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Monday, July 26, 2010

Chair Rehab

I have six great dining room chairs that came to me free from some friends who acquired them and then discovered they hated them. They were unremarkable, a medium stain with brown tweed upholstery, which I remedied by painting them black and then covering the seats in denim. 
You'd be surprised how much water damage six burly firemen with hoses can inflict.
 
The seats were toast, and the kids had scuffed up the paint as well.
But there's no reason to live with ugly furniture, is there?
And dining room chairs are the easiest makeover ever.
First, Sammy removed the seats.
We're also going to wood glue any loose joints while we're at it.
Then Thom hauled them outside for a light sanding and a couple of fresh coats of spray paint.
This gorgeous tropical print is by Waverly from Outdoor Fabrics Direct.
Locally, it's $17.95 a yard. Online, I snagged it for $8. And because it's an outdoor fabric, it's tough, stain resistant, and wipe clean.
Remove your old upholstery and lay your seats on the fabric. Make sure you have enough to fold around the seat to the bottom.
Now that you know how much you need, fold the material over. I have these six chairs and two still in storage. Two seats will fit on the width, so I folded the fabric four times to get 8 squares.
Now cut out the individual seats.
Place your fabric right side down and place the seat on top of it.
 
Now, with an upholstery gun, start stapling the new fabric down. Once you have one side done, pull the opposite side tight and staple it down. Finish all 4 sides.
Gently pleat the corners and staple them down to get a smooth finish.
Trim any excess fabric and admire your work.
When you reattach the seats, stack them and do the armchairs first.
 
While you have the chair upside down, check the pads on the legs and replace them if necessary.
 
And voila! 
 
$6 for paint, $24 for the fabric, and a new look for the dining room!
You already have that site open in another window, don't you? 

Visit thecsiproject.com

16 comments:

Heather{Our Life In a Click} said...

haha! I was just sad that I didn't know about this site when I purchased the fabric for my deck cushions! I don't want to tell you what I spent for that fabric.
Your chairs look fabulous!!

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

The chairs look fabulous and I love the fabric. I used that same fabric for a shower curtain in my last house. Gorgeous. Hugs, Marty

Tru said...

I love that fabric choice. Great tip about doing the chair with arms.

Anonymous said...

Great Sunny! I love how you are rebuilding piece by piece after the big fire. It would be so tempting for me to just trash everything.

The Autocrat: Haley said...

They look fabulous!

Life in Rehab said...

Heather, oh, I can imagine! I saw this fabric and fell in love, but that $18 price tag raised hives! If it helps, the fabric you used is just gotgeous.

Marti, wow, I would have never thought to use it for a shower curtain! Great idea!

Tru, thank you ma'am!

Hiphouse, you know, I've gotten so much stuff redone since then it's scary!

And Haley, thank you as well!

Chelsea@ThisFreshFossil said...

Wow! Those look great! Giving our dining set a makeover is on the list for the future, as well. Thanks for the link! They've got some gorgeous outdoor fabric on there. :)

~Chelsea

Fine Diving said...

Stopping by from the CSI Project. What did you think of the 2x paint? I've used it with great results.

Life in Rehab said...

I'm in love with it! I use it nearly exclusively now on all of my projects, from outdoor furniture to flower pots.

- Brittany aka Pretty Handy Girl said...

hey Sunny! Love your chair rescue. I'll have to check out that source for outdoor fabric. Thanks for sharing. And yes, I hopped over from CSI!

Brittany
http://www.prettyhandygirl.com

Debbiedoos said...

OK the song that was running through my head was "who's sorry now"? LOL!!~ When your friends see these chairs they will want them back! Too bad so sad! Great project...thanks for joining in on my GARAGE SALEN party, always so such a pleasure to have you. Have a great weekend. Debbie

Emily {Frilly Details} said...

Those turned out great! The new fabric really makes a difference.

Anonymous said...

Your chairs turned out great!! Nothing better than getting them for free and getting to give them a makeover!!!
lifeofperks.blogspot.com

Anita Diaz said...

Love what you did with the chairs! They look great!!

The Polka Dot Closet said...

I be the friend is going to want them back!! Isn't it great that we can see the beauty in something that over people cannot!
I am visiting from Debbiedoos

Carol

thriftytickle said...

Beautiful! Tahnks for linking up to Vintage Suitcase Friday! I finally made a button for you to grab so come by and get it if you haven't snagged it yet!