Furniture is expensive. If your existing furniture has good bones and a solid, sturdy frame, chances are you can reupholster it. Think it's just for the pros? Nope. Here is our round up of projects that show how to reupholster almost anything!
Have you ever taken a piece of furniture to a professional upholsterer to see how much it would cost? It's freakin' expensive!! For the price they charge, you can get a whole new piece of
Don't be scared of having a go at recovering that old armchair. If you take it slow and steady it's not as scary as you think!
Learn how to reupholster chairs with this step-by-step guide including simple explanations of upholstery techniques and lots of helpful tips.
How-to reupholster an ottoman - and it cost me less than $20 to do so! This tutorial is great for beginners with many step-by-step photos!
New York City design-and-build professional Matthew Haly offers tips to anyone considering having furniture reupholstered.
Don't be scared of having a go at recovering that old armchair. If you take it slow and steady it's not as scary as you think!
Do you have outdated or ugly dining chairs that could stand to be recovered? Let me show you how you can easily reupholster your dining chair seats in a couple of hours with this tutorial! This is a project anyone can do!
Start ripping up your old sofa with these upholstery tools for beginners
Tips & tricks for how to reupholster dining chairs - plus how to upholster rounded corner seats so they look perfect!
Hello my Diyer's! I am so excited to share our biggest project yet! It doesn't seem like it would take that much effort but let me tell you - this chair was almost tossed to the curb on more than one occasion out of frustration and exhaustion. Just a little advice to those who would like to tackle this type of project, I would start your reupholstery journey on a piece of furniture that is a tad bit simpler. A wingback is a huge under-taking, especially for those who go in blind like I did. I'm so happy with how it turned out, however, try not to look too close because you will definitely see "first-timer's flaws" everywhere. Before I get started with my how-to, I made a little "essentials list" to give you an idea of the tools you will need to get you through to the end. Yes there is an end, I promise!!! 1. Wingback Chair: These can be found used on the cheap at resale/thrift shops, garage sales or craigslist (I purchased mine for $30 off of craigslist). The cheapest wingback I've found brand new is for around $300 at Ikea. If you spot a used wingback that looks to be in bad condition, do not be afraid as it is most of time only the fabric that's in bad condition which you will be removing, so try to look beyond the fabric. It's all about the bones and build. As long as it's stable and still in tact, you are good to go! 2. Slip Joint Pliers: Any pair will do. You will use these paired with the flathead screw-driver to help when removing original fabric. (They will pull those pesky staples the flathead is unable to pop out. 3. Flathead Screwdriver: Any will do! This is your go-to tool to remove original fabric from your chair. This was my least favorite part of all and that's putting it nicely. All I have to say about this is "STAPLES!". 4. Fabric: Choose your fabric. Make sure that it is a thicker material as you will be pulling and yanking throughout this process. Light Cotton fabric may not be the best to use. (*I would also pick a few yards of burlap fabric liner to cover springs) We chose 5 yards of brown faux suede/leather as our main fabric & around 3 yards of brown lining material to cover up the springs. 5. Spray Adhesive: Any spray adhesive will do. This will be used to help adhere your batting/Dacron to your foam cushion 6. Upholstery Staple Gun & LOTS OF STAPLES!!: You will need a staple gun with power to surge threw layers of fabric and wood. I would invest or possibly rent an upholstery staple gun. This will become your best friend and save you a lot of time and headache! 7. Bonded Dacron:1 inch thick will give the extra softness to your cushion and fabric. 8. Medium Density 1 Inch Foam Sheet: We used 1"inch Thick X 24" X 72"- this will be used for the inner sides of your wings and armrests. 9. Medium Density 4 Inch Foam Sheet: We used 4"inch thick X 24" X 72" - this will be used for your seat cushion (if you are not re-using your seat cushion and backrest). 10. Curve-Ease Metal Strip: We used about 6 yards. This is used to seal the edges of your fabric around the curves of your chair to give a clean look without staples showing. You may also add piping if you are a sewer. 11. Wooden Mallet: This is to help reinforce and flatten your curve-ease around the edges to create a secure and smooth edge. Let's Get Started! +++++++++++++ So here is our chair before the beautiful madness began. I found this chair on craigslist from someone who it had been passed down to. It clearly was an older piece with lots of wear, however, it was extremely well-built and constructed to withstand generations of use. As you can see the cushion is flattened and the fabric has quite a few faded spots. You can't see it, but this chair was covered with years and years of cat hair, dust and dander. I actually moved it out to the garage and wore a face mask because of the allergens that were flying out of the fabric as we began the removing process. Suggestion: Before you begin removing your upholstery, I would give your chair a good look-over and number each section that you will be removing (with chalk or marker). This will make the process of adding your fabric back on easier, so you know which section of fabric you should start with first. I wish I would've done this. I had to go back and look at photos I took (for this post) to see which sections I removed first. As you can see here, I started with the front piece of the armrest. I simply pried my flathead in the seam and pulled it away from the chair (pretty easy). As you can see here the pieces are labeled so when you go back to add it with your new fabric on, you will immediately know which side to attach it to. Also - notice all the staples. Yes, ALOT of staple pulling ahead! I also suggest you save the fabric you remove to use as a template for your new fabric. I laid mine flat on my new fabric as I went along removing each section. I then moved on to the sides of the chair (which I should've waited on, as the back should've have been the next to come off) The back overlapped all of the the front sections of the chair so I had to switch over and remove the back section just so I could remove the side section, ugh - I know a little confusing) Like I said previously, I would look over your chair and mark the sections that should come off first. The Back should've been the first to be removed, as it is overlapping(covering up all the other sections as you can see here. Be careful as you move along. These chairs have serious teeth going on. Not all are staples, there are nails too! Proceed with caution :) Making progress with the removal. This is the point where I had to move out to the garage, as the dander and dust that was flying out of this chair actually started to effect my allergies. Template making. Place the front part of your old fabric template face down so the cut reflects the template accurately. I would also cut an inch or so outside the lines to give your a better handle on it when it comes time to yank and pull. You can always trim off extra fabric. Fast forward to my blank canvas. Removing all the upholstery was honestly the most painful part of this process. If I can be honest, i actually stepped away from removing all the staples for a few weeks. It took all I had to get back into the garage and finish removing everything. It was also in the dead of summer mind you, so the heat didn't' help :/ However, I'm proud to say that I motivated myself to get back out there and finish the job! The coil springs and ties were in great condition so I left well enough alone. Plus there is no way I have enough sense to recreate this grid, lol! I'm sure I could if I spent an hour or so researching. If you find components of your original chair that are in good condition, leave it! There is no need to replace them if your batting or cushions or lining is in good condition. It will save you much time and headache! Mine just happened to be covered in cat hair so I removed everything. Since we decided to turn our chair into a rocker for our nursery, my husband measured and cut the tips of the legs off to attach these runners we found online. We then sanded the original legs then stained them a walnut stain. Next we covered/lined the springs and coils to add a barrier and a place to lay our future batting and foam against. We used this brown lining found at hobby lobby. I'm not able to recall the name of this material, however, we found it near the burlap (which you can also use as a lining as well). Next we added our 1" foam (cut to size) to the inner portion of the wings, armrests and leg rest . It's best to start inside and work your way out ending with the back and bottom of the chair. We did not staple the foam to the back part of the chair, as we still had batting/dacron & fabric to add and planned to staple all pieces together to the back of the chair. Next I enlisted my hubs to attach the Dacron batting to the inside of the chair on top of the 1" foam for extra cushion. This is where we used the spray adhesive to stick the batting to the foam, just so their was no shifting as we tucked it through the open areas of the chair. Next we added our fabric to the inner portion of the chair. ( I did not get a photo of this, my apologies). You will want to pull your fabric very TAUGHT! You might enlist a helper to push so that you can pull as tight as you can. This will alleviate wrinkling and fabric becoming loose or buckling when you sit in the chair. We then began working on the cushion. We simply used the original cushion as our template and cut out the cushion using our 4" foam. We then added batting/Dacron cut to size to the top of our leg rest foam and top and bottom portion of our seat cushion foam (we left the front of the seat cushion without batting, as we did not want it to stick out more than it already is). Next we added more batting/Dacron to the entire cushion and leg rest. If you know how to sew, then your cushion would be separate. I'm not a sewer, so we basically just wrapped the entire seat and leg rest as one piece. We did not secure the bottom until we added fabric as to not overload the bottom of chair with staples. After Fabric was tucked and pulled, we stapled to the back and bottom of the chair. I apologize I did not document the back rest cushion. However, we basically did the same thing as the seat cushion. We ended up cutting our 4" foam in half (making it a 2"back cushion) as the 4"was a little too thick for our chair. We cut the foam to size and covered the front and back of foam with batting. We then pulled fabric taught and tucked through the side and secured with staples to the back of the chair. I actually sat in the chair while my husband pulled the fabric through the back just to make sure it was as tight as it could possibly be. Next we moved on to the outside armrest and back of chair. We adhered our 1" batting/dacron (using the spray adhesive along with just a few staples to hold in place). No foam is required in these areas,as they will not be getting a lot of use. Next comes the curve-ease metal strip. This helps to secure the fabric without the staples showing. Our staples didn't' seem to match up with the holes, so we secured our metal strip with nails. When you use your staple gun, make sure the staples are secured as seen in "essentials tools" photo above. One side of your staple should be inside the hole and the other on the outside of the metal tab securing it in place. We used nails, so our photo will not depict that instruction. I started with the outside wings, then moved onto the outside of the armrests. Once you have your metal strip secured all the way across. You will then push the tabs partially closed. Note: you can see my "first-timer flaw" as my strip is not level. I had to re-do this step to create a straighter seam. You will then lay your fabric over your section and cut to size, leaving about a half inch seam to be tucked into your metal tabs. I used chalk to mark my line, then cutting about a a half an inch to an inch outside the chalk line. Next you will use your flathead screwdriver to tuck your fabric inside the partially closed metal tabs. I used several different tools to do this, however the flathead screwdriver worked best. You will then take your wooden mallet and hammer down your tabs, securing your seam tight. I enlisted my husband to reinforce, just in case my hammering wasn't tough enough. As you can see the bottom portion is wrinkly, that's ok -it will be pulled tight as you work your way around. You will now move onto pulling your fabric down and securing with staples underneath your chair. Pulling as tight as you can. Once you have secured the bottom portion of your fabric, you will need to add your curve-ease to the side of your leg-rest as well. Repeat the same procedure. Mark your crease, cut about a half inch to an inch outside your marked line, then tuck with screwdriver and hammer secure with your wooden mallet. You will then pull your fabric taught and secure with staples to the back of your chair. Unfortunately I did not document attaching the fabric to the back of the chair. My apologies!! However, it is the same procedure. I attached my curve-ease metal strip along the top back curve portion as well as the left and right side. I cut my fabric to size with a half inch to one inch over hang all the way around. I starting with the top, I tucked my fabric into the partially closed metal tabs of my curve-ease, then secured tight by hammering the tabs with my wooden mallet. I then pulled the bottom of my fabric as tight as possible and secured with staples to the bottom of my chair. Next, I moved on to the left side, tucking my fabric into the partially closed metal tabs then hammered down the seam with my wooden mallet. I repeated the process again on the right side. Next, I finished it off by adding more of my lining to the bottom of the chair to cover all the overlapping to give it a more finished look. The last and final piece (which could be done at any time) is to remove old fabric and attach new fabric onto the pieces that are attached to the front of your armrest (the very first piece we removed). I covered mine with 1" batting, then covered that with leather fabric- securing in place with hot-glue. I then used my wooden mallet to secure the pieces (that already had nails placed) into the front piece curve. And now we are FINALLY DONE!!! Throw on a few accent pillows and your Wingback Rocker is ready to ROCK!! (pardon the pun, I couldn't help myself ;) I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and should you decide to embark on a wingback reupholster project and have questions, feel free to email me at fawnoverbaby {at} gmail.com! I would also love to hear how your project is going, feel free to share your journey in comments below!
With basic sewing skills, you can master these common upholstery techniques.
I visited one of my favorite sites the other day called Little Green Notebook, and she had these AMAZING charts with how much fabric you need for upholstering certain types of furniture. I get a
Our leather ottoman somehow contracted a hideous skin condition (peeling and cracking and just looking a hot mess), so I tackled the job of recovering it. I opt…
Learn how to reupholster a chair with these basic techniques that give your furniture a fresh look.
Here's how I transformed this thrift footstool into a one-of-a-kind Bunny-Cat stepping stool | Youtube Video! Hello sweet SI family and thanks for joining me. Did you see the solar eclipse yesterday? We had totality here in the GTA around 3:15pm yesterday and it was truly amazing! Today I'm sharing this thrift DIY footstool makeover...
Hello, everyone! I am back with a DIY decor project I have been SUPER excited to tackle: recovering some Louis XV chairs I got for a song on Craigslist. I will briefly give some tips on how I went about this DIY project, but I am not going to go into to much detail because it's pretty straightforward, and let's just be honest: if you're like me, you just browse through the pictures. So let's get on with it! The before: Great, right? Eh, not so much. I got a set of two chairs, one is a side chair and the other has arms. First we need to remove all of those nail heads! Tedious work, but sometimes I like busy work while I listen to Judge Judy, The fabric should come off cleanly. Make sure you save the inner padding to re-use later. Then all of the little staples in the cardboard backing need to come out. Save this piece as well. Do the same for the seat. I removed the ugly floral fabric but was able to keep everything else underneath. it had been upholstered nicely and covered with a plain vanilla covering. Small blessings! Use the old pieces of fabric to trace your new panels. Make sure to leave extra around the edges, just incase. Now drape your new fabric over the seat to make sure you have enough. Tool time! This is what my husband had, so this is what I used. A little overkill, but whatever. I started stapling in the back. I simple tucked he raw edge under itself to give it a "hem" and stapled as close to the edge as possible. Just keep tucking and stapling. Little pleats will happen, I just try to put a staple in those areas. If you plan to use nail heads to finish, you do not need to place as many staples. Next I moved torwards the arms. Always be sure to keep checking that you still have your fabric evenly distributed. You don't want it to get wonky and end up short on one side. My fabric had a great amount of stretch which helped. I didn't need to pull as hard. Seat is done! Trace the back panel next. Make sure the right side of your fabric is facing out on the back of a Louis Chair. Start stapling at the top. Then down the sides. After you've stapled all the way around the back, go ahead and place your cardboard and padding back in and staple in place. Repeat the same process of rolling the edge under and stapling over the back cushion. Ta da! Now you're ready for piping, trimmings or more nail heads if you choose! Isn't she a beaut?? "Black velvet in that little boy's smiiiiillleee... black velvet in that-" ok I will stop there. This was an incredibly cheap DIY decor prjoect with a huge impact. The chairs were only $30.00 a piece and I got the fabric from Fabric.Com for $3.82 a yard! So go forth and make some ugly chairs pretty!
Don't be scared of having a go at recovering that old armchair. If you take it slow and steady it's not as scary as you think!
My husband confessed something to me tonight while sitting in my newly finished upholstered chair... "You know, when I came home from work a few months back and saw that torn-up chair sitting in our garage, with all its stains and its fluff spilling out of it, I thought, "What in the world has she
What a fun experiment to see if the painting fabric on this chair would turn out crunchy. It didn't make sense, but this technique worked!
With basic sewing skills, you can master these common upholstery techniques.
Furniture is expensive. If your existing furniture has good bones and a solid, sturdy frame, chances are you can reupholster it. Think it's just for the pros? Nope. Here is our round up of projects that show how to reupholster almost anything!
So, you finally found some spare time to reupholster the dining room chairs or the flea market find that’s been collecting dust. Before you head over to your local hardware shop or community tool s…
