Saturday, February 13, 2010

Tufted Bench~Before and After

My fingers are raw, but it's done!  After I made the mirror a few weeks ago, I headed back to the thrift store for a bench.
I found this little table for ten dollars with cute legs.
Here's the mirror.
  I needed the bench to fit nicely against the wall, and the table was a little bit wide for the space.  
It's in the entryway.
The table was pretty gross.  Anyone want any gum? 
I first traced the bottom of the table on to the back of the top of the table.
I cut with the jigsaw around the traced line. I was a little worried about just chopping into the table...
Ahhh, much better.  It's beginning to look more like a bench.
I primed and painted.  
Next I used the bread cutter, btw..awesome tool  for cutting foam!! 
Drilled holes. Batted the foam, and now for the hard part...buttons and tufting.
I have searched and searched all over the internet for an understandable tutorial of how to tuft buttons. I have always been fascinated by it and this "how-to" seemed to explain it well.  Go here.  It's step-by-step, and explains it much better than I do.  Half-way into it I lost some confidence and didn't take the best pictures. My stapler is old and malfunctioning, and I had short needles.  Both of these made tufting buttons very difficult.  The right tools make a huge difference. Long needles, good buttons, and a good stapler are very important!
I glued the trim onto the wood instead of the fabric.  I thought I could get a straighter line. 
I think it fits the style of the mirror, and it's a nice place to sit and put your shoes on. 
The folds are not perfect and I struggled with several areas, but not bad for a first time.
Here is a little Before and After picture.  The best part is, I used fabric, batting, foam, and cording all from past projects.  Total cost-10 dollars, and I tried something new. 



Furniture Feature Fridays

63 comments:

Frugal Home Designs said...

That looks great! Your tufting come out perfect. Good job.

Becky@Beyond The Picket Fence said...

You did a great job--seriously impressed with the tufting!

Unknown said...

Great job! My first button tufting=Terrible! :) Yours looks great!

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

oh my!It looks great! You did a fabulous job!

gail

Handbags*and*Pigtails said...

I think its gorgeous! I couldnt even begin to do what you accomplished here so KUDOS! And the mirror is lovely as well. If/when you get bored there feel free to come on over to my house and help me!:)
Sarah

Connie said...

That is amazing. You did a fabulous job.

The Pear's Nest said...

Fabulous work! I love the colors and the thickness of the cushion...very rich looking. Great job.

jenclair said...

It looks wonderful and comfortable!

Mama Thompson said...

I think it looks fantastic...you did a great job!

Kathy@theshebearofeleven said...

Very nice! Looks great with the mirror.

Jill@Barnes Yard said...

I LOVE the way this turned out! Fantastic!

Pretty Little Things for Home & Life said...

Great job! This turned out fantastic! I don't think i could do even half as good a job!

René said...

WOW! That is an amazing transformation! LOVE IT! Enjoy that nice weather :)

Unknown said...

That is just the perfect pair! FANTASTIC job!

Beth@The Stories of A to Z said...

Not bad? This is fantastic! Love it.

~ Regan said...

Ok...Um....
"Not Perfect"?! Are you kidding me?? THis is beyond fabulous. I can't believe this was your first time making something like this.... So where do you live again? If it's not too far of a drive, come on over and help me make a few!! ☺

**** April **** said...

Wow... that is fan-freakin-tastic!

Tara said...

This bench is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! You are the only one that can see any flaws! I love it!

greta said...

Beautiful!! I have a coffee table at the end of my bed with material just waiting. You made it look so simple...but I know better. Could you tell me what foam (size, material, etc) you used. I never make the right choices...never find out until I sit down and I sink. Again, the bench came out beautifully!!!! Better than anything in the stores I have seen.

Sarah @ Hennessey House said...

whhhhhhaaaat?! that's the same piece?! amazing, amazing transformation :)

Crafty Sisters said...

Greta~
I used 5 inch foam from Jo-Ann's. High-density is probably better but is more expensive. I used a cotton twill material that I had on hand. It was easy to work with while tugging and pulling and held up while ironing the pleats. There are many others fabrics that would be much more beautiful to tuft, but since this was my first attempt I didn't want to ruin the material.

It was tricky manipulating the material..I won't lie, but you can do it. The Apartment Therapy link really helped me, and I also started in the middle and eased the fabric evenly into each hole before threading the buttons. Good luck, I would love to see how it turns out!

***Thanks so much for all the nice comments everyone!

Julia said...

What a lovely job you did. I think it looks fantastic. I have a coffee table I want to transform. I would invite you over to do it seeing as yours looks so nice. Great work!

Teri said...

Gorgeous!! :)

Unknown said...

Ok, i love this .. Love the tufted look and you did a excellant job.

Danielle Strong said...

Great Job! Very plush looking. I just did a tufted headboard. Now I want to do a 6 foot bench, ahh.

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

OMG, I love it. You did a wonderful job.

rachel said...

Unbelievable!! So great!!

Sonja @ Craft-Werk said...

gorgeous! What a transformation. I would love to try some tufting but haven't had the courage to do so yet... Well done!

Allie and Pattie said...

Oh, I'm LOVING this-I'm saving it for a project I've had in mind. Thanks!
xoxo Pattie

Tammy@InStitches said...

It looks really good !! You should be proud...

Carey said...

This is just so great. I have many odd pieces of old furniture that I could try this on. I wonder if I can do it as well as you.
Carey from Chicory Nits

Six in One Hand said...

This came out amazing!!!!

(Ripping the top off of my coffee table even as we speak..)

Marigene said...

Wow, that looks wonderful, love the colors you have chosen.

jninecostumes said...

Absolutely perfect! Great table to bench. Opens my eyes to all sorts of possibilities.

Sarah Palfreyman said...

You're amazing Candace! Great work!

Jenny @ Words on Wendhurst said...

It's so fun to try out new skills! Now you can add tufting to your resume! :-) Your bench looks great.

Michelle @ Sweet Something Design said...

Awesome!!! What a fantastic job!! It looks really great!

Bunny Jean said...

Well that's worth WAY more than 10 bucks now! The tufting looks pretty good to me.

Talk to you soon ;)
Bunny Jean

Kelsey said...

WOW...that looks amazing! I have passed on so many side tables that look like that...now I'm kicking myself because they could've been a bench! Great job!

Life on an artistic shoestring said...

That looks like a million bucks! I love the tallness of the foam top.

Melissa said...

That turned out great!!

Debbie said...

that is an amazing before and after. great job!

Pam @ bibbidi-bobbidi-beautiful said...

That turned out fantastic! The tufting looks really professional. I love it!

Sharon said...

What a job well done! It's absolutely beautiful! You should be really proud of your work! I always love seeing your next project...I'm inspired!!!

Lei said...

That is fabulous! I have a very similar table right now holding up my printer, and I want to yank it out and do this to it instead! lol!

Miss Mustard Seed said...

Wow! What a challenging project with the tufting and everything, but it turned out great. You did a top-notch job.

Katie said...

Oh wow serious fabulous make over! Great job and one that I'd be afraid to tackle.

Life as we are living it said...

Well, if you are not perfectly happy with it, give it to me!!! LOL I am highly impressed. I will have to add this project to my list. Thanks for the inspiration.

Funky Junk Interiors said...

WOW!! Stunning transformation! Goodness... I have to go look again. :) I'll be featuring it on SNS #18. :)

Thanks for linking up!
FJ Donna

Unknown said...

Awesome! I think that tufting looks darn near perfect to me! What a great transformation. thanks for linking up!

Anonymous said...

Huge compliments to you on this wonderful project. It really is the perfect set for that area in your home. Everything just "fits"! It looks professional and inspiring. Love it!

Chris Kauffman said...

I love it sooooo much , I now know what to do with my little white table like this in my basement.... thanks
and great job !

Tammy said...

This project is awesome! I love the mirror shot with your little one coming around the corner to see what Mamas up to!

Patina Soul said...

Oh my goooooooooodness!! That is so amazing!! You rocked that makeover!! :) I am so very impressed!
I have a table I've wanted to do the same thing with and put at the foot of my bed.
A bit longer but would make a perfect bench. Thanks for the inspiration! :)
The mirror is great as well.

Sherry @ No Minimalist Here said...

Wow, this turned out great! Looks like a very expensive little french bench.

The simple life! said...

I love it! What type of paint did you use? I am trying to redo our dining room table but I'm having trouble picking the paint.

PaperTree Designs said...

This is just amazing. Seriously! Wow!
hugs
D

Rachel said...

I saw this on Pinterest, so cute! You have inspired me.

Jesi said...

You did a great job.

Unknown said...

Looks fantastic!

Rose1957 said...

GOOD JOB! I have one of those tables to! Now you got me to thinking! LOL nah I need my table and don't have a spot for the bench although I do love it! You did an awesome job on it! You should be very happy! :-)

Tina L. Scott (formerly Miller) said...

Looks beautiful! And a great inspiration!!! Thanks for sharing!

The Chimney Pot said...

Hello, I have just found your blog via 'shed to hand' on facebook and I'm so glad I have - this project looks fab, can't wait to see more! Tracy x

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...