Storage Bench Makeover

Ahhhh, sorry for not posting anything DIY/decor-ish last week. I took this vacation thing very seriously. While I worked on a project every day, I couldn't motivate myself to write about them. 

But now it's a new week and I guess it's time to report in.

Do you have one of these chest/benches? 

I think almost everyone has one, or has a friend that has one. We bought it once upon a time to use as a coffee table. But things change, furniture arrangements change, tastes change. I wasn't in love with the faux leather material, and the top sagged because there wasn't any support in the lid. I was afraid someone would sit on it and fall right through.

It sat in a storage room for nearly a year, but this week I dragged it out and gave it a makeover.

First I removed the lid from the body, and then I removed the staples holding the mesh-type fabric to the bottom of the box and the lid. Every.Single.Staple.

As you can see below, there was just some webbing and padding in the lid. I measured and cut two pieces of 1x6 to provide support. The frame has a bit of a lip so I was able to slide the two pieces of wood in snugly underneath without having to use any screws. The top has plenty of support now and the sag is completely gone.

I bought some grey wool suiting fabric a long time ago, specifically for recovering a few of the benches and stools we have that came with less than stellar original coverings. I wrote about the one at the foot of our bed here. This wool fabric is so beautiful. It feels soft and expensive, and I just want to pet it all the time.

I started by recovering the bottom part first. I cut four pieces of material, one for each side, with a couple of extra inches at top and bottom - some to fold under the base to be stapled, and some to fold over the top and inside the box. I had originally planned to staple the material inside the box, but after putting in a few staples I realized that it looked just awful. Tom suggested I use velcro instead. I bought the kind that is sticky on the back even though I planned on sewing it on. The stickiness allowed it to stay in place on the material without having to pin it.

I sewed down both sides of the velcro just to make sure it was secure. For the inside of the box, I stuck it on and then added staples at each end and in the middle.

For the material on the top, I wanted to add some visual interest. Before I attached it to the lid, I sewed a tiny hem, almost like piping, in each direction across the top.

I stapled the material on to the lid and replaced the mesh. I then painted all of the visible staples with black paint to help them blend in. The final step was to replace the feet and the hardware, reattaching the top to the base.

It ended up being a two-day project, what with having to go out and get velcro, but I'm glad I took my time to do it properly. Before it was recovered, Tom wanted to get rid of it, but now he's thinking we just might be able to find a place for it.