How to Reupholster a Chair

Recently while thrift store shopping, I came across the cutest little chair for five dollars. After a little DIY upholstery work, it turned out even cuter.

Here's how the chair looked when I first brought it home. It was a dark, scratched up wood and the seat cover was covered in a strawberry print.

Pretty much awesome.

Strawberries or not, I thought it had the sweetest little shape and I loved the detail on the wooden frame.  I decided to paint the frame a light blue and recover the cushion. I used a $6 tablecloth for the seat cushion fabric. It was a heavy duty canvas cloth and was a much cheaper option than paying $40/yd for normal upholstery fabric. (See my tips on choosing a print here.)

Here's how this cute little chair turned out.

I trimmed the seat cushion with silver nailheads to add a little extra glam!

Where do you think I should use this cute little chair? I'm thinking maybe the bedroom office/sitting room.

Now, let's go through reupholstering a seat cushion step by step. It's so easy and truly anyone can do it.
Here are the supplies you'll need.

First,  flip the chair upside down and use a screwdriver to unscrew the seat cushion from the frame.



Then haul the frame outside.

Now it's time to paint.

Here are my 6 easy steps to painting the perfect chair.
1. Lightly sand
 (use 150 grit sandpaper).
2. Use Spray Primer to coat the entire chair.
 (This will keep the wood stain from seeping through your paint, and will make the paint stick to the chair. I love using spray primer on chairs because it's so quick!)
3. Lightly sand when dry
 (use 150 or 220 grit sandpaper).
4. Paint 2 coats of your chosen paint
(sanding between coats).
5. When dry, do final light sanding to get the smoothest finish.
 (220 grit).
6. Coat with your choice of either wax or varnish. 
(I used Blair Spray Varnish because it's quicker than brush on and it's durable enough for a chair. See more about how to choose a clear coat here.)

For my paint color, I bought a sample of Behr Light French Gray. It's the perfect color of gray-blue and I've also used it here and here.

Now that your chair frame is painted, it's time to reupholster the cushion.

First, lay your cushion upside down on the underside of the fabric. Cut around the cushion, leaving roughly 4'' or more on each side.

I like to make my cushions super-plush, so I chose to pull the stuffing out of an old pillow and put it between the cushion and the fabric. Next, fold your fabric over each side, pulling as tight as possible, and staple around the edges. For an in depth step by step on making corners, please see this post.

Do this all the way around the cushion.

After the cushion is upholstered, it's time to add the nail head trim.

Simply hammer the nailheads in one by one in a straight line around the edge of the chair.

And that's it! You have a brand new upholstered chair for a fraction of the cost! To see my top 10 favorite chairs I've redone, please visit this post.

Don't forget to pin this post so you'll have this info when you need it!

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