User ReviewedHow to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat A high-impact way to improve or change the look of any chair with a removable seat is to recover the seat fabric. Whether you have pets and children, or just love to recycle old furniture, you'll appreciate this quick refurbishing technique. Unscrew the seat from the bottom of the chair. Remove the existing upholstery. Measure the width, length, and depth of the seat. Place the fabric wrong-side up on a flat surface. Trim the fabric so that there is enough all the way around to fold over the edge. Fold a flap of fabric along the straightest side and staple from the center working toward the corners. Repeat with the opposite side of the seat.under Continue along the sides, still tugging firmly to make sure the fabric is tight over the top of the seat. Point the corner towards the center of the seat (along the diagonal). Fold one side down so that the folded edge runs along the diagonal.
Fold the other side down in the same manner so that you now have a pleat along the diagonal. Trim any excess cloth. Stain protect the seats.outside Return seat to the chair and screw the base back in. Show more unanswered questions How to easily reupholster a chair video tutorial As you're stapling, take care not to block the screw holes with lots of fabric or staples. You can go through one layer of fabric easily, but staples are a problem. Old blankets that are no longer used can make a good batting for chair seats. A power stapler or staple gun is best for this task. A desk stapler won't be strong enough to penetrate the wood. You may wish to line tape the edges to prevent fraying of the cloth. Buy extra fabric so you'll have some left over to make matching place mats, runners, or cushions to coordinate. To really tidy the underside up cut a piece of calico or lining material the same size as the underside of the seat make a 1 inch hem all around and staple this over base of the chair, so no fraying or unsightly wood can be seen.
Alternative stapling approach: Start with a single staple in the middle of each left side (doing opposite sides first) and then add two staples (moving outward) on each side, rotating each time. This may help keep the stretch consistent across the edges of the chair, as inconsistent stretch is more likely to be a problem when stapling a whole side at once.If you have worn-out chair seats, you can easily re-cover them. Just pull a few staples and start over. Reupholstering is a great way to bring tired-looking chairs—even tired-looking rooms—back to life. The materials are relatively inexpensive, the tools are simple and it’s a project almost anyone can If you have worn-out chair seats, you can easily re-cover them. By the DIY experts of The Family Handyman Magazine Step 1: Chairs are not all created—or upholstered—equally Here we’ll show you how to reupholster a chair with a “drop-in” or “screw-on” seat—a style shared by many benches
Seat bases can be constructed from a variety of materials: solid wood, plywood, pegboard and others. are normally screwed on but can also be glued on or dropped in. can be foam, cotton or other natural Which stapler works best? All the staplers shown will do the trick. The question is: How hard do you want to work—and squeeze—to “do the trick”? Your stapler buying decision may also hinge on a few other factors, including how often you’ll use it, what else you might use it for—and whether you need a good excuse to buy an air compressor. It will give your hand a workout, and you may have to occasionally use a hammer to drive the staples all the way in, but you can still get good results. hold the nose of the stapler firmly against the seat base when you pull the trigger. Cost: $15 to $30 We used one for our project and itYou still need to firmly press the nose against the fabric and plywood to get a well-seated
staple—but it’s way easier on the hand. As a bonus, some models also shoot 3/4-in. and shorter brad nails. Cost: $25 to $75 If you’re going to be stapling for hours on end, invest in a pneumatic stapler. These drive the staples flush with the pull of a finger and allow you to be extremely accurate in the placement ofSome tools also drive brad nails up to 1-1/4 in. Cost: $40 to $150 (plus air compressor) Step 2: Round up your materials When you shop, buy “upholstery grade” fabric for its strength and stain resistance. Fabric prices vary wildly; might find something for $5 in the bargain bin or spend 10 times as much. bought our fabric, foam and batting at aFor the dust cover, we used landscape fabric from a home center. Step 3: Remove the old and get ready for the new If you’re re-covering more than one chair, number each chair and seat; way, the screw holes will line up properly
when you reinstall the seats. are special tools just for yanking upholstery staples or tacks, but you can get by with basic hand tools (Photo 1). dull side cutters are perfect. staples well but don’t cut them off. Remove the padding and inspect theIf the wood base seems solid, reuseIf it’s cracked, use it as a template to make a new one (Photo 2). sander to taper the edges to match the profile of the old one. Plop the seat on top of the foam and outline it with aUse a serrated bread knife (Photo 3) to cut just inside the line. Step 4: Install the new fabric Place a section of batting—4 in. wider in all directions than the size of your chair seat—on a flat work surface, then set your foam and seat on top. Lightly stretch the batting and drive one staple (Photo 4) along each edge. Flip the seat over, then center your material on top (Photo 5). the material so you’ll be able to
wrap it up onto the chair bottom at least 4 in. in each direction. seat facing up and the front edge overhanging the work surface, drive one staple through the bottom to hold the material in place. the seat 180 degrees, then tack the back the same way. Check your pattern alignment one more time, then flip the seat upsideStarting at the front middle staple and working toward the corners, use the palm of your hand to lightly stretch the material, then drive a staple every 2 in. (Photo 6). staples within an inch of the edge, and secure the batting and fabric at theUse your entire hand, not just fingertips, to tighten the material. This way you’ll avoid little dips and puckers in the pattern. Repeatedly flip the seat over to check the pattern forit’s easier to keep flipping and checking than to go back and pull staples. Our expert flipped the seat over and checked the pattern a dozen times while