While an antique chair may possess the classic beauty that you simply can't find in more modern pieces, often years of use have left the chair seat less plush and cozy than it once was. Fixing this problem requires rebuilding the chair seat, giving you and your guests somewhere cozy to rest their tired tushes as they take a seat in your long-loved piece of furniture.
Instructions
1. Remove the seat from the chair. Turn the chair over, placing the seat on a table or workbench top. Unscrew the seat of the chair from the base, placing the screws you removed in a safe place so you can use them to reattach the seat after you are finished.
2. Check the piece for structural integrity and replace any wood if necessary. Look for any places in which it looks like the wood frame that rests under the seat has rotted. Remove the rotted piece with the claw of your hammer. Use this piece as a template to create a new replacement piece by cutting a similar piece of wood to size. Nail the new piece in place to make the seat structurally sound.
3. Place the seat top down on the wrong side of your upholstery fabric. Using a tape measure, measure 4 inches from the edge of the seat on all four sides, creating an outline 4 the seat, then clip around this outline.
4. Cut foam padding to fit the seat. Select thick or thin padding, depending upon your preference, and cut it to fit the chair seat using a razor knife.
5. Place the foam padding between the seat and the fabric. When creating this stack, your fabric should be on the bottom, wrong side up, the foam next, then the on the top with the bottom of the seat facing up.
6. Pull the edges of the fabric up to meet the bottom of the seat and staple it into place. Start by pulling the fabric tight on one side and stapling it, then repeat the process on the opposite side. Follow this by repeating the process one more time on the remaining two sides, then move around the chair pulling and stapling until you have completely attached your fabric.
7. Reattach the seat to the chair. Placing the seat face down on the edge of a table or workbench, set the chair atop it and screw the seat back onto the chair frame using the screws you retained.
Tags: chair seat, , foam padding, inches from, seat chair, table workbench, wrong side