IKEA Hack Upholstered Bench

This is an easy DIY hack using the popular IKEA Skogsta wooden bench. This turns the bench into a beautiful upholstered bench that will work well in any room of your home.

The IKEA Skogsta bench is a beautiful wooden bench, and the perfect bench for any room of your home. I have a Skogsta bench in my laundry/utility room for much needed storage, and I also have one in my bedroom!

I upholstered the Skogsta bench that I have in my bedroom, and it is this DIY hack of that bench that I am bringing to you today!  It is a really easy DIY project, that creates a really pretty and useful bench.

You can easily do this DIY project in just a few hours.  It really doesn’t take a lot of skill – you just need to be able to cut fabric and use a staple gun!

I think the Skogsta bench looks pretty enough in its natural state.  It is a beautiful shade of wood, well actually the wood is several different shades in color, which makes it look more interesting and unique. 

But if you plan on using the bench in a room such a bedroom, you will want it to be a little more comfortable and possibly prettier looking, and this is what this hack will do.

The great thing about upholstering this bench is that you can choose any fabric that matches your existing decor. You can choose a plain fabric, a patterned fabric, pretty much any fabric that you want.

I got the fabric I used for this DIY project from Spoonflower. They really do have an amazing range of fabrics to choose from. In fact there are just too many to choose from!

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Supplies Needed for the Upholstered Bench

IKEA Skogsta wooden bench 

1 inch foam padding (I used this mattress topper)

Fabric for padding (I used quilt batting for this)

Lining fabric – about 1.5 yards

Fabric of your choice – about 1.5 yards

Staple Gun

A Note about the Supplies Needed

The Skogsta wooden bench is sold in all IKEA stores and online also. If you want to use a different wooden bench, you could choose one of the other wooden benches that IKEA sells, such as the Norraker wooden bench. 

Skogsta Bench

The foam padding only needs to be an inch thick. For this I actually used a foam mattress topper, as I had some left over from the DIY Upholstered Headboard that I made recently.  But any 1 inch foam will work well for this project.

The padding fabric is to add a bit more padding to the bench.  I used this quilt batting for this purpose.

The lining fabric is really any fabric that will add a little padding to the bench.  If you are already using a very thick fabric for your main fabric, you may not need this. The fabric I used was very thin, so I felt I needed another fabric to add on to that. You can also use the padding fabric for this.

Related: IKEA Hacks that you can do in a Weekend!

How to make the Upholstered Bench

Note: There are two ways that you can do this DIY project. I already had the bench made up, so I did this project using the already assembled Skogsta bench. I just turned the bench over, and stapled onto the underside of the bench top.

But if your bench is not yet assembled, you could do this DIY to the top of the bench first, and then attach the legs as the last part of assembly needed for the bench.

I didn’t have any issues doing this DIY hack with the bench already assembled. But if you are purchasing a new bench for this hack, you may want to do the DIY first, then attach the legs.

Step One:

Cut the piece of foam padding to be about an inch wider that the total measurements of the top of the bench.

Step Two:

Measure and cut the padding fabric. As I mentioned previously, I used quilt batting for this padding fabric.  Allow about an extra 3 inches all around with the fabric when you cut it, on top of the measurements needed. You are going to be pulling this fabric down and securing it, so you need extra fabric in order to do this.

Step Three:

Cut out your liner fabric (which can also be your padding fabric), and also your main fabric. Allow an extra 3 inches all around on top of the measurements actually needed.

Step Four:

Place the foam padding on top of the bench.  Make sure it is placed accurately on top of the bench. There should be about an inch of room of padding on each side.

Step Five:

Place the padding fabric over the top of the foam padding.  Again make sure it is accurately placed. You need about 3 inches (which you should have cut) of room on each side. Smooth out the fabric as much as possible over the top of the foam padding.

Step Six:

Pull down the edges of the padding fabric, and secure with a staple gun on the underside of the bench top. Staple all around until this piece is secure.

Step Seven:

Once you have secured the padding fabric all around, place the liner fabric (if you are using it) and your main fabric on top.  Make sure it is accurately placed, with the spare inches needed all around (you should have cut about 3 spare inches all around). Smooth out the fabric as much as possible.

Step Eight:

Now you are going to pull down and secure the liner and main fabric. With your staple gun, staple the fabric securely underneath the top of the bench. Work around the entire underside of the bench top, securing all fabric in place with staples.

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Once all the fabric is secured, turn your bench over.  You will now have a beautiful upholstered bench to use in any room of your home! Pretty enough to use in a living room or bedroom, and versatile enough to use absolutely anywhere.

This upholstered bench would also make a lovely comfortable seating bench for dining.  Upholster a couple of these benches and place around your kitchen or dining table.

I hope that you enjoyed this DIY IKEA Hack of a pretty upholstered bench! Don’t forget to check out all our other IKEA hacks on the website!

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This is an easy DIY hack using the popular IKEA Skogsta wooden bench. This turns the bench into a beautiful upholstered bench that will work well in any room of your home.