Opening this email from Emma and seeing these photos was an emotional rollercoaster: stunned by how awesomely cool this table and chairs look, despair that she or her husband is a world-renowned painter and we could never replicate this ourselves, relief and joy that indeed we could do this ourselves!
Emma lives in Sydney and bought the Latt table and chair set from Ikea for her 2-year-old, Isaac. As many of us know, the Latt is affordable and functional, but somewhat boring. So Emma and her husband transformed it into something that makes you say, "wow!" Emma gives us the lowdown:
I bought the Ikea Annamoa fabric and cut it to fit the table tob and chair tops; then had my husband cut pieces of clear perspex to fit over each piece. It's much more easy to clean, and is removable so I can change up the fabric (or place art underneath) in the future.
The blue Annamoa fabric ($8/yard) is a big part of the wow-factor here and is part of a collection of five similar, but different designs and colors. Also, we're not familiar with perspex, but believe it's the same as or similar to plexiglass (can anyone confirm that?)
Thanks Emma for sharing your terrific vision of the Latt - we're predicting a run on this fabulous fabric!
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yes, perspex is the same as plexiglass
Ooh, I adore this! Grand idea.
I can't believe this, I was just searching for laminate fabric to cover my kids' latt table and chair set and then came across this post! How difficult is it to cut the plexiglass? It looks like the corners would need to be notched.
I love this. Absolutely love it.
I love that line of fabric. Thanks for sharing another fun thing to do with it--I still haven't decided.
Wow, I've had the Latt go through 2 girls, the older being 5-years-old now and although I've often thought about painting it, I am opening my mind up to the fabric and plexiglass idea!
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I can't wait to try this with a couple of other items since we don't have cool kid stuff here. I've never worked with plexiglass, I've worked with acrylic before when I was working at a frameshop. There are ways to cut it, easier at the shop though... they should be able to cut it free, but you can also score the piece and then snap it. It's not too difficult, you just have to make sure you score it well and with a tool made FOR it so you don't get any extra edges :)
You can get plexiglass cut at any glass store, just give them the dimensions should be pretty cheap, maybe under $25 for all pieces. We had some cut for the oven door to my daughter's kitchen and we just asked them to dull the edges a bit. Also with the right bit on your drill and applying the right pressure plexi glass is like butter to drill through so you could also drill the pieces down to hold the fabric down better.
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Amazing...i too have this table and chair for my son and it is indeed boring and he has scribbled all over - i was debating between getting soemthing new or re-doing the Latt....but after seeing this post - definitely redoing the latt - so any idea how i can paint the wooden part?
You can also get plexiglass cut at Home Depot or Lowes.
You did a great job!
I was thinking of getting rid of my chair and table. I love this idea to freshen it up!
What a fantastic idea! I think I just found our new 'train' table. Brilliant!
i absolutely love this!
i'm assuming the wood on the latt table has some sort of clear coat on it and am curious as to the process of painting. did you sand and prime the surface before painting? did you use oil or latex paint?
thanks so much for the fantastic idea.
I loved this idea so much, I bought the Latt table with the purpose to customize it this way. I love the result : http://www.flickr.com/photos/32936332@N03/4601441475/in/photostream/ (and my son loves the cars from the fabric :) )
Does anyone know the dimensions of the Latt table? They aren't on the IKEA site for some reason. Thanks!
kitjule - I just emailed IKEA to ask about the dimensions of the Latt. The table is 17.9"h x 24"w x 18.1"d.
I've been having trouble finding this set at my IKEA. Online stock info (for whatever that's worth) says it's out at most stores. I settled for the Svala and think I'll have to chop the legs off a little.
When I bought the Latt I sanded and painted the parts with a paint that had the primer mixed in already. I did two coats of bright red paint and it came out great! Also this was the first time I ever painted anything so if I could do you it you can too!
Did you need to widen the slits on the inside of the table to get the plexiglass to fit? Just wondering as the white top just fits into the slits now so I didn't get how it would all go back together.