DIY Tufted Bench

ByAbby Lawson August 31, 2023

Learn how to make a DIY tufted bench for your dining room or any other space in your home using beautiful fabric that perfectly matches your style!

DIY Tufted Bench with White Legs and Aqua Paisley Fabric

I’ve always been a fan of pegboards. They’re great for getting organized and keeping things tidy, and they can even help create a beautiful display too! But today, I’m sharing another fun way to use a pegboard– one you may not think of immediately!

Before I start talking about my project, I do have to make a little confession… Well, let me see if you can figure it out. Do you notice anything missing in the following pictures?

a hutch with white and blue dishes behind the dining table

the living room with a couch, chair, and table

You may have never noticed because I try to get “creative” with the camera angles to hide it, but our dining set only has three matching chairs! The set was Donnie’s family’s growing up, and they had built-in benches in their eat-in kitchen, so they only needed three chairs.

Since we now have the set and obviously have four people in our family, poor Connor has always sat on an uncomfortable folding chair. I knew I had to rectify that, so I thought I would make my little guy a cushy bench to sit on instead!

How to Make a DIY Tufted Bench Cushion Step-by-Step

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Supplies You’ll Need

Here’s what we used to make our tufted bench…

Old bench
Paint + brush
Pegboard
Poly foam
Sharpie
Xacto knife
Button Cover Kit
Polyester batting
1 yard of fabric
Spray adhesive
Upholstery thread
Long needle
Staple gun
Drill
Nuts and bolts

I was talking to my sister one day about my plan to make a bench for Con, and she said, “Oh, you can have this old bench from my house! We won’t use it.” Score! Free bench!

1. Paint the bench.

The top was in kind of bad shape, but the bench itself was pretty solid, so I knew I could turn it into something beautiful! I started by painting the bottom of the bench with Behr Marquee’s Cameo White. I knew I was going to be covering the top, so I didn’t bother to paint it.

old bench we are going to make into the tufted bench

That was the easy part– on to the top! I had always wanted to try tufting, but was too nervous to actually go for it. This piece was so small, though, that I figured it would be a great piece to start on.

2. Cut the pegboard to size for the tufted bench.

I had seen many, many tutorials (like this one) where people used a pegboard as the base of their tufting because having the holes already drilled makes it easy to perfectly place the tufts.

It looked easy enough to me, so I snagged a piece of pegboard, had them cut it down to my preferred dimensions at the store, and brought it home to get to work. I started by planning out how I would space the tufts… and obviously I used Hershey’s Kisses to mark my spots. Because chocolate. 🙂

a pegboard on top of the bench with markers to see where the tufts will be

3. Mark the holes in the pegboard.

I circled my selected pegboard holes with Sharpie (1), removing the Kisses so I could eat them, of course. (It actually ended up being helpful to circle the holes from both sides of the pegboard.)

three image collage showing how we marked the pegboard and cut the cushion.

4. Size the cushion and cut the tufting areas.

I had picked up some 2″ poly foam at the store to use as my cushion, so I cut it to the correct size, and then placed my pegboard over it so that I could mark the spots where my tufts would be (2). I then used an X-acto knife to cut holes in the foam at the tufting spots (3).

5. Make the buttons.

Next, I needed to make my buttons. I simply used a small portion of my fabric + the handy dandy little button covering kit that I had picked up at the craft store, and I had created my 8 buttons in just a few minutes.

(Side note– this was my first time making buttons, and I had no idea how easy it was! Must find more button-making projects!)

button making kit and the finished buttons for the bench

6. Assemble the tufted bench.

Before I could put it all together, I had to figure out how we were going to attach the tufted pegboard to the bench. Donnie ended up drilling a few holes in the bench, using the pegboard as a guide, and we put bolts through the pegboard before we tufted, which would eventually fit into the holes in the bench and be secured by nuts from underneath the bench.

With the bolts through the pegboard, I used spray adhesive to attach my piece of foam to the top of the board, and placed my batting and fabric on top of it. From there, I doubled up my upholstery thread on my long needle and stuck it up through one of my tufting holes from the bottom of the pegboard, up through the foam, through the button, and back down through the foam and marked hole on my pegboard.

Then, I pulled the thread as tight as I could while Donnie used the staple gun to staple it in place. We made sure to pull it and staple in all different directions so that it was secure, and then we tied it off.

Bottom of pegboard showing how the tufts are attached

We repeated the process for each of our 8 tufts. Then we just pulled the fabric and batting taut around the edges of our bench and stapled to our hearts’ content to secure it! 🙂 I trimmed off the excess batting and fabric, and we had…

side view of the finished tufted bench with the bottom being white and the top being covered wtih fabric.

…our beautiful bench! I’m so excited that I will no longer have to try to hide the fact that we only have three chairs at our table, lol! And Connor is beyond excited to have a comfy bench of his very own!

DIY Tufted Bench: Final Thoughts

Being a total newbie at the whole tufting thing, I was kind of nervous about how it was going to turn out, but I love it!

our finished tufted bench topped with aqua blue paisley fabric

Want to see the before and after? My favorite part!

before and after photos of a tufted bench

How I love bringing an old, worn out piece back to life! So much better!

I had never made a tufted bench before, but I’m so glad we decided to go for it. We picked up a few new skills and ended up with a custom piece that will grace our home for years to come!

Tufting Bench Cushions: Frequently Asked Questions

While buttons are a traditional way of creating tufting (and probably the easiest), there are a few other methods to use to create a similar effect.

Tie a knot in the thread at the back of the foam or fabric to create a dimple. Start by pushing the needle through the fabric and foam at the desired tufting location. Then, tie a knot in the thread at the back of the foam, pulling it tight to create a dimple on the surface. Repeat this process for each tuft.

Push upholstery nails through the fabric and foam at the desired tufting location, then bend the prongs of the nail back to hold the fabric and foam in place.

A tufting gun is a tool that can be used to create tufting without buttons. This tool shoots a needle and thread through layers of fabric or foam to create tufting. However, this may be a little expensive and not worth the cost if you only need it for one project.

While tufting can be done with a variety of fabrics, some fabrics are better suited than others. The best are those that are durable, have a tight weave, and can hold their shape when pulled taut.

We recommend using upholstery fabric, linen, or leather.

Want to save this post to revisit later? Be sure to pin the image below so you can find it easily!

a DIY tufted bench next to a table with text overlay.

More DIY Projects

Have you ever made anything fun out of pegboard?

Thank you so much for following along! Have a wonderful week!

Abby Lawson at Abby Organizes, justagirlandherblog.com