A few years ago my mom came across and old side table that at one time had a penny finish on the top. It had since be removed, and the surface was in rough shape. The table had a home in my brother’s college apartment but when he graduated and moved on, the table made it back to my mom. I’m not one to let free furniture go so I brought it to my house where it sat for a few weeks.
Instead of trying to refinish the top, I opted to transform the table into a foot stool for the red smoking chair in my reading nook. Here’s the before and after!
To transform a side table of your own, here’s what you’ll need:
- old side table (mine was about 24″ tall)
- 4″ foam, large enough to cover your table
- fabric of your choice
- paint of your choice
- spray adhesive
- serrated knife or electric knife
- scissors
- staple gun
The first step is to remove the legs, this makes it easier to paint and since my table was already the height I wanted, I trimmed the legs down about 3″. The legs on my table were a bit stubborn but nothing a little WD-40 and elbow (or finger) grease wouldn’t take care of.
You’ll then want to paint your legs and any part of your table that might be visible. Now it’s time to attach your foam to the top of your table. I just happened to have this photo adhesive on hand and it did the trick. Generally, you spray a layer on each surface and wait a few minutes for the glue to get tacky, then adhere them together.
Next, using your serrated knife, begin to trim the foam to the size of your table. For me, this meant trimming the corners off to make the square foam into a circle.
*Disclaimer* Be VERY careful when cutting the foam! It can be a bit tricky to get the cut started but do NOT try to use your fingers to help the blade along.
Use your scissors to soften the corners of the foam all the way and trim off any excess foam in order to complete your shape.
Similar to Reupholstering Dining Room Chairs make a sandwich, starting with your fabric, print side down, then the foam and the table top (the latter 2 should be attached). Start by stapling 2 points, here, 1 on the left and right side.
Staple the 2 opposite points, top and bottom and then turn it over to make sure that your fabric tension is correct. Lookin’ good!
Continue stapling all the way around, being sure to pull the extra fabric down into pleats.
Enlist your handy husband to reattach the legs. . . .
. . . . and trim the excess fabric from the bottom.
Turn that sucker over and prop you feet up, you just made an awesome foot stool!
Have you ever repurposed a side table for another fabulous use?
