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Make A No Sew Bench Seat (Cushion) – Easy Staple Gun DIY and Video

I LOVE this easy DIY to Make a No Sew Bench Seat with a Staple Gun. You can make a beautiful padded cushion seat on plywood in no time!

How to Make a No Sew Bench Seat

Hi guys! If you have a window seat, old table, or bench that you want to add a beautiful upholstered top to, it’s actually pretty easy.

And, you don’t need to do any sewing to make it. Here’s how to make a no sew bench seat on a 1/2″ MDF or plywood board using just a staple gun.

Step by Step Video and written steps for How to Make a No Sew Bench Seat for your window seat, table, or bench.

Using an upholstered board won’t work for every situation. You need to have a flat surface to rest the board on. With old tables or benches, you might be able to unscrew the old top and remove it completely.

OR, you might be able to use that top as the board base for the bench cushion. It all depends on what shape that old top is in and whether or not you think it will make a good cushion seat base.

Image of someone using a staple gun to upholster a board to make a boat or bench seat cushion.

If you’re a woodworker, you can also use these steps for how to make a no sew bench seat on furniture that you’re building. I use these steps to make upholstered bench seats all the time.

You can see the chunky leg farmhouse bench I built in this tutorial and a smaller upholstered bench using legs from Home Depot, in a previous post.

My DIY Upholsterd Ottoman Plans from Scratch is another easy project worth checking out.

Tools Needed

  • Staple Gun & 5/16″ Staples
  • Hammer

Materials Needed

Build Note: You can use this DIY to add an upholstered seat to most benches, low cabinets, and even low, sturdy tables.

Just adjust the MDF and padding size to fit the space you want to upholster.

  • 1 – 47 1/2″ x 17 1/2″ piece of 1/2″ Plywood or MDF
  • Fabric, I used this one
  • 3″ Foam Padding – check prices before buying, JoAnn’s sells this for twice as much
  • Spray adhesive
  • High-Loft or Extra-Loft Polyester Batting
Step by Step Video and written steps for How to Make a No Sew Bench Seat for your window seat, table, or bench.
I love, love, love this fabric, guys. It’s Magnolia Home Galaxy Sail. I found it on Amazon.

DIY Bench Cushion On Plywood Video

If any of the steps below are confusing, watch this short video to get a look at how to make a no sew bench seat using a staple gun.

Easy DIY No Sew Bench Seat Cushion - Using a Staple Gun and Plywood or MDF Base

Steps to Make a No Sew Bench Seat Cushion

Be sure to watch the no sew bench seat upholstery video above to see exactly how I did mine.

Step One – Cut Your Board

Cut your 1/2″ MDF or Plywood to the size you need to fit your opening or to cover your table top. Brush off all dust and take that board inside.

Step Two – Mark and Cut Your Upholstery Foam

Place the board on top of the 3″ Foam to mark the board outline on the foam. You should only have to cut 2 sides of the foam, if you set the board in the corner.

You can also use thinner foam, like 1″ or 2″ thick with these steps for how to make a no sew bench seat.

Farmhouse Style DIY Upholstered Bench Plan with Tongue & Groove shelf. Makes a great end of bed bench, dining table bench, living room coffee table or entry bench.
Mark the outline of the board onto the foam.

Move the board aside to cut your foam with a serrated knife or electric knife.

I used a long bread knife to cut mine, but electric knives are the fastest, smoothest way to cut through foam.

Farmhouse Style DIY Upholstered Bench Plan with Tongue & Groove shelf. Makes a great end of bed bench, dining table bench, living room coffee table or entry bench.
My quality control guy inspecting my work.

Step Three – Cut Your Batting

After the foam is cut, set the foam on the board and lay the batting on top of both pieces. Cut about 2″ longer than the batting needs to reach the bottom of the board on all 4 sides.

Batting doesn’t get stretched or stapled to the board. You just want it to lay evenly across the seat without any wrinkles.

Batting is what gives upholstered seats a “fluffy” look. It hides all the hard edges.

Step by Step Video and written steps for How to Make a No Sew Bench Seat for your window seat, table, or bench.
That Loft Batting is the key to having nice rounded cushion edges on an upholstered seat.

Step Four – Use Spray Adhesive to Attach the Foam

For the next step of this how to make a no sew bench seat tutorial, use a drop cloth for the spray adhesive steps. Some adhesives get everywhere.

Now use the spray adhesive on the board to attach the foam. Make sure everything lines up on all 4 sides before the adhesive can dry.

After using the spray adhesive on the padding and the batting, trim the batting level with the bottom of the board.

Step Five – Use Spray Adhesive to Attach the Batting

Now place the batting back on the foam and board. Spread it flat and even again. Use the spray adhesive just on the sides of the foam to hold the batting in place.

Leave the extra material on the corners unglued and sticking out, like a triangle.

Now trim the batting to size. You want the batting to reach the bottom of the board on all 4 sides, without wrapping underneath. Now trim that extra material off the corners too.

Pinch the extra batting at the corners and trim away to leave perfectly straight, smooth corners.

Step Six – Cut Your Fabric to Size

Place the fabric on top of the batting. Line it up so that the pattern looks straight and have an extra few inches on all 4 sides to wrap under the bench seat. Cut your fabric to that size.

Check out this post for my favorite fabric finds on Amazon.

Iron or steam your fabric, if needed. Be sure to follow the directions for your type of fabric.

Certain types of loose weaves or delicate fabrics probably shouldn’t be used for this upholstery method.

Be sure to pick an upholstery fabric so that it is thick enough for this how to make a no sew bench seat tutorial.

Make sure the pattern is lined up perfectly before cutting the fabric.

Step Seven – Start Stapling the Fabric to the Board

Place the fabric face down on a flat surface. Flip the seat, with foam and batting attached, over on the fabric.

Line everything up so that the seat is centered on the fabric. Use any patterns in the fabric or weave as a guide.

You want to staple each side, leaving 4″ at each corner alone. We’ll do the corners last.

When you staple the fabric to the board, pull with the same amount of tug all along the seat to prevent an uneven look.

Also, pull straight back to the board, not diagonally. You want the fabric to be tight enough to leave the top smooth and the edges slightly rounded.

How to Make a No Sew Bench Cushion Top for your built in seating, old table, or hard top bench. Here are the easy to follow steps to upholster a board to put on top of hard seating. With a step by step video to show you how.
The Stapling Step – How to Make a No Sew Bench Seat.

Make sure that you use a lot of staples, you don’t really want gaps between them. Gaps will cause extra pull on the stapled parts of the fabric.

The fabric might start to rip if part of it is held in place and others aren’t.

For the corners, I stapled the very center to the corner. Then I folded each sides extra fabric under to create a fold line at each side of the corner.

Then, you can finish stapling the rest of the corner down.

How to Make a No Sew Bench Cushion Top for your built in seating, old table, or hard top bench. Here are the easy to follow steps to upholster a board to put on top of hard seating. With a step by step video to show you how.
Don’t forget to Save this Tutorial on Pinterest.

Step Eight – Finishing Touches

Trim away all excess fabric, you want a smooth bottom before setting the seat on the bench. Use a hammer to set the staples flush with the board.

My low-tech staple gun seems to always leave them just a little bit raised.

That’s it, your seat is done!!!

Flip it over and center it on the bench. Sometimes you can just leave the seat sitting unattached.

Some of you might be able to attach this bench seat with screws from beneath the table top or cabinet top.

You could also try Command 3M Velcro Strips, corner brackets, or adding molding around the seat to keep it from moving.

I’d go with whichever option works best and still leaves it easy for you to change the fabric in a few years, if you want to. 🙂

How to Make a No Sew Bench Cushion Top for your built in seating, old table, or hard top bench. Here are the easy to follow steps to upholster a board to put on top of hard seating. With a step by step video to show you how.

Looking for more furniture build plans? You can find more of my DIY Woodworking and Furniture Projects on my YouTube Channel. Check out the most popular videos on my channel here.

How to Make a No Sew Bench Cushion Top for your built in seating, old table, or hard top bench. Here are the easy to follow steps to upholster a board to put on top of hard seating. With a step by step video to show you how.

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Feeling inspired? Now you’re ready to make your own How to Make a No Sew Bench Seat.

Let me know if you have questions. Don’t forget to sign up for the Abbotts At Home email newsletter to get DIY, Remodeling, and Crafty ideas in your inbox.

Carol

Thursday 7th of May 2020

Oh Stephanie! I love the fabric you chose so much! And this turned out great. You had me at "no sew". Featuring when my link party opens!

Stephanie

Friday 8th of May 2020

That's fantastic! Thanks so much, Carol. :)

Pam

Thursday 7th of May 2020

This looks great. You had me at the words, "no sew." I've featured it today at the TFT link party. Thanks for sharing with us.

Stephanie

Thursday 7th of May 2020

Yay!! Thanks so much, Pam!

wendy robbins

Monday 4th of May 2020

I shared this on my FB. It's a clever idea!

Stephanie

Monday 4th of May 2020

Thanks so much, Wendy! I really appreciate that. :)

Barbara Harper

Monday 4th of May 2020

Oops--I said I was visiting from Senior Salon, but actually it was Hearth and Soul. :-)

Barbara Harper

Monday 4th of May 2020

I'm visiting from #Senior Salon. That turned out nicely! I've thought about making some round cushions for some chairs on our front porch. But they probably need to be the type that can be thrown in the washer since they get dust and pollen and such on them.

Stephanie

Monday 4th of May 2020

Thanks, Barbara. :)

Comments are closed.