Reupholstering Furniture is an Easy DIY Home Improvement ProjectReupholstering dining room chairs is a very easy home improvement project to undertake, and the results give any room an instant face-lift. We had six heavily stained dining room chairs in desperate need of a makeover. The cost of professionally reupholstering the chairs was prohibitive, so I took the plunge and bought upholstery fabric from a local craft and hobby shop. The total cost of reupholstering our six dining room chairs was $65, which included the shipping cost for the special-order fabric. This home improvement project requires no special skills: there is no need to sew, use heavy machinery, or make difficult mathematical calculations. I am not a "crafty" person and have no ability to sew, but I was able to recover all of our dining room chairs with little difficulty. The most difficult part of the process was actually removing the old fabric, which was held down with approximately ten million staples!
The only tools required for this project are scissors, a screwdriver, needle-nose pliers, and a staple gun. An Easy Way to Spruce Up the House Reupholstering: Tools and Fabric RequiredThe following tools are necessary to reupholster dining room chairs: Screwdriver to remove the chair seat (Phillips or flat-head, depending on the type of screws used to hold the chair seat onto the chair). Scissors or utility knife to cut the old fabric off the chair. Needle-nose pliers to remove old staples holding the stained fabric down. High quality upholstery fabric. For six dining room chairs, I required 2 1/2 yards of 54" width home decorating fabric. The fabric must be purchased in whole yards, so I purchased three yards of fabric. Upholstery fabric is sold in rolls, usually with a specified width. The fabric I purchased for my chairs, for example, had a 54" width. This was wide enough to accommodate two chairs. I purchased 3 yards of the 54" fabric to cover six chairs.
To determine how much fabric you will need, simply measure the bottom of each seat and add approximately 6" to the outside edge. This will give you enough material to wrap around the seat and staple it to the bottom of the chair. Choosing New FabricThe white, stained fabric on our dining room chairs was not washable. For our family, finding a cleanable, patterned fabric was a priority. Upholstery fabric should not stretch easily, or the fabric will warp and become loose on the seat over time. Choose a tight weave in a non-stretchy fabric. The pattern on the upholstery fabric matters: solids and random patterns are easier to line up with a chair seat than stripes. Despite the difficulty with aligning striped material, the upholstery fabric I fell in love with had a striped pattern: I simply lined up the fabric carefully with the chair seat and made sure the stripes did not get off-kilter during the process of stapling on the new fabric. Upholstery material is usually a heavy fabric, and may be made from cotton, polyester, vinyl, or other materials.
The "cleanability" of the fabrics will depend on the material: wool will have to be professionally cleaned, for example, while vinyl will be easy to wipe clean with a cloth. I chose a cotton/poly blend that was cleanable with solvents or water based cleaners. The label on the cloth will state how the material should be cleaned: check this label prior to purchasing your cloth. The "cleaning codes" on upholstery fabric are as follows: W: Clean with a water based cleaner. S: Clean with a solvent based cleaner (do not use any water or products containing water). S-W: Clean with water-based or solvent cleaners. X: Do not clean with water-based or solvent cleaners. Upholstering Dining Room Chair Pictures Click thumbnail to view full-size Upholstering a Chair: A Step-By-Step GuideUnscrew the seat of the chair. Remove the screws and set them aside in a safe place. Use scissors or a utility knife to cut away the old fabric. Use a flat-head screwdriver to pry up the old staples if necessary, and needle-nose pliers to pull the old staples out of the wooden seat base.
If the foam of the seat is in poor condition, replace it with new high-density foam. Simply glue to new foam to the wooden seat base. I did not need to do this with our dining room chairs. Cut out a square of upholstery fabric to fit the seat. I cut a square about 4-6" larger than the seat of the chair, to have enough fabric to wrap and staple under the seat. Place the seat cushion and wood base on the fabric, making sure the "right side" of the fabric is facing out. Grab a section of fabric and pull it very tightly: staple one side of the fabric to the wood base. Continue to pull the fabric until it is very taught and staple the fabric once on each side of the chair base to tack the fabric to the seat. Staple the fabric around the edges of the seat, pulling the fabric so that it remains taught. Pull the corners of the fabric in last, trying to create a smooth corner. You may need to cut some of the fabric away to get the best effect. Hold the bunched fabric very tightly and staple it down.
Repeat with each corner. Place the reupholstered seat onto the chair and screw it back into place. Why do you need to reupholster your furniture? My furniture is heavily stained and is not washable. I bought a great flea-market find, but the fabric needs to be replaced. My furniture is out-of-date and needs a more modern look. I changed the color scheme of the room and want the furniture to match the new look.arm chair with exposed frame approximately 2-4 yards upholstery weight fabric, depending on size and complexity of chair sewing machine (may be required for certain chairs) iron and ironing board pneumatic upholstery staple gun 1/4" - 1/2" staples approximately 4-6 yards gimp trim high temperature hot glue gun and glue sticks Using a staple puller/remover, gently remove fabric, staples and trim from chair (Image 1). Wear gloves and protective eyewear during this step. Label each piece of fabric removed with a permanent marker and take notes on how chair was assembled and where each fabric piece was secured (Image 2).
If panels were stitched together, use a seam ripper to separate panels and make notes on how they were attached. Remove padding that would restrict access to frame where fabric needs to be secured. All other padding, webbing and springs can remain in place. Set aside pieces of cardboard, burlap, webbing, padding, etc. that can be reused. Once stripped, go back over frame with staple puller and remove any staples that would interfere with new staples when chair is reassembled (Image 3). Pin removed panels of fabric to new upholstery fabric (Image 1). Make sure both pieces of fabric are facing the same direction, so they are an exact copy, not a mirror image (Image 2). Cut new upholstery fabric to size using the old fabric as a pattern (Image 3). Repeat this process with all panels. If a panel needs to be pieced together on a sewing machine, sew those pieces at this step. Remove pins and old upholstery from each new fabric panel right before using it, so there is no confusion about what piece goes where.
Most chairs should be assembled starting with the inside back, arms and seat. This chair required the back side of chair to be assembled first, followed by the inside back, seat and arms and then outside arms. Secure each panel with one staple to secure it in place and then a staple on each side to make sure panel fits properly and isn't pulled in one direction or another. Make sure staples are in a straight line that can be covered by a piece of gimp trim (Image 1). Staples should be approximated 1/2" apart. Seat backs should always be supported with burlap, cardboard or webbing and padding (Image 2). Tip: Don't try to upholster a chair with an electric or manual staple gun. They are too bulky and not powerful enough for a project like this. When upholstering inside of chair back, spread fabric panel over chair back, making sure fabric pattern is lined up, if necessary. Place one staple at the top to hold panel in place. Tuck fabric through the back of chair frame and gently pull tight (Image 1).
Pull fabric through sides and staple to frame to secure in place (Image 2). Be sure to not pull fabric too tight on one side to make pattern crooked. Once fitted and secured in a few places. Go around panel and insert staples every 1/4" (Image 3). Leave bottom of seat back unstapled until fabric panel for seat is in place. Place seat fabric panel on seat and spread out. If a pattern needs to be lined up with inside of back, make sure it is lined up. Pull seat fabric through sides and back of chair. Once seat is in place, staple to frame. Follow your notes to see where to staple, tuck or fold fabric. Secure all pieces in back of chair to frame. In the case of this chair, the very back panel was stapled over the inside back and seat once those were secured to the frame. Repeat that process with inside arms. Replace any padding that was removed to access frame (Image 1). Staple outside arm panels in place. Tip: Small arm chairs are a great way to use fabric remnants. Use one fabric for the inside panels and another for the outside (Image 2).