Fireplace Seating

Our house has a lovely fireplace, but during the summer what is a fireplace really good for? We have friends over constantly; our house is the go to place for movies, game night, and [somewhat dreadfully] football games. We may need to seat 15 people at a time, and a couch and two chairs just doesn't cut it. So, I opted to put our fireplace to good use and make a padded cushion for the bricks that extend out around the hearth. I even had all the materials on hand to do it!

You'll need construction foam board. This is CHEAP and keeps the project lightweight. Though if you already have some scrap MDF or plywood, use it. Cut the foam board to the right size using a utility knife. You may have to cut on both sides depending on how thick your board is. I had to cut a little notch out of the side that butts up to the fireplace for mine to fit.


Now add a layer of foam, then batting, then fabric on top of your board. Try to avoid seams. When you can't, alternate the seams of your foam and batting so there isn't a big valley of a crease in the middle of your cushion. I had to sew two pieces of fabric together to get a piece big enough for my cushion.

And what, pray tell, will you use to assemble all of these bits together? Duct tape! The foam board doesn't take kindly to staples; they will fall right out. Screws or nails are tricky and will mess up your fabric. So, use duct tape to tape all along the edges. I finished off my short end sides by folding the fabric just like wrapping paper over a present and taping in place. It doesn't look very pretty, but that doesn't matter because it will be on the bottom of your cushion. Your cushion shouldn't slide around on your fireplace, but if it does you could use pieces of velcro to keep it in place.


Sha-zam. Your cushion is ready to go. If you are a super sewer, you could just tape the foam and batting in place and make a big slipcover for your cushion. When finished your cushion is very lightweight and easily portable, so you can store it under a bed or upright in a closet while you're using your fireplace.

This may not be as comfy as a couch, but it certainly makes good use of the space and provides an additional four spots in our living room.