Decorated Chaos: How to Upholster a Chair-Chair Makeover Tutorial

Remember these chairs I made over HERE in this post?

Well today I am going to share the tutorial with you.

For starters here is what the chairs looked like when we began.

Dark and dated stain color, scratches, dull and dirty.

Not to mention the plaid seat cushions covered in PLASTIC! Yuck!

So to get started with this makeover, we need to turn the chair upside down and look for the screws that hold the seat to the frame.

Then simply unscrew the seat so that you have a naked chair.

And for all of you who contacted me about the color of the chairs, I used this version of

Sherwin Williams Canvas Tan.

This is a mist-tint color.

They mixed the color wrong but I liked it so I decided to keep it and use it on the chairs.

The true Canvas Tan color can be found HERE in my mudroom makeover.

This mis-tint used on the chairs is a little more yellow/creamy than the true shade you see in my mudroom.

You can see the color a little better here against the white tray liner.

I LOVE this color. Its such a soft creamy neutral color that would look good on furniture and walls!

I used a roller and had to go over the chair a couple times to get in all the grooves and cover the cain backing.

While the chairs dried I worked on reupholstering the seats.

Start by removing the plastic and layers of fabric with a staple remover or screw driver.

I found it easier to pry the staples off with a flat head screw driver.

And I was completely thrown off guard when I found this fabric under the plaid.

After one of the chairs dried I decided to see how it looked with the striped fabric seat and if I liked it I was going to stop there.

I did like it but it wasn't exactly what I had in mind so I stuck to my original plan and reupholstered the seats with

drop cloth material.

Cut your material out so that you have about an extra inch or two to overlap the seat form.

Keep in mind that if you have too much material the seat will not fit properly to the chair so you really only need about two inches, maybe even less depending on your chair's shape.

Then simply staple around the entire seat pulling it tightly as you go.

And I mean TIGHTLY!

I did not pull it as tight as I should have at first and because of this I had to go back and pull some spots and re-staple them so the top of the seat was smooth.

Trim off your excess fabric, reattach your seat and VOILA!

You just reupholstered a chair!

I love using drop cloth material because it is sturdy and upholds very well to regular use.

It is also affordable and comes in different weights so you have some choices with this material as well, so keep in mind not all drop cloths are the same.

Reupholstering a seat cushion is an easy project to tackle.

You will need a staple gun, screw driver, and scissors, all of which are supplies that most of us already have on hand...oh and your creativity and vision too!

Have fun and try different materials because you can always change it out if you don't like it.

Enjoy!

Jennifer

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