• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Home Made Modern

| DIY - Cooking - Crafting | Blog

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Home Made Style
    • Budget Decorating
    • Crafts
      • Kid Crafts & Activities
      • Knockoffs
    • DIY
      • Furniture Facelifts
    • Easy Entertaining
    • Gift Giving
    • Home Made Holidays
      • Christmas
      • Fall
      • Halloween
      • July Fourth
      • Spring & Easter
      • Summer
      • Thanksgiving
      • Valentine’s day
      • Winter
    • Home Organization
    • Outdoor Projects
    • Shortcuts & Tips
  • Recipes
    • Baking and Desserts
    • Kid-Friendly Recipes
    • Quick and Easy Cooking
  • Life at Our House
    • Blogging Life
    • Family
    • Home Updates
    • Motherhood
  • Retail Therapy
    • Tightwad Tuesday
  • Contact Me

How To Upholster a Storage Piece

June 13, 2016 by Valerie Ott 6 Comments

how to upholster with tufting

Hi there!  Years ago I upholstered an old trunk and it has (surprisingly, given my skills with fabric projects) held up extremely well.  So I thought I’d show you my method for how to upholster a storage piece such as a trunk or ottoman.

Here’s the before shot of my antique trunk.  It was sturdy, but seriously lacking in style.  The backstory is that my mom bought this at a flea market with my grandpa, who died too young at the age of 60.  She remembers him carrying this thing for her back to the car, and I don’t know…I think it’s just sentimental to her.  She made me promise never to get rid of it, of course (although I never would.)  Anyway, it definitely gets more use and love now that it’s prettier.

antique trunk

Here’s a closeup of its cushion-y seat, which I made out of brown ticking stripe fabric.

upholstered seat cushion

how to upholster a storage trunk

And here’s how I did it.  The same process can be used to upholster lids of storage ottomans.

DIY Tufted Trunk Lid

Tools and Materials

  • Measuring tape
  • Pencil
  • Fabric of your choice
  • Foam in desired thickness
  • Cotton batting
  • Iron
  • Covered button kits
  • Scissors
  • Upholstery needle
  • Upholstery thread or fishing line
  • Thimble
  • Staple gun
  • Drill and 3/8″ or 1/4″ drill bit
  • Finishing nails

Steps

  1. Measure the lid of your trunk or ottoman to determine how much fabric you’ll need.  Include the thickness of the lid in your measurements and add another 2 inches. For instance if your trunk is 27 inches across and the lid is a 1/2″ thick, you’ll need 30 inches in length for your fabric.
  2. Lift the lid to determine the placement of the buttons for tufting. Make sure to use a measuring tape to make the placement even. Mark the spots with a pencil on the bottom of the trunk lid.  I placed mine in the shape of one big X.
    tufting
  3. Using a drill fitted with a drill bit, drill holes in the lid where your pencil marks are.
  4. Cut your fabric to size and iron it. Set aside.
  5. Cut the foam and batting to size and lay it on the top of the trunk lid.
  6. Lay the fabric over the foam and batting, and staple to the underside of the trunk using the staple gun. Put one staple on one side, pull the fabric taut, then put one staple on the opposite side. Repeat these steps for the remaining two sides to ensure that the fabric is straight and not puckered anywhere. This is especially important for a patterned fabric, like one with stripes.  You don’t want your stripes to be crooked!  If it looks good, go ahead and staple the heck out of it on all four sides.
  7. With extra fabric from your yardage, cover the desired amount of buttons using the button kit and following the instructions on the package. (affiliate link)
    Dritz 1.5 Aluminum Cover Button Kit - 24 (9/16? = 14 Mm)
  8. Tie one end of upholstery thread or fishing line to the upholstery needle. Tie the other end to a finishing nail.
  9. To give the thread or line something to hold on to so it won’t come back up through your drilled holes as you sew on the buttons, lay the finishing nail across the back of the hole and keep looping the thread over the nail and back up through the hole as you sew.  Repeat this a few times and then tie off the thread to the finishing nail. You may need a thimble to help push the needles through the layer of foam.
  10. Now, twist the nail in a circular motion around and around to tighten the thread and draw the button down into the fabric to the desired depth.  This creates the tufted look.
  11. Use a staple gun to secure the finishing nail ends in place to keep it from unwinding.

    back side of tufted lid      how to tuft a storage trunk

  12. And finally, add new handles for an updated look and extra function.
    cup handles on storage trunk

So there you have it! You know me…I consider my skill level moderate at best and this was a very manageable project for me. (Manageable means anything I don’t have to ask my husband to help me with…and it even involved a power tool!) So if you see an old trunk somewhere or have a storage ottoman that needs a facelift, go for it!

upholstered trunk

Here are some before shots of other furniture facelifts I’ve taken on, if you like that kind of project:

school desk chair makeover

School Desk Chair Makeover

ikea leksvik cabinet before

IKEA Leksvik Hack

office chair makeover

Mid-Century Modern Chair Makeover

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Related

Filed Under: DIY, Furniture Facelifts, Home Made Style

Previous Post: « Low-Light Houseplants
Next Post: Scrapbooking Alternatives »

Reader Interactions

Share

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Explore

Comments

  1. Colleen says

    April 27, 2012 at 12:31 am

    Very cute and thanks for sharing how you did it!

    Reply
  2. Jennifer L. Griffin says

    April 29, 2012 at 4:43 pm

    Very pretty transformation. Looks like it should be in a Ballard catalog!

    Reply
  3. Six Sisters says

    June 5, 2012 at 11:15 am

    This trunk looks amazing!! We love it! We are so glad you joined our "Strut Your Stuff Saturday". We love to see all of the great recipes and ideas!! Thanks and we hope to see you again next week! -The Sisters

    Reply
  4. Debi Bolocofsky says

    August 24, 2012 at 7:34 pm

    You did such a great job with this. I love it. I have a link party on Wednesdays, and I would love it if you would link this and any other posts. It is called Wednesdays Adorned From Above Link Party. It runs from Wednesday to Sundays.
    http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/08/tangerine-toner-and-wednesdays-adorned.html
    I hope to see you there. I am your newest follower, and I would love for your to follow me also. Have a great Day.
    Debi Bolocofsky
    Adorned From Above
    http://www.adornedfromabove.com

    Reply
  5. Val @ Home Made Modern says

    August 27, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    Aw, thanks, Debi! I'll be checking out your blog, too!

    Reply
  6. JaneEllen says

    June 14, 2016 at 12:07 am

    Had to save that tutorial so someday will upholster something. Great tutorial. Never know when I just might get in mood to tackle upholstering. Am very spontaneous person, if I get in mood late at night I go for it. If it feels right at time I go for it, things seem to turn out better under those circumstances.
    Love how your trunk top turned out and fabric you used. Looks nice. How fortunate to have been given that trunk.
    Keep up making great projects, look forward to your posts. Happy week

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Looking for Something?

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Reader Favorites







Footer

Connect With Me

Val is the Home Accessories Expert for About.com and the author of Home Made Modern. Learn More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
soap dish
pretzel rods for Valentine's Day class treat
word of the year 2017
yarn pom-pom wreath
Find thousands of craft supplies online!

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

HMM_Logo

I'm super-happy you're here!

Sign up to be inspired.

Guys, I have too many ideas and not enough time to blog about them.  Sign up and I'll send you exclusive and FREE ideas for making your house a home.

Thank You!
Something went wrong!
Privacy policy

We respect your privacy and will never share your information