Reupholster a Chair and Never Surrender

Last month, I decided to take on a new type of project that I'd never done before: furniture reupholstering. You know me, I'm always up for a new challenge.   Mostly though, I just reeeeeaaaallly wanted some new chairs for the sunroom and spending hundreds of dollars on them was a no-go with the budget committee.  Go figure.

So I decided to find some thrift store chairs and re-do them. This was easier said than done from all angles of the project.  First, to find some chairs. I sifted through several stores that had nothing.  I sifted through several more that really thought well of their junky, torn, stained chairs and wanted nearly as much money as a new chair.  Bah!

Finally I found them, super cheap and fifty percent off, tucked in the back of a Good Will.  Score!(Mind you, I would never have looked at these chairs before and thought "whoo hoo!" but my mental plan was set on the outcome and they were beautiful.)

At first thought, I was going to do a whole tutorial on How To Reupholster a Chair, complete with step-by-step photos.  Then reality hit me with its snarky sarcasm: you don't even know what you're doing!  How can you tell someone else how to do it?   Fine.  I conceded.  I surrendered.  No tutorial.  I was defeated by my own inexperience.  I didn't even take "before" pictures.

Now that I have finished them, I realize I totally could have done a tutorial because it WASN'T THAT HARD.  Believe me.  Here are the chairs, after:

I did manage to save a scrap of fabric from each chair to show you what was on it before.  This was the larger chair.  It was worn through on the seat and "well loved" as a place to relax I think.

The smaller chair had this pink fish scale fabric.  Perfect for anyone who likes pink and classy eighties decor.

And now for a few tips for anyone itching to reupholster something:

1.  It's not that hard.  Don't psych yourself out.

2.  Get a staple gun and a glue gun.  They'll be your best friends. (And yes, that's how the pros do it.)

3.  Take lots of photos as you take apart the old fabric. I did it with the first chair and shoulda' done it  with the second but got lazy.  Like this:

4.  Get a notepad and write down each step.  Start with the bottom/underneath of the chair.  Remove one piece at a time.  The chair itself will guide you through the process because certain parts are stapled on top of other parts.  When you've taken everything apart and written it down in order, you will be able to work backward through your notes to put all the new pieces on.

5.  Save every piece of fabric.  Use it as the pattern for your new fabric.  Just trace, cut, and replace.

6.  Save and reuse anything that's still good, like tack strips.  You'll save big bucks.  I re-used the "welting", that cord inside the fabric trim, for most of the chair.

I also re-used the zipper.  (My first zipper project.  What?? Awesome!!)

Next stop, the flower couch....Never surrender!