This weekend is the time change, where we “fall back” and supposedly gain an hour. (Or maybe some of us have just been running an hour short since spring, and this will finally put us right.) If you are wondering how to spend your extra hour, might I suggest a little one-hour project to reupholster your dining room chair seat covers? Now, that might sound a bit fancy, so how about we just say we are going to recover dining chairs? Sounds less intimidating, right? My chairs were last recovered about 15 years ago, well before kids, so it’s definitely past time. Honestly, they are just gross. We eat in our dining room for every meal, so the chairs certainly get used, by all members of the family, even the furry ones. I’ve had the fabric for quite a while now, but I wasn’t sure if it might be a bit too modern against a traditional oak table. But it’s gotten to the point where anything would look better than the stains that are there now! Spoiler alert: I ended up loving the recovered dining chairs.
If you’ve never recovered dining chairs before, this is definitely a beginner project that you can take on with confidence! All you need are a few simple tools: Turn your chair over to get to the screws holding the seat cushion to the frame. Unscrew the old seat cushion. Inspect how the seat cushion is put together. My cushions have already been recovered twice over the original gold velour cover, and all three layers are still there. I decided to leave the gold and blue layers attached, and remove the top white layer. This makes it easy because I can use that layer as a pattern, and I didn’t have to mess with the foam. You can see how I handled a chair seat recovering project where I did have to replace the foam. Removing the layer is where you need the pliers. I cut one pattern, then double checked that there is enough fabric to attach it with about two inches of fabric on each side pulled all around the underside of the cushion. This is a really, really good time to flip your cushion over, lay the cut fabric on it, and double check that the pattern is placed where you want it.
Look for straight lines and any designs that you want centered. And make sure you are using the “right” side of the fabric. Sometimes it’s surprisingly hard to tell. Then I cut the other 5 patterns. Hint: many seat cushions are going to be a trapezoid shape, not a square. Then I took the patterns outside and sprayed an entire can of Scotchgard fabric protector on them. You can get this at Target and just about any grocery store in the cleaning aisle, and the Amazon link above. Keep spraying light coats on each chair seat cover, and then let them dry. This will make the fabric resistant to spills. There is no better place in my house for this kind of protection. By the way, be sure to do this outside, because the overspray will get on everything nearby. It dries almost immediately. I used the entire can to cover 6 chair seats. Work on one chair at a time. Take the cushion off, recover the cushion, and then reattach it. That way each cushion will definitely fit the frame.
Start by making sure you have the right side of the fabric facing outward. Staple the back of the cushion first, where the chair back will meet the cushion. You don’t have to worry about tightening the fabric here. Just make sure it is straight. And don’t staple all the way to the corners. Leave about 2-3 inches unstapled on each corner. Bonus points if you can get the little people in the action. She’s too young to use the staple gun, but she was willing to use the lint brush to clean off the cushion. Just a word about the staple gun. These heavy duty staplers take some muscle to use. I’m kind of a little person, and so I have to use my other hand and all my body weight to push down on the head of the stapler in order to get a well-seated staple. If your staples don’t go all the way in, pull them out with pliers, and try again. The one on the left looks good. The one on the right got pulled and redone. It’s lovely feeling to see a neat row of staples. Then staple one of the sides, starting from the back of the cushion.
Here again, make sure it is straight, and there’s still enough fabric on the two unfinished sides. No need to worry about tightening it just yet. Then move to the opposite side. (You’ll leave the front of the cushion for last.) Here is where you’ll want to start compressing the cushion as you work, pulling the fabric as tight as you can get it. Start from the edge that is already stapled, and work towards the front. This eliminates wrinkles, and makes your job look professional. Finally, work on the front. Pull the fabric as tight as possible, leaving on the cushion to compress the foam, and place one staple in the middle. Then work outward on each side from there. Now it’s time to work on the corners. Use one hand to form the fabric into a little “goblet,” and neatly trim the pointy part off. You don’t want this fabric covering where you’ll be screwing the chair back into the frame. Once trimmed, you should be able to flatten the goblet symmetrically, so there are only two extra layers of fabric to staple down.
Lean into it, and make sure your staples are all the way in.Take your recovered seat cushion back to the dining chair frame and carefully screw it back in, trying to hit the same holes that the screw fit in before you removed it. Admire your clean, refreshed dining room! And then explain to the kiddos how they should do their part, use their napkin, and clean up spills as soon as they happen. Everyone is enjoying the new look. I even got a “whoa” from the kiddos when they came in the room. They liked the new look, which is good, because I did, too! So, not a ton of work or expense, and something that you can definitely do with your #ExtraHour this weekend. Have fun with it, and send me a picture if you do! I blame it on my dad. He is a first-rate bargain hunter. Finding name brand clothes for 75% off. Rummaging through flea market tables. Making things himself to save money. It’s in my genes. I was defenseless I tell you! That’s why I had to reupholster my dining room chairs myself.
It had to be a DIY project. Otherwise, my bargain Craig’s List upholstered dining chairs would not have been the steal I was bragging about. I smashed my finger a time or two. I said a few bad words and then apologized to my children. I didn’t wear makeup or wash my hair for a few days. Yes, I smelled bad (hubby was traveling so I could get away with it and my kids are young enough not to care). In the end, it was worth it. I really am pleased with myself even if my eyes went a little kooky looking at all that buffalo check up close day after day. If you’re a cheapskate too and you’re just aching to tackle a project like this, here’s how I did it: Remove staples and any tacks. I used three tools to remove my staples and tacks. Then I used a combination of a flat head screwdriver and this amazing upholstery staple remover that I bought at a local upholstery supply store. This part of the process was by far my least favorite part.
Whoever originally upholstered these chairs used a million staples. The purchase of my staple remover tool made it so much easier and it was definitely worth the $15 investment! This sort of happens at the same time you remove the staples but sometimes it takes a some ripping and pulling! In my case, there were so many layers and so many staples I only removed the old stuff down to a single layer of fabric on the inside back and the seat of the chair. By this point, I had already removed several layers that included upholstery tacks, hundreds of staples, cording, cardboard pieces and the black fabric on the underside of the chair. Since I was doing several chairs I decided the old remaining layer was going to stay! Use old fabric as a cutting guide for new fabric. IMPORTANT: If you have patterned fabric you must allow extra yardage so the pattern will line up with other fabric pieces on the chair. For example, I first installed the front back of the chair seat (the part were your back rests) and was careful to install the fabric so a main line of the check was centered on the chair.
Then, I installed the seat cushion, carefully matching the pattern to the chair back. I had to cut my pieces larger than the original fabric to accommodate for the pattern on the fabric. Apply new fabric to the chair. I applied the fabric in this order: 1. The inside seat back (the part where your back rests) 2. The seat cushion 3. The back of the back rest (the part you see from the back) It’s important how you staple the fabric on. (In my case, I needed to keep the checks straight and make sure they weren’t going on at an angle.) Carefully staple the fabric on to the seat back beginning at the top with a single staple in the middle, then pulling and smoothing and stapling the middle sides. Follow this same process for both the inside seat back and the seat cushion. I’ve numbered the pictures below so you can see in what order I did my stapling: After you have filled in and have a whole bunch of staples, inspect your work! Then, trim off any excess fabric.
I trimmed mine so there was about an inch or so beyond the staples. Apply fabric to the chair back. (My little photography helper wasn’t around when I did this part so my photos show after the chair was complete.) This part is installed a little differently than the rest of the chair because you must fold under the edges to give it a nice crisp edge. You could also use cording here, but I didn’t want to add to the cost and I thought it looked nice without it. You must also carefully place your staples in a line so that the upholstery tacks will cover them up when you’re finished. This part is not difficult, it just takes a little patience. Using T- pins (what I called upholstery pins in the photo) really help keep the fabric in place when you first get started. Install the finishing touches — upholstery tacks. I was able to re-use the strands of upholstery tacks that were previously on the chair saving myself a bundle. I did, however, have to buy new individual tacks to re-install them.