Re-Upholstering the Chair Seat
The next step in my extreme rattan chair makeover is the upholstery. Time to give your tushie a new cushy!
Re-Upholstering the Chair Seat:
I removed the seat from the chair before I started any of the paint stripping and painting. Removing the seat on a cushioned chair is really simple. Flip your chair over, look for four holes where the mounting screws are located (see red arrows below.)
Tools You Will Need:
Cordless Drill or Phillips head screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver
Needle-nosed pliers
Scissors
Batting
Fabric
New Foam Cushion (if your foam is in bad shape)
Sharpie Marker
Staple gun w/ staples (I used 5/16″ staples)
Hammer
Grab a screwdriver or cordless drill with a phillips head attachment and unscrew the mounting screws. Be sure to save the screws as you will need them to re-attach the seat later.
If the fabric on your cushion is in good shape and you are using a fabric that is thick enough to cover the old fabric, you can leave the seat intact. In my case, the fabric was very old and stained. Not exactly something I wanted to be sitting on….ewwww!
So, I began the demolition phase of this makeover.
Grab a flat head screwdriver and needle-nose pliers. Wiggle the screwdriver underneath the staples and then use the pliers to pull them out.
Voila! You are done with the seat. Go ahead and set it on your chair and admire your work.
Be sure to join me here as I add the back and the finishing touches!
You’ve mastered the art of chair restoration. If the client doesn’t ask, do you
promise something anyway or just let the work go to the bottom of the pile.
When the furniture regains its original look,
you will be happy with the decision to turn something old into something new again.
Your tutorials are great! I love the spray paint image showing where to start and stop and how you start stapling your chair! Thanks for the extra effort! What is the name of te fabric you're using for the chair? I LOVE it!
Great information Alana! Thanks.
I was not so lucky with my old chairs and the wood seat was in pretty bad shape. However, it was quite easy to cut new seats by using the old as a template. If I didn't have any seat at all, I would have just laid a piece of tracing paper over the missing seat of the chair, secured it with masking tape and used a pencil to rub an outline of outside edge of the chair where the seat will be placed. I then use my template to transfer an outline onto fiberboard. Lastly, I use a jigsaw to cut a new seat out of fiberboard by slowly and closely following my pencil mark.