Reupholster your dining chairs to change your room's look.
One of the most significant ways to change the décor in your dining room is to change the look of your chairs. This doesn't have to be an expensive proposition involving purchasing all new furniture. You can go from formal to casual, just by changing the fabric. Square dining chairs are made with an uncomplicated design, and changing the upholstery on these chairs is a project within the grasp of the most casual home decorator. With a few simple tools, you can have a new dining room look in the space of an afternoon.
Instructions
1. Turn your chair upside down and locate the screws that hold the seat base onto the frame. Metal frames often have the screws set directly in them, while wooden frames have a metal insert to hold the screws. Remove the screws and set them aside. Lift the seat base from the frame.
2. Turn the seat base upside down and lay it on a flat surface with the bottom facing up. You will see that the fabric is attached to the bottom of the base, usually with a line of staples. Cut or pull the fabric from the seat base, using scissors or pliers as needed.
3. Pull away the padding that was located between the chair fabric and the wooden base. You will be left with a wooden form that will be the basis of your new seat.
4. Lay a piece of fabric on a flat surface with the right side, or printed side, facing down. Use brocade, corduroy, denim or any other medium-weight fabric. Lay the wooden form onto the fabric, making sure that there are at least 2 inches all around the sides of the form. Draw a line on the back of the fabric, outlining the seat form.
5. Lay out a layer of quilt batting on a flat surface and lay the seat form on top of it. Draw a line around the form, creating an outline of the exact seat shape.
6. Cut out the quilt batting exactly along the line that you drew. Cut out the chair fabric, cutting 2 inches outside of the drawn line.
7. Lay the cut-out piece of chair fabric on a flat surface, right side down. Center the quilt batting on top of the fabric. Place the wooden chair form on top of the batting. Make sure that all the fabric edges around the form are even.
8. Pull the center of the top fabric edge over the form edge and toward the center of the form. Staple the fabric to the wooden form. Pull the center of the bottom fabric edge toward the center of the seat base and staple it to the wooden form. Do the same with the two side edges, making sure that you have pulled the fabric snug against the wood.
9. Fold down the top edge of the fabric, pulling it taut. Fasten a line of staples all along the top edge of the fabric, securing the entire top edge of the fabric to the form from one edge to the other. Repeat this on the bottom row, pulling the fabric to create a smooth line. You will have folded corners at the right and left sides of both edges.
10. Pull the fabric from the right side toward the center, keeping the fold from the top and bottom edges in place. Staple this side to the form. Repeat this with the left side of the fabric. Smooth the corners when you come to them to make neat corners on top of the seat.
11. Place the newly covered seat base onto the frame and replace the screws to re-attach the two pieces. Upholster the rest of your chairs in the same manner.
Tags: seat base, flat surface, wooden form, chair fabric, edge fabric, fabric wooden