun that matches the bench fabric. I did this for the Modern Canvas Ottoman Makeover. Basically neatly staple a piece of OlyFun to the bench bottom. Neatly trim the OlyFun sides to be in from the bench sides.

12) Attach the bench seat back to the bench wood. I laid the seat onto the wood, and sat on the bench to shove it back into the wood frame. Mine sits snugly into the wood. Again, if your bench seat attaches to the wood with screws, use a screwdriver or drill to reattach the seat.

Now, you all know I always encourage you to adapt my projects to your own color palette. Fabric can always be changed out and wood repainted after more years of use, so don't be afraid to decorate to the vibe you're feeling now. If it's rainbows and glitter fun glam, stripes and chalky shabby chic, floral and satin sheen, denim and color stain, go for it. If you have chairs in need of love, check out my DIY Chair Foam and Fabric Update. I will have a part 2 to this, because I might have gone a little paint crazy and painted the wood silver. I might also be painting the two remaining chairs gold. Also, a few months back, I painted the table black and silver. Ya know, so the whole set is being redone. Expect tutorials for those in the coming months, time permitting. Whatever you are making, have fun with it! Happy Makery!

Comments

  1. I really love the rose gold paint paired with that fabric!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It took a lot of Ebay searching to find fabric I liked. It's a nice change from the boring beige I recovered them with when I was 21.

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