Replacing a chair cushion just might be the best DIY project in the book. Easy? Check. Inexpensive? Check. Hugely transformative? Oh, you bet. Check out one writer's experience.
Just because your kitchen chairs are stained beyond cleaning doesn't mean that you have to go out and spend a fortune on new chairs. Reupholstering kitchen chairs is MUCH easier than I thought it would be, and the new look has totally updated my kitchen. Not to mention: The chairs are more comfortable to sit in.
![reupholster chair]()
I've had these chairs for at least ten years, and they've endured spills of everything from wine to milk to babyfood (many years ago, I used to feed my kids on my lap instead of strapping them into a high chair!). I've cleaned them from time to time, but years of messes have made them stained beyond recognition. Any padding that was on the chair has also completely flattened out and made them not only ugly, but very uncomfortable.
After one trip to the fabric store and $40 later, I bought the following supplies to cover four kitchen chairs: 3 yards of fabric and 3 yards of chair padding.
Other supplies that I needed were already at home: 1 pair of good scissors, a heavy duty staple gun and staples, plyers or needle nose tweezers to remove old staples and a Phillips head screw driver. The steps were simple:
1. Turn chair upside down (or on its back) and unscrew the four screws to release the seat pad.
2. With pliers or needle nose tweezers, remove all of the staples from the bottom of the chair pad and tear off the old fabric and padding.
3. Place the chair pad onto the new padding, and cut around to fit (leave about 3 inches all the way around because you'll need to wrap it underneath the chair pad so it stretches to the other side/bottom of the chair pad). Cut new padding to fit.
4. Have another person around to help hold the chair padding in place and wrap it around the other other side/bottom. With one person holding the new padding in place, staple it along the backside of the chair pad. Staple approximately five staples on each side of the chair pad, making sure to evenly distribute the staples to keep the new padding in place.
5. Now, take the newly padded chair pad and place it on the fabric. Measure and cut enough fabric to cover the chair pad and bring at least 3 inches around to the back side.
6. Very important: Have another person stretch the fabric as tight as possible while you staple the fabric to the back side of the chair pad. When starting a new side, stretch and flatten the fabric so that there are no wrinkles or bumps in the fabric. Staple generously so that the fabric is in place and won't come undone.
7. Almost done -- when the chair is completely covered, screw the chair pad back into the chair with a Phillips head screwdriver.
Now you've got new chairs, but for a cost of about $10 per chair:
![reupholster chair]()
This was an easy and inexpensive project, but I did come across a few unexpected situations:
1. Don't leave the staple gun laying around. My 9-year-old son got a hold of it and stapled the hardwood floor.
2. If you are using fabric that has a pattern like I did (small stripes), make sure that the stripes are going the same way on all four chairs.
That's it! A brand new kitchen set for $40 and about two hours of labor.
![reupholster chair]()
Ready for another chair makeover? Check out this DIY accent chair!
Just because your kitchen chairs are stained beyond cleaning doesn't mean that you have to go out and spend a fortune on new chairs. Reupholstering kitchen chairs is MUCH easier than I thought it would be, and the new look has totally updated my kitchen. Not to mention: The chairs are more comfortable to sit in.
I've had these chairs for at least ten years, and they've endured spills of everything from wine to milk to babyfood (many years ago, I used to feed my kids on my lap instead of strapping them into a high chair!). I've cleaned them from time to time, but years of messes have made them stained beyond recognition. Any padding that was on the chair has also completely flattened out and made them not only ugly, but very uncomfortable.
After one trip to the fabric store and $40 later, I bought the following supplies to cover four kitchen chairs: 3 yards of fabric and 3 yards of chair padding.
Other supplies that I needed were already at home: 1 pair of good scissors, a heavy duty staple gun and staples, plyers or needle nose tweezers to remove old staples and a Phillips head screw driver. The steps were simple:
1. Turn chair upside down (or on its back) and unscrew the four screws to release the seat pad.
2. With pliers or needle nose tweezers, remove all of the staples from the bottom of the chair pad and tear off the old fabric and padding.
3. Place the chair pad onto the new padding, and cut around to fit (leave about 3 inches all the way around because you'll need to wrap it underneath the chair pad so it stretches to the other side/bottom of the chair pad). Cut new padding to fit.
4. Have another person around to help hold the chair padding in place and wrap it around the other other side/bottom. With one person holding the new padding in place, staple it along the backside of the chair pad. Staple approximately five staples on each side of the chair pad, making sure to evenly distribute the staples to keep the new padding in place.
5. Now, take the newly padded chair pad and place it on the fabric. Measure and cut enough fabric to cover the chair pad and bring at least 3 inches around to the back side.
6. Very important: Have another person stretch the fabric as tight as possible while you staple the fabric to the back side of the chair pad. When starting a new side, stretch and flatten the fabric so that there are no wrinkles or bumps in the fabric. Staple generously so that the fabric is in place and won't come undone.
7. Almost done -- when the chair is completely covered, screw the chair pad back into the chair with a Phillips head screwdriver.
Now you've got new chairs, but for a cost of about $10 per chair:
This was an easy and inexpensive project, but I did come across a few unexpected situations:
1. Don't leave the staple gun laying around. My 9-year-old son got a hold of it and stapled the hardwood floor.
2. If you are using fabric that has a pattern like I did (small stripes), make sure that the stripes are going the same way on all four chairs.
That's it! A brand new kitchen set for $40 and about two hours of labor.
Ready for another chair makeover? Check out this DIY accent chair!