Monday, February 28, 2011

Dining Chair Reupholster

So, you remember the whole dining chair journey I've been on? Well it's finally come to an end! I reupholstered the chairs this weekend and I think they turned out great. Here they are before:



This is the fabric I decided on Maharam Droplet in color Willow. It's stain resistant perfect for our dining room.


The whole process is pretty easy, anyone can do this! All you need is a flat head screw driver, scissors, and a staple gun.

I started by taking the seats off the chairs using the screw driver. I was a little concerned about how I was going to cover the upwards curve of these seats but after I got started it wasn't so bad.




These chairs had so many staples!!!!!!!!!! It was never ending.


Of course it's not so bad when you have someone helping you.



Check out the psychedelic fabric underneath! 






Anyway after I got all the staples pulled out and the fabric peeled off I traced the original covers onto my new fabric to ensure a perfect fit.



Then cut them all out.


A couple of the chairs were loose around the joints, so I used some wood glue to refasten them. This made them ultra sturdy.



After dripping pasting some of the glue into the crevices with a small paint brush I wiped it clean with a paper towel.


Then is was staple gun time! I used 1/4" staples, the smallest ones my staple gun would take.


I started by stapling the center of the four sides first, pulling tight each time. Then finished it off stapling the the rest of the fabric down. 




I folded the corners in on each other to clean them up.



If you want a more detailed tutorial on how to do this check out this video. They used new foam for the seat but the foam on my chairs was in good shape so I just reused it.

After that was all finished I just screwed the seats back on and was done! Pretty easy. Here they are in all their newly upholstered glory:




And here's the whole set together:






What do you think? I for one am in love and I'm one step closer to finishing up my dining room.

19 comments:

Ange said...

They look great! I need to find some fabric for mine, just haven't found anything I love yet. Looking forward to seeing what else you do!

Simple Daisy said...

Great job!!! Those look so cute now:)

Simple Daisy said...

Great job!!! Those look so cute now:)

Alicia@ eco friendlyhomemaking said...

The chairs look so good.They just brighten up the room. You did a great job and what an absolutely adorable helper you have!

Fiona said...

The chairs look great! I love that fabric, a perfect mix of retro and modern, patterned but not screaming!
I'm working on a slipcover ... you've inspired me to keep at it!

Lisa {grey luster girl} said...

Nice work! What a transformation!

Anonymous said...

WOW!..great job and looks like you had the best help.
I love this fabric, boy O boy you sure changed the looks of these chairs, I can't get over how GREAT they look.

Hey Rachelle, thanks for visiting LazyonLoblolly, we sure had a fun trip to Florida and the strawberries are going fast, we're eating them on everything.hehe

~Jo
LazyonLoblolly

Nan ~ Playful Decor said...

Love that new fabric! Almost makes me want to re-upholster something... but, um, no. lol!

Lynda said...

I was amazed to see your dining room set because I have the exact same set that I inherited from my parents. They bought their table and chairs in the early 1960s and the chairs still have their original "avocado green" vinyl seat covers. I love your re-upholstery but I just couldn't remove my avocado green and all of the memories attached to this. But I do love what you did and it looks great. Nice job!

Pam said...

Love that fabric. You did an excellent job of making your chairs look wonderful. Perfect with the table.

Robin Johnson said...

They look amazing now. And I just love the fabric you picked out.

Lyssa Beth said...

that is awesome fabric! I love how it turned out and I can't wait to see the rest of your dining room transformation! I'm your newest follower!
I just started a thrifty thursdays party on my blog and would love for you to join me!
Lyssa

http://bornagaincrafter.blogspot.com/2011/03/thrifty-thursdays.html

Lyssa Beth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Coloradolady said...

great job. I have found the hardest part is getting all those staples out to start with! Love the fabric choice you used too. Happy VTT!

Hannah Jacklyn said...

ooo, love your fabric choice, what a fun update to those mid-century style chairs!

Nice job!

Lauren said...

love the fabric! great job!

Erin said...

I love this - your chairs look great! I found your blog at the DIY Showoff. You have such great ideas and I'm your newest follower! I'd love it if you'd follow me back: http://stillwaterstory.blogspot.com/
Again, you did a fantastic job with this!! :-)

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

huge improvement! great job.

gail

Kathy said...

I've been branching out looking for new DIYers to follow and found your linky of DIY Showoff! Love the chairs! You did a great job!