Last week I laid the foundation of upholstering a panel for a system. This week I got to actually adding the fabric and installing it. I have to tell you – lessons were learned.

Once you have your backing piece finished, the upholstery part isn’t terribly difficult. You will need a staple gun, batting (available at craft stores), your fabric, some good scissors, a utility knife, and spray adhesive/mastic (I like 3M Super 77 or Hi-Strength 90, but any similar product should work).

The next step is to cut out the batting. I used two layers because my batting was thin. The batting gives the panel a bit of padding. Without it, your results will be a bit lack luster and contain hard to remove wrinkles. How much padding you want is up to you, but if you want more than an inch, you will want to use a foam insert between the batting and backing board.

Measuring out the fabric has an important caveat. I’m leaving about an inch all the way around. This extra material will be used to attach the fabric to the backing piece. Don’t cut out the hole (if you have one) just yet.