Protect Your Counter Top & Furniture Surfaces! [2 minute felt padding DIY]
Have you ever experienced decor-dismay when you discover scratches and damage to your nice tabletop or furniture because something with a rough edge had been placed on it without a protective layer?
You realize every time it was even slightly moved, it was slowly etching itself into your countertop until you finally discovered it? I have, and in fact, I’ve had this happen twice in the past month - one from scratching and one from water damage, and both were totally preventable.
I keep a small arsenal of prophylactic protective materials for this purpose in a few colors, sizes, and materials, but those items need to be put to use to work. (see pic below and get your mind out of the gutter. :)
I actually have the better part of a drawer devoted to these handy furniture surface-protecting felt and silicone adhesive pads.
I just got a marble kitchen island, and I want to keep the surface unscratched as much as possible. (Marble is soft and porous compared to some other countertop surfaces such as granite and Silestone, so I also know it probably won’t stay perfect, and when that happens, I’ll just have to call it “patina” and move on.)
The thing is, some items like the bowl above can be awkward for using with a typical round felt pad. It has a narrow and circular lip that sits above the actual base, so that rough edge is what touches the countertop and needs a protective pad.
My first thought was use the tiny clear silicone pads. (see middle-right of drawer image above) They can be quite useful
1) because they are small and clear so they fit (sort of) well enough on the lip and disappear and
2) because they won’t stay wet long if the object is washed.
The problem is, if the object is moved at all, they aren’t a great choice because they don’t slide. They also tend to come loose if moved much.
The fruit bowl I keep on top of the island has a rough, unglazed, ceramic lip, and it gets pushed around a lot when I use the island. I tried the small silicone pads, but they won’t slide and popped off almost immediately.
I then thought of the large felt pieces that came in the felt pad variety pack from Amazon a few months back. I usually use them on larger pieces of furniture like the feet of chairs, but I decided to try using it to make a quick template for my bowl:
Trace a line around the bowl’s base on the wax-paper side of the pad
Cut about 3 pieces out on either side of the trace that are approx. the width of the bowl’s edge.
Firmly stick the adhesive side of the protective pad to the edge on the underside of the object. Make sure it thorough dries if it ever gets wet before placing it back on the furniture surface or countertop.
What you need:
Felt adhesive furniture pad
Pencil
Time:
2 minutes
Directions:
Choose a felt pad close in color as the object. (I know, choices may be limited here.) Place the felt pad upside down and place the object on top. Take a sharp pencil and trace an outline around the base.
Cut out about three along the outline of your tracing on either side of the pencil-lines. It doesn’t have to be perfect - just cut them out!
Remove the wax paper to expose the adhesive and firmly attach to the bottom of your object.
Voila! Your surface is discretely protected.
The really thin, soft felt pad sheets would be even better for this, but the only color I had was black - not a great choice to be sandwiched between white marble and a white bowl.
The other caveat is to be careful when you wash the bowl/irregular-shaped object and the bottom gets wet. Leave it up-side-down or on its side until the pads are thoroughly dry before placing it back on the surface you’re trying to protect.
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