So I loved my Craigslist Remix mockup so much that I had to have these DIY Leather Strap benches in my life. I tried to keep my version close to the Katy Skelton Safari Bench while playing up the darker shade of wood on my Craigslist find. Keep reading to see how you can make these for yourself!
Final DIY Leather Strap Benches:
A reminder of where we started:
I rounded up a bunch of bench options at the end of the post if you want to make your own DIY leather strap benches!
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How it all went down
I unscrewed the cushion from the frame
Under the pink fabric was this retro green, white and pink pattern:
Looking at that photo now, I should have kept the fabric to make some vintagey little pouches, but I threw it away. After pulling all the fabric off, I was left with the cushion foam.
I tried to wrap the cushion with the fabric in one piece(by folding under the corners), but it wasn’t working well on the curves, so I enlisted the help of my trusty seamstress/mother to sew a curved seam on the edges like the original fabric.
When I tested out the leather straps to measure the length, they left a small mark on the fabric, so I sprayed the fabric with Scotchguard and the leather with an aerosol waterproofing spray(you can get this at DSW if you don’t want to wait for shipping) to help keep the color from leaking. I prefer to use aerosol spray vs. the non-aerosol sprays for most projects, and shoes, because I think it leaves a more even finish. The non-aerosol sprays tend to leave spritz marks on the material and I’m never sure they are going to fade away uniformly.
I used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the bottom of the seat and screwed the cushion back on the frame. After that, it was time to add the leather straps. I shoved the leather through the strap slots and stapled it in place. If you are trying this with one of the benches at the end of the post and don’t have a bench with strap slots, you would measure your leather to wrap over the cushion and staple each end to the underside. Voila:
Slide to see the final before + after:
All about that $$$:
These were listed on Craigslist at $75 for the sofa table + two benches, but I paid $50. The leather was about $35 and the fabric was $15
Total: $100
Make your own DIY leather strap benches with a new bench:
If you don’t stumble across some cool benches on Craigslist, I think you could get a similar look by wrapping either of these benches with the leather strips and staple gunning them to the underside. You wouldn’t even need to recover the cushions since these are neutral colors!
First: Alpharetta Upholstered Storage Bench
Second: Simpli Home Milltown Small Upholstered Bench
And if those aren’t your style, here are a ton more benches that would look sweet with leather straps:
My Supplies:
Linen Fabric P/K Lifestyles Upholstery Fabric-Bentley Twill Cream
Leather Strap Options:
1-3/4″ x 84″ VINTAGE TAN OIL TANNED Leather Strip 5-6oz
1-3/4″ x 96″ VINTAGE TAN OIL TANNED Leather Strip 5-6oz – I used this but it has been sold out lately
Springfield Leather Company Burgundy Latigo Leather Strip 1-3/4″x72″
Thoughts?
- Do you love it? I love it. George (the cat) clearly loves it.
