I’ve got another quick and easy upholstery project to share with you today. A little fabric and a staple gun are all you need to give any bench a huge face lift in under 30 minutes. So what lucky bench got transformed in my house?
Drum roll please………………………my piano bench!
Here are the sad before pics.
My piano sits right in front of our bay window (it doesn’t fit anywhere else). If you are struggling to see the bench in this picture you are normal. It is like a big black hole and it kind of sucks the life and light out of the space. Oh, and it’s also slightly broken.
It was time for a little makeover.
I started by unscrewing the lid. This is easy to do with most piano benches. Even if the top of your bench isn’t removable, as long as the top is slightly longer and wider than the legs, you can just flip the whole thing over. It will work just fine. You just need enough room on the underside to staple your fabric in place.
Cut a piece of fabric and batting about 2-3 inches longer and wider than the lid. This blue fabric is from the new Waverly Modern Essentials line at JoAnns.
Place the right side of your fabric face down, followed by the batting and then the lid. My lid was already cushioned, but if you are working with a traditional hard piano bench, just add a layer of 2-3 inch foam after the batting. Make sure to cut your fabric and batting a little bigger if you add foam.
Now it’s time to staple. Start by stapling the middle of both long ends and then work your way out to the sides, pulling the fabric very tight as you go.
You’ll want to do the corners last. Cut off the excess fabric, so it’s easier to work with. I cut out a lot as I go. There is no exact science to stapling the corners. I like to think of it like wrapping a present. When I figure out what looks good, I go to town with the staple gun.
I also cut the fabric out around where the hinges go.
That’s really all there is to it. Just reattach the bench and you’re done. I fixed the bottom with a few more more staples around the perimeter. Man, I love my staple gun!
So much better, I think. This took me a total of 30 minutes from start to finish (even with taking pictures of every step).
