Coffee Table Into Tufted Piano Bench

I'd like to share with you the coffee table that I turned into a sturdy piano bench. I really wanted a bench that would be long enough for more than one person to sit on it at a time. 

I started with this coffee table that I got at the Restore.

It was a little too wide for a bench. I had a piece of foam left over from an ottoman I built, so I decided to cut the table top down to the size of my foam.

Yep, that should still be long enough for more than one person.

After tracing the foam on top of the table, I unscrewed all the pieces of the legs and sides. I took a picture so I'd remember how to put it back together.

Once I cut it down, I placed the four legs on and figured out how much to cut down the side pieces. Here they are sitting on the newly cut down table top before I drilled everything back into place.

I don't have many pictures of the tufting process (this was done pre-blogging), but there are many tufting tutorials out there. I drilled six holes in the tabletop and foam (really just ripping the foam by hand) where I wanted my fabric covered buttons to go. I added a layer of batting and my fabric. Using an upholstery needle and roman shade string I pulled the buttons through and then zig zag stapled them with knots to hold in place. The next time I tuft, I'm also tying a washer on the string close to the hole to keep it from slipping back through.

There wasn't a lot of overhang to tuck the fabric under to staple. Perhaps I should have added an 1/8" all the way around the tabletop before I cut it. 

It's worked well for 4 years. I love how sturdy it is.

I could possibly add a hinge and make a box inside the frame to hold music someday. Hmm...

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