Rejuvenate An Old Round Vanity Bench With Vintage Barkcloth Fabric And Scalamandre Tassels

Gorgeous Shabby Chic Round Vanity Bench That
Looks Great With Vintage Barkcloth And Tassels

Even if you are not handy in the sewing room, you can rejuvenate an old round French vanity bench in a few easy steps.

The beautiful bench shown here was once an ugly ducking and now it is a Shabby Chic powder room delight. But with Cabriole legs and a lovely painted finish in excellent shape, all this bench needed was a fabric re-do! The trick was to find the right fabric that would lay nicely on the bench and allow the floral design to lay centered on the bench.

Meet my Restoration Guru, Pam of Rusty Rose Petals

Pam of Rusty Rose Petals on Etsy is my restoration Guru. She really knows how to transform a outdated tacky bench into a very pretty Shabby Chic vanity bench. With a couple of easy steps, you can change the look of most benches from tired looking to fresh and feminine.

Choosing The Right Fabric

Because this bench is round, it is important to find a fabric with a design that will work well on a round format. The vintage barkcloth chosen here has a large center rose with smaller flowers around it. By cutting the fabric in one large round piece larger than the bench, you will be able to center the design on the vanity bench.

Of course you could also use a fabric with an overall repeat pattern such as checks or small flowers and still create a lovely bench. But this Romantic Cottage Style bench features the lovely rose centerpiece and roses are adored by Romantic Cottage gals.

Tacking Down The Vintage Barkcloth

Pam added her Barkcloth fabric over the existing red velvet cusion (hard to believe). As stated earlier, you must cut out a circle larger thatn the size you need. Then you can use upholstery tacks to fasten the fabric to the bench. Upholstery tacks are very tiny with a very sharp point. These tacks are easy to use with a hammer. You could also use a Staple gun. To keep the fabric laying smoothly, Pam notched her fabric circle with a little triangle cut in about eight different places along the edge of the fabric.

Adding Vintage Scalamandree Tassels

Once the vintage Barkcloth is tacked down, the final step is to cover the tacks with some form of trim. Here pink and white vintage Scalamandre tassels are added with a hot glue gun. By the way, Pam does not suggest using a glue gun for the first step. Upholstery tacks are a better choice for adding the fabric to the bench. If you are not a tassle perosn, you could use a gimp or braided trim .

Visit Pam at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/rustyrosepetals


C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of Iantiqueonline.com an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café.

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