Dining Chair Makeover

Our refinished 70's table has been working perfectly in our space! its so nice to sit close together during meals instead of spread out amongst a long table. Clean up is much easier too.  A finished table definitely motivated the completion of the matching chairs

Before

I have never refinished chairs or attempted to reupholster anything so it was an interesting experience. First I unscrewed the cushions from each chair and the germ freak in me thought it would be best to use new foam and batting before putting on new fabric.

Taking the old cover off was painfully time consuming and I realized pretty quickly that if I wanted to get these chairs done this year I needed to recover the existing chair pad rather than starting from scratch. Next,I attempted to paint over the existing wooden chairs using the appropriate primer and paint just like I did when I made over the base of the table Revisit table post by clicking here. Unfortunately this method took forever and the end result was very sloppy and chalk looking. Below explains the method that worked best for us.

How to bring life back to an old chair

Step 1
Remove existing seat from the chairs and give the wood a wipe down to remove dust and dirt


Step 2
Using a glossy primer + paint spray (love this stuff) give the chair a thorough spray and let dry

Step 3

Once the paint is dry you can leave it as is or do what I did and scuff up some of the edges with sandpaper. Next apply a tinted gloss or stain and immediately wipe it off with a damp cloth for a dirty aged look. You can visit the table post by clicking HERE for specific techniques.


Step 4

Our seat had tufts and to ensure that the fabric didn't sink or rip in those areas I inserted batting in each of the holes to fill them up

Step 5

Lay the seat face down onto quilt batting, cut the batting so that you have about 3 inches extra around the perimeter. Using a staple gun, gently pull the batting around the base of the the seat and staple the excess batting, next do the opposite side and so on.

Step 6

Neatly fold the corners and staple

Step 7

Once the batting is secure, cut away any excess batting leaving approximately one inch from your staple

Step 8

Follow the above steps but this time use fabric in place of the batting, the end result might look like this. its always a good idea to make sure the fabric will reach before making cuts.

Step 9

Screw the NEW seat back onto the chair

hello beautiful

 

distressed detail

When choosing fabric for these chairs I went with function over fashion This is an outdoor fabric with a plastic coating... which means I don't have to gasp when the kids drop spaghetti sauce or juice on it.

We are all enjoying the new table and chair set and Alex prefers the captain chair with arms so he can be the" King" of his castle

Kitchen / Dining

Cabinet Trim

Baseboards

spray current light fixture

find new Light Fixture

Refinish 70's Table
Refinish and reupholster chairs
Growth Chart

Thank you so much for visiting and if any of the instructions left you scratching your head feel free to contact me. Enjoy your week!