Hi everyone, I hope you are enjoying this week’s IHN Back-ToSchool Blog Hop!
Today I’m going to share the details on how I made our really easy homemade reading nook! Okay, not the bench part, but the cushion at least!
Remember that left over peg board from my desk stabilizing efforts? Well, I convinced my husband to cut this bad boy into the exact size to fit the top of my Ikea Besta Shelf Unit.
Next I went to JoAnn’s Craft Store and purchased some 3” foam, cute fabric, and some fabric glue called Fabric Fusion.
I laid out the fabric pretty side down, then added the foam and finally the peg board.
Next I folded up the fabric along the short edges, and ran a strip of the fabric glue along the edge. Then we stapled the corners along the short side down using a staple gun.
Next I folded up and secured the corners so that the edges are smooth on the side that will be showing.
Here is a close up of the corner. I’m sure there are better ways to fold these, but I’m not exactly a seamstress, so this is what I came up with!
We repeated these steps all the way around the board, gluing then stapling the edges all the while pulling the fabric taut.
Next we flipped it over to see our completed cushion!
Next we put the cushion in its new home on our reading bench and added some accent pillows to create an inviting little reading nook for everyone!
And here it is along the wall with all of the other shelving units.
How do you prevent the staples scratching the surface
Not sure, we haven’t had any issues with that, but I suppose you could glue some fabric over them or something like that?
Do u know how much you paid for the foam at joannes and did they cut it to size for you?
Yes, they cut it to size for me, and I’m sorry we made this bench so long ago I can’t recall the exact pricing. But I do remember that it was fairly inexpensive.
Could this be a headboard? Maybe not as thick the foam? It looks like it might work. Thoughts?
Sure, I don’t see why not 🙂
It looks great! I’ve been able to save a ton by getting my foam padding at the local army surplus.
Did you have any trouble getting the staples into the peg board?. I cannot get the staples to go in to the board and was hoping you had a crafty solution lol
Where did you get the fabric?
I purchased this canvas fabric and foam board at JoAnn Fabric.
Thanks for this! I have a blanket chest at the foot of my bed that has had a plain white cover on it for way too many years. Finally got it covered using your tutorial.
Thinking of using your idea for a headboard. I was planning on just using the foam, but the pegboard will stabilize it. Just have to figure out how to hang it on the wall.
I can’t sew, so this is perfect. I love it. Thank you so much.
Thanks for the detailed instructions, really useful x
What made you use the peg board? Did you just feel like it needed more structure? Or did you feel the peg board got the fabric on tighter?
Well without some kind of board to attach the fabric to there really isn’t anything to hold it on the foam. You don’t have to use pegboard, I just had some in the garage, but you could use another type of board to staple the fabric to.