How to Cover a Table Top in Oil Cloth

More oilcloth... I love the stuff.

As it will be a while until we'll get the new MDF desk built in the boat room I decided to put the old table back in there for the time being. It's actually the kitchen table which the previous family of four in this house ate their dinners at. The top can be made bigger by pulling at the ends and inserting two pieces which were stored underneath.

Martin has started to use the boatroom as his computer room and needs the extra bit of space but I didn't feel like prepping and painting the top as it will only be a temporary thing.

Also didn't want to have the unpainted bit in the middle showing so I opted to cover the whole thing with some left over oilcloth.

 

 

I used batting to even out the surface. Simply cut around with enough hanging over to allow for it to be stapled to the under side.

 

Once everything was stapled in place I popped the oilcloth on top and again stapled in place. I always put one staple in at the middle on one side, then the next one on the oppisite side, pulling just a little bit to ensure it's taught. Then I put a staple in the middle of the third side and one on the forth. After that I staple the rest of the sides at regular intervals.

When I reach a corner, I fold the oil cloth in and pull down and staple along the edge. Then I trim off the excess.

The surface will be a tittle bit pouffy to begin with because of the batting but that settles down when you start using it.

After we've built the new desk this table can enjoy it's fourth life (we used it as a small desk in front of the window in the hallway where the green bench is before we built the bench and the home office) in the storage room where I often need a space to sort my boxes.

Comments

[Cathie]

awesome!
thanks for sharing!
can't wait to see all of the boat room!

[Melissa of {craftgasm}]

I wouldn't have thought of the batting, but now that you've described it as evening out an uneven surface, it makes perfect sense. Thanks for the tip!

[Briana]

Cool. I have an ugly industrial plastic table from target that could use a pretty oilcloth cover. Any other ideas for affixing the oilcloth on, since I probably can't staple it into the plastic? Hmmm.

[Carlos]

Briana, what about duck taping it to the underside? Btw, is it duck as in quack or is it duct as in ...duct...?

[Karen]

Neat idea that batting. And I believe it is duct. I have lots of radiators in my house, always thought I shouldn't put anything in front of them and I can't afford radiator covers at the moment. I like the idea of a table in front of them....would keep your tootsies warm too!

[Rachel]

Wow, it looks great! Some fabulous tips too-the batting is a great idea. I'll be linking.

[Lindzi]

How clever, handy and very pretty!

[Ksenia in Canada]

So about your oilcloth. Do you use fabric-backed vinyl, or vinyl with no fabric backing? There doesn't seem to be much fabric-back vinyl available at my local fabric store, and they don't seem to call anything oilcloth.

[Carlos]

Ksenia, it is a fabric backed vinyl. Here's a link with loads of cute and fu ones and solid white too :) http://www.denverfabrics.com/search/search.aspx?keywords=oil+cloth+white

[tiina]

Benita, ni har fantastiskt fint hemma! Otroligt bra öga för färg och dekorering. Tack för all inspiration!

[Ann]

Jag håller med Tiina - man blir otroligt inspirerad av att läsa din blogg.

[Carlos]

Tack, vad gulliga ni är!

[Ksenia in Canada]

Thanks Benita!

[kim]

hi benita,
i love the table cover as well and have used the stuff to cover old but loved kitchen chairs. i'm admiring the very square ticking covered poof next to the table... love love love. did you construct that? i enjoy your daily posts, thanks!

[Carlos]

kim, you can read about it here http://chezlarsson.typepad.com/myblog/2008/09/cube-stool-how-to.html Enjoy!

[Sherry]

Loving this tutorial! Loving this site! You're totally bookmarked, baby.

xo,
Sherry (& John)
www.thisyounghouse.com

[Franziska]

thank you for sharing this how-to. Beside the way the table turned out I also really like the white baskets. But I told you this before... ;) I still didn't find them here but keep on searching for them.
Hälsningar!

[Janna-Jo Phillips]

Lovely job! I know this is an older post by I was on a website that I thought would help fuel your oilcloth obsession.

http://store.txtlart.com/

Just scroll down on the left hand side to the search icon and search for oilcloth. I love Marimekko's Pienet Kivet in green. Not cheap, but lovely.

[Eternal*Voyageur @ Venusian*Glow]

DOu you think this would be practical for a kitchen table ? i mean, would it be easy to clean ?