Sing Us A Song... You're The Piano, Man.

This week has been extremely busy as I've been working on a project for my wonderful husband for fathers day (more on that to come at the end of the week).

For today, I thought I'd share with you a piece of that project...my newest challenge... my piano bench reupholstery.

Now, before I even start, let me tell you that this definitely was not one of my best creations. But what kind of blogger would I be if I only showed you the good stuff, and never shared my flawed work with you?

So here it is. My hideous, pink piano bench...

Let's take a closer look...

Horrid, isn't it? I've been wanting to change it since we got the piano three years ago and was ready to start doing a victory dance around the house when I finally pulled the fabric off. But before I got that far, I took detailed photos so I would know how to put it back together.

From what I had heard, it's best to use a flat head screwdriver to loosen the staples, and then a pair of needle nosed pliers to wiggle out any stubborn ones. This worked as long as the staples were somewhat loose (which were few and far between). I also used a pocket knife, which I do not recommend. It definitely closed on me a few times. Fortunately, my pocket knife is extremely dull and allowed me to keep all my fingers.

Taking a few more photos along the way...

It helped to have a magnet to hold the staples as I went...

Hooray!!!!!

Then I laid the old fabric out over the new fabric, giving an extra inch and a half or so to each side as I cut. Without doing this, I wouldn't be able to pull it tight when attaching the fabric to the bench. I got this nice, thick fabric on sale at IKEA for $3.99 a yard!

Next, I placed the new fabric over the seat, centering the design as best I could.

This is where things went a little rough. As I said before, this is part of a project I am working on for the hubster, and the project is going to be a surprise. Which, of course, means that I couldn't ask for his help. Bummer.

Time to staple the fabric to the bench seat. I'm still not sure if it's the fact that I've never used a staple gun before and just have no idea what I'm doing, if the staples were the wrong size, or if there are different types of staple guns for different jobs. I suppose I'll find out after I show my darling. Whatever the problem, my staples left a lot to be desired...

Anyway, I started by stapling the middle of one end and then pulling it tight and stapling the middle of the opposite side to keep it centered. I did the same thing with the other two sides, opposite each other. Once I had my four middle staples in, I could work my way to the outer edges. The corners were folded in and kept in place with several staples.

Once the staples were in, I trimmed away the excess fabric.

Then I used the backing piece that was attached before, and stapled it back on to give it a more finished look (as finished as it could be with my cooky staples) and slapped it back on the bench!

Regardless of my staples, it turned out great! I was pressed for time so I didn't make the loop thingy to pull the seat up with. I'll probably do that some other time, but for now I am very satisfied!

:)