I've been dying to make use of the hairpin legs that have been trending on social media this year, and when I saw this empty little nook in our new bedroom, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity!
On my hunt for the perfect fabric, I got pretty discouraged. All of the Kilim and Turkish fabric/ blankets were insanely expensive and with all the closing/moving costs, I just couldn't justify the expense. Cue Urban Outfitters saving the day! During my google image search, I came across this rug and knew it would be perfect. It was the right color scheme and pattern, and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of the thickness and texture a rug would bring to the project. And at under $100, the price couldn't be beat! I ordered my hairpin legs from Pretty Pegs, the 18.9in size, because I was wanting a taller bench, but most benches height is around 18in total. This Etsy shop has great value and will powder coat (really durable paint) your hairpin legs for just $20 more. I recommend the brass color! And now for the DIY!
Materials: 2ftx4ftx1in board (or whatever size you need). Just make sure to get wood that supports your weight, 2ftx4ftx3in foam, fabric or rug, staple gun, hairpin legs, screws, a drill (or screw driver) and super glue.
STEP 1
Super glue your foam (I had to cut mine to fit) onto your board.
STEP 2
Position your rug where you want it, taking extra care to center the pattern if you need to
Make sure your pup approves of your placement decisions!
STEP 3
Flip your bench top over so that the rug is against the ground. Try REALLY hard not to move the fabric!
STEP 4
Cut the extra fabric off. My husband wanted the cut to be straight so he used his handy level as a straight edge.
STEP 5
Fold the fabric over the wood and foam. Position the pattern where you want it (again, just making sure its right!). Once you're sure you have one side where you want it, put a staple in the middle on that one side. Pull the fabric to the left so that it's level with the fabric where you put a staple, and add a staple there. Repeat on the right so that you have a row of 3 staples on one side, about 2 in apart. Once those 2 staples are in place, go to the other side. Pull the fabric in the middle so that it feels snug, but not like its squishing the foam down, and put a staple there. Repeat the pulling/leveling process again until you have 3 staples, 2 in apart on that side as well.
At this point, flip your bench over and make sure your fabric is still where you want it and that it hasn't moved on you! If it has, take out the staples and repeat step 5.
STEP 6
Work your way down each side from the middle staples, making sure your fabric edge is staying level and that your not starting to pull to hard to too lose, until you reach the ends. Leave about 2-3 inches on each side free so that you have room to do the corners.
STEP 7
Do the same thing on the short sides that you did on the longer sides. Start in the middle and work your way out, leaving 2-3in unstapled at the corners.
STEP 8
Okay, here's the hard part. The corners. Because it's almost impossible to understand corners through text and pictures, I'm attaching a video of me doing one of the corners! Hopefully that really helps clarify things!
STEP 9
Staple down any lose ends, or danglers in your fabric
STEP 10
Position your hairpin legs where you want them. We did 2 inches from the long sides and 3 inches from the short sides. Screw them into place using a drill or screw driver.
STEP 11
Flip over your bench and admire your hard work!!!
NOTE: If your corners are starting to poke out like this, a dot of super glue will fix it right up!
And there you have it!! My first DIY tutorial! I would LOVE feedback, so feel free to comment below or shoot me an email :)
