Mr Formica Table meet Ms Marimekko

There was a reason I picked this project first.  It appeared, at first glance, to be a relatively straightforward task. However, once I got started, it did present a few challenges which I will explain shortly.

Firstly, I want to talk about the fabric.  Have I mentioned that I love fabric?  I just adore this Marimekko print.  I love red, so it was always going to feature somewhere in my projects and the small scale poppies are perfect for using on such a small area.  It is also an oilcloth so should handle the occasional spill.  Which should be the middle name of all of my children. Along with Calamitous and Quietly Destructive.

Now, back to the problems I encountered.  The first one was how to treat the curved corners on the table.  The online upholstering tutorials that I viewed showed the instructor pleating the fabric at regular intervals around a curved edge and stapling the fabric to the underside, which would be fine except I wanted this table to have a neat finish from every angle not just from the top view.

I spent a fair bit of time trying different ways of folding the fabric around the edges and none of them were entirely satisfactory, but I did eventually settle upon just tucking one edge of overlapping fabric underneath the top flap in a sort of envelope style.  The curved edges of the table look less rounded as a result, but the fabric underneath looks tidy so I think I can live with that.

Instead of using a staple gun, I opted for some stainless steel studs. These required some gentle persuasion with the mallet and this is where I encountered my second problem. With each tap of the hammer, small pieces of wood would dislodge and get trapped between the layer of fabric and the table top.  And lumpy, bumpy table tops just won't do.  So, much of the time for this project was spent lifting up one edge of the unsecured fabric and rummaging around for the wood particle with my hand (very technical) and praying to the Patron Saint of Annoying Wood Splinters for a smooth finish when it came time to secure the final stud.

Then it was just a case of rescrewing the metal frame to the table and that's it.  Job done.

Degree of difficulty: At Least One Braincell Required
Time taken: 1.5 hours
Result: Love it.