How to slipcover a cedar chest with glue gun and staples…

I had every intention of painting my cedar chest, until I realized that was a bigger project than I wanted to take on.  (You can see that before I decided to paint it I had filled in the engraved hearts with wood filler.)  Instead, I decided to “slipcover” it. 

The only materials needed for this project are:
fabric, fabric scissors, a glue gun, and a staple gun

First, I measured the top and the sides to estimate how much fabric I would need, and then I headed to the fabric store to pick some out.  My cedar chest has padding on top similar to an upholstered chair.  I did the same thing that I would do for an upholstered chair.  I looked underneath the lid to find the 4 screws holding the seat cushion in place.  I unscrewed them and took the cushion off.  I laid my new  fabric down on the floor and set the cushion on top of it.  Allowing enough fabric to fold around the cushion, I cut it out.  Then I stapled the new fabric all around the underside of the cushion, and screwed it back to the chest.

 



I cut two six inch wide strips of fabric to cover the front corners of the chest. (See the one on the left there that I pulled toward my camera bag)  Those two strips form the underside of the “box pleat”.  The actual length depends on how all your cedar chest is, plus you will want to add an inch or two.  I took one strip, folded each long edge in about 1/2 “ to the underside of the fabric, and hot glued it down all along the edge.  I also did the same on the bottom of the strip that touches the floor.  Do the same for the other long strip.  Then, center each one along the front corner edges of the chest, and hot glue or staple it to the inside of the cedar chest.





Next, measure and cut a front panel and two side panels and do the same thing.  Be sure to center and overlap them over the two longer “box pleats”.  You can glue them to the inside of the cedar chest or staple them.  Notice that I had to cut a small crescent shape into the fabric below for the latch to fit into when the lid was closed.



  

 
 
That’s all there is to it!