How to upholster a box

Upholster a box to create a foot stool – Helen Adams tells you how.

You will need
Box (ours is an Apa storage box from Ikea) upholstery fabric, foam pad (we used a pad 2 inches thick), staple gun, tape measure, ribbon, dressmakers’ chalk, paint brush, fabric scissors, primer, white acrylic paint.

Step by step guide

1. Assemble the box. Apply primer then paint the bare timber edges. 
2. Iron and lay the fabric on a flat surface. Draw around the foam pad using the dressmakers’ chalk, and then draw another line 9cm from the first line, to give enough fabric to cover the foam. Cut out this piece of fabric. Lay the foam and lid of the box on top of the cut piece of fabric, using the inner line as a marker. To ensure no foam is visible when the footstool is finished, you need to cut a rectangular shape from each corner of the fabric. This can be achieved by making one cut in line and to the edge of the foam, and a second cut 1cm away from the foam, leave a small flap of fabric at each corner.  
3. To staple the fabric to the lid, pull the fabric tight and staple it to the lid, work out from the centre, and ensuring the fabric remains taut. Start with the two long sides then do the shorter sides, leaving the corner sections unattached. 
4. For the corners, fold the flap of fabric around the foam, then pull up the second piece of fabric and staple into position. Repeat with the remaining three corners. 
5. Take a length of ribbon and staple in each corner, to hide the edges of the fabric and give you a neat finish.

Styling & words: Helen Adams.