Weekend Project

This weekend I decided that it was time for our 90s chairs to get an update. You see, our dining set was Tyler's family's old set that they kept when they replaced their table and chairs. Tyler and I were lucky to inherit this set when we got married, and Tyler gets all sentimental when he sits at the table for dinner and he can see his homeschool writing imprints in the table. Anyway, according to him, this set is from 1994. It's in great condition though! But the dark checkered fabric just wasn't cutting it for me, so I reupholstered it! Tutorial found here.

All it takes is a screwdriver, staple gun (and staples obviously), and whatever fabric you want. You basically just take off the seats of the chairs with the screwdriver. Now you're left with this weird cushion seat. Just cut your fabric so that you have enough to overlap on all sides (according to the lady at the fabric store, it is 3/4 yard, but I didn't measure it, I just eyeballed what I thought was enough).

Then you make sure the fabric is straight and centered on the front, and start stapling away! The corners are a little tricky, I found I had to cut the fabric to make the corners lie flat, but it was still totally do-able! I love the finished result! A fresher fabric that brightens up the room and doesn't look like it is from 1994.The before and after fabrics. Much better!

Oh, and I'm scotch gard-ing my chairs since they are for the dinner table and I don't want to ruin my new found fabric. You could use a more wipe-able fabric (vinyl), but I didn't want to go for the diner look, and I chose regular fabric. I just bought some scotch gard to protect them. I figure the $12 was worth the insurance policy on my new chairs.

What I love about this is that you just simply place your new fabric over the existing one, no ripping or shredding needed. It's just simple and easy and you can do your whole dining room set in one morning! So tell me, have you reupholstered anything? How did it turn out? Any other tips for beginners like me?