How To Update A Piano Bench With Paint And Fabric

by Kathy Owen | Petticoat Junktion

3 Materials

$30

3 Hours

Medium

We recently repainted our master bedroom and the space needed a total decor makeover. I hunted high and low for a clothes catchall (everyone has one right) and I found the perfect piece......a piano bench.

The piano bench needed a complete makeover. Wait until you hear what I used to recover the padded seat.

how to update a piano bench with paint and fabric

How about that pretty fabric and the distressed paint??

This is what the piano bench looked like when I found it at the thrift/antique store. Kind of sad with that dull vinyl cover. I think the piece is from the 60's.

Remove The Padded Seat

Remove the screws from the hinged seat and also from the hinge that holds the seat up. Taking the seat off of the bench body is a must before painting the bench or recovering the padded seat.

Clean The Seat

When leaving the original fabric on the seat it needs to be cleaned well with a good detergent or bleach depending on the fabric.

Add Padding

If the seat is a bit flat then add a bit of extra padding with a sheet of polyfill.

The padded seat may not need additional stuffing or padding but since this seat was vinyl with a corded seam I used the polyfill sheet to wrap the seat.

Re-Cover The Bench Seat

Next cut your selected fabric to size and staple the fabric to the underside of the bench.

For a complete tutorial on how to re-cover any type of padded seat click here.

Paint The Bench

Choose the paint for your bench. I mixed colors together to get a custom color.

Apply two coats of paint to the bench.

Distress The Paint

Once the paint is dry distress the paint by hand using 150 grit flexible sandpaper.

Put The Bench Back Together

Once the bench is painted and the padded seat recovered just attach to seat to the bench and set it in place.

Now you have a bit of storage and a place to throw those clothes.

Now for the fabric secret. I used the fabric from a skirt I found at the Goodwill a year or so ago.

The design and colors were so pretty I couldn't pass it up. Looks great on that bench!!

I use all kinds of things to re-cover seats. I've used fabric from shower curtains, draperies, shirts, denim jeans, etc. to cover seats.

You can see my denim seat here.

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