Do-It-Yourself Padded Bench

When we moved into our home we had two built-in benches.  One in the den, a window seat, and one in the laundry/mud room.  I always wanted to add cushions to make the areas look more inviting. So... I did a little research and bought a few supplies and made two pads for my built-in benches. They look awesome and so much more warm and inviting.
You'll need 1 piece of particle board, foam pad, quilt batting, fabric of choice, staple gun, and lots of staples. I got my pad at Fred Meyer/Kroger.  It is actually a camping pad but it was MUCH cheaper than buying a pad by the yard at Joann's...fyi.  

Have the nice men at Lowe's cut your particle board (the cheapest "wood" you can get) to the size of your bench.  They will cut your board for free.  Be sure to take the remnants home with you for other projects.  Lay your cut board on your foam pad and draw a line around it.
 This is where you need to cut.  I (my husband) just used all-purpose scissors.  The pad was easy to cut.  It doesn't have to be perfect because the pad will be wrapped.
 Now assemble the pad and board with the board on the bottom so you can spread the batting over it...then one, two, three flip the batting, pad and board.
 So it looks like this.  The batting needs to be about double the width of your board. 
 Start pulling the batting tight around the pad/board (so it looks more rounded and not square)...then start stapling.  Don't be shy.  Use staples every 4 to 6 inches or so.
 Do the same on the other side.
 Cut off excess batting.
 Cut off extra batting at the ends.  Make sure you have enough to wrap pad/board like a gift.
 Staple, staple, staple.
 Cut off excess.
 Now do the same thing with your fabric.  Lay the fabric out and put the pad on top.  With stripes you need to make sure they are straight and not pulling in any way.  Then staple, staple, staple.  Can you believe I got this fabric for about $3.50 per yard?!  I did...at Walmart.  When I saw it angels sang and I knew it would look perfect with the rug in my laundry room. 
 Give the end a nice fold and staple it down.
 Then wrap the ends like a gift.
  This time, trim off the excess fabric and give it an extra fold under before you staple it so it will look finished.  Notice the staples are really close.
 
  Now place the finished pad on your bench.  I'm loving it.  
Looks like I need to tackle the baskets now!
It's so cozy.
This is the pad in my den.  I loved the fabric but it cost $50 a yard (I got it for $25 with my coupon at Joann's)  so make sure you love your fabric choice because it could get spendy.

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