It’s that time of year where you may be dusting off your porch furniture and realizing that it might need a little update. Here is a project that I did at our lake house to replace the worn cushions. I wasn’t able to find any premade cushions that were the right size – believe me, I tried. And if you have read my post on our living room re-do, you know I don’t love to spend a lot on a house we use for just 2 months a year. So here is an affordable way to upholster porch cushions.
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What you will need to upholster porch cushions
The hardest part of this project is cutting the wood. This is where a carpenter husband comes in handy, but if you don’t have one of those, you can always have Home Depot make the cuts for you.
Supplies:
- Plywood cut to the size of your furniture
- Cushion foam – cut to the size of your plywood (I used a serrated knife)
- Adhesive – to attach the foam to wood
- Batting – to cover the foam
- Fabric – see tips below
- Black Dust Cover – optional, I like it to give them a more finished look
TIP – I recommend getting a Sunbrella Fabric if your furniture will get direct sunlight. I found mine in the sale section at a local Fabric Store (Zimman’s if you are in the Boston Area). I also got the foam there.
TIP – Make sure when you measure for the fabric you allow for 5”-8” per side to give you room to pull it over and staple it.
HOW TO UPHOLSTER PORCH CUSHIONS
1. Spray the adhesive on the foam and stick to the woodÂ
2. Layout the batting on a clean surface, and then put the cushion (wood and foam) foam side down onto the batting
3. Pull batting so it is taught and staple with ¼” staples into plywood – take turns from one side to the other to make sure it is tight
4. Cut excess batting off after you are finished stapling
5. Layout your cushion onto the fabric (foam side down)
TIP: Be careful when you cut the fabric (I learned the hard way). I would lay out your fabric and then lay the cushions (wood and foam) on top of them – MAKE SURE that you leave enough room to be able to pull the fabric to the bottom of the wood and staple.
6. Pull the fabric taught over cushion and staple with ½” staples. Alternate sides
7. Finish with covering the bottom of the cushion with a black dust cover to finish off the cushion.
Some benefits of upholstering your porch cushions this way that I learned after the summer were:
- It is forgiving – if you don’t pull it tight enough the first time you can always take it off and retighten it.
- My daughter got a bunch of slime stuck on the finished cushion. I was able to take the fabric off the cushion (pulling out the staples) and then clean it after googling how to remove slime! She got lucky!
Do you have any tips for freshening up porch furniture?
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