For years now, I have been searching for a coffee table. The only problem is, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. I thought I wanted one of those pottery barn-esque pedestal coffee tables, but recently I have discovered my style is very scandinavian boho modern. Quite the winning combo.
So one day I found myself perusing the local thrift store, like I do, when I found these old rattan side tables. I didn’t immediately know what I would use them for, but they were the style I wanted and the perfect price. I am not an impulse buyer when it comes to larger items. I spot something, stare for a while, do a lap around the store, and think some more. Most of the time I talk myself out of buying it.
But these were different. I swear for the first few moments of them catching my eye, light was radiating from them, like they were the holy grail of thrift store finds.
I bought them on the spot.
They needed some work.
I started with fixing the wicker ties on the supports. One had already unraveled, so I took the rest off as well. I wanted to use some natural fiber instead of a grass, so I used hemp. It was about the thickness of the grass, so it fit in the grooves nicely.
Now, before I go into the adhesive i used, I want to say that when I do a project, I want it to last, and i want quality. A few years ago, I would have turned my nose up at a hot glue gun for this application. However, a couple months ago, I used a hot glue gun to secure some fabric to a wooden chair. I made a small mistake and tried to pull the fabric off, thinking it would be that simple.
False. It was not. Im sure that fabric is going to be stuck to that piece of wood even after the apocalypse has consumed everything on earth.
So I decided that a hot glue gun was a modest choice for this application. Winding the hemp around my hand several times, i cut the bundle in half, so that i had several long pieces of hemp to work with. I measured the amount of hemp lengths i needed by placing them in the bottom groove of the ottoman. I then placed a small amount of hot glue to keep them from falling off.
I then wrapped it underneath and secured to the inside.
I also filled in the gaps between the bottom and the supporting pieces.
After the glue cooled, I started wrapping the hemp around and glued on the back as I wrapped.
I kept wrapping until I covered the bottom bundle. I wrapped about 8 more times around in a figure 8 pattern to cover the holes left from the top view. Plus, it’s kind of what they looked like to begin with.
Now originally, I think they had glass tops. But I wanted cushions.
So I bought a piece of plywood measuring 2’x2′.
The stools are about 18″ across, but having a smaller piece of wood to upholster, the cushions I got would taper towards the inside and fit much better. I was able to fit two octagons on the board. I cut them out with a handheld circular saw. You could just as easily do this with a regular hand saw.
The cushions I bought were 6″ thick, and way too tall for the proportions of the stools. I measured and drew a line around the circumference of the cushion and used a bread knife to slowly work my way around the cushion, cutting deeper every time I made it around the whole thing.
With the cut side facing the wood, I used batting so the cushion wouldn’t looks so geometric. Pull the fabric just tight enough to round the edges on the top.
I make sure to place the staples evenly. Don’t put a ton of staples on one side. I staple four corners first and make sure the tension is the same on all sides. then I staple in between the staples I just put in.
I keep stapling in between until I think I have enough staples so that the cushion sides are smooth. Too few staples will make the sides uneven and bumpy.
Cut off the extra batting. I cut about an inch away from the staples.
Gotta check to see if they fit.
I used 3/4″ pipe brackets to hold the cushions on.
I got this fabric on sale at Joann’s. I always check the remnant bin when I go, because there are always a ton of yard-long fabric pieces to choose from. I got this for less than $10 a yard, down from $36.
I really am happy with how they turned out.
