Ikea LACK Table into Padded Bench

Do you have a LACK table from Ikea? If so, may I humbly recommend giving its mass-produced-ness a quick & easy makeover? Padded & upholstered & fabulous.

 

 

And the good news is: you don't have to have reupholstery experience to do this. Seriously. Anyone can do this!

 

 

Start by removing the legs from your table.

 

 

Cut whatever you're using for your padding. I used high density foam, about 2" thick.

 

 

Layer on the floor these things in this order: batting (you want about 6" larger than your foam on all sides), foam, and upside-down table top.

 

 

Pull up and staple your batting to hold everything in place and smooth out the edges. Don't worry about getting it too taut - that's what you'll do with the fabric.Staple all the edges and the corners down, keeping things as smooth as possible.

 

 

Lay your fabric down (right side down against the floor) and then your freshly padded top (top side down) on it. Fabric should be about 6" larger on all sides as well. Begin stapling as shown below.

 

 

One of the most important things to remember about upholstery is to pull very taut. You want your fabric super smooth. In fact, while stapling mine, I knelt on top of the table (to smoosh down the padding) as I stapled...and I still pulled the fabric very taut before stapling.

 

 

After stapling the edges, fold your corners neatly so there is no bunching or gathering. Staple in place. Trim all excess fabric, because you'll be screwing the legs back in. Mine had a ton of fabric here, so I cut it as close to the staples as I dared and hoped for the best.

 

Now onto the legs. You upholstery purists are probably going to die, but I totally blatantly left visible staples on my legs. My table is going against a wall, and since the legs will all be turned so staples are facing the wall, it will not be noticeable.

 

 

If you feel uncomfortable doing it this way, by all means bust out your nailhead trim and go to town. I did add a dab of hot glue to the tops of my legs to hold the fabric in place (because the fabric at the top of the legs did not overhang. I wanted as little excess fabric there as possible.), and when I screwed the legs on I made sure all the stapled edges were facing the back.

 

 

Fabric used: Mill Creek Beau Geste 100% Cotton Upholstery Fabric in Praline from here. I love this table-turned padded bench now. Like, so so much.

 

 

p.s. I use and recommend this spray adhesive:

 

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