Necktie-Covered STOOL

Employ dated ties to redesign a small footstool or bench.

Materials and Tools

• Small stool with wood legs and fabric cushion

• 8 to 10 neckties in coordinating colors

• Paint and paintbrush

• Staple gun and staples

Instructions

1. Paint the legs and sides of the stool. Let dry.

2. Wrap a tie around the cushion where it meets the wood so it covers the edges of the upholstery. (Carolynn’s stool top is about 11 x 11 inches, so she needed only one tie to complete this step.) Staple the thin end of the tie to a back corner of the cushion, and then wrap the rest of the tie completely around the cushion to reach your starting point. Cut off any excess tie and staple the end in place. If the perimeter of your footstool is larger than the length of one tie, more than one tie may be necessary to cover the edges completely. Consider using only the wider parts of multiple ties if the thinner sections of the ties do not fully conceal the cushion edges.

3. Drape the wide end of a tie on top of the cushion, allowing the point to hang over the front. Cut off the excess part of the tie that dangles over the back of the cushion, leaving enough material to overlap the tie that is already affixed to the cushion. Helpful hint: Use this tie as a measurement guide for the remaining ties before stapling it in place.

4. Position several more ties over the cushion to determine the ideal spacing. Trim them all to the same length. Experiment with the amount of overlap to best cover your stool’s shape.

5. Layer the ties across the cushion, stapling in back to secure. Continue until the stool is covered. If a more secure fit is needed, staple each tie near the front edge as well as the back, taking care to hide the staple beneath the overlap of an adjacent tie.