Cottage Chair Swap: Upholstery Made Easy

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL SEAMSTRESS OR UPHOLSTERER.

My sister, Jenny, however, is both. So if you are my sister Jenny, or someone very much like her, you may want to avert your eyes. Today's post is all about doing a quick and easy chair makeover with what I have on hand.

And it was time. Time to swap the chairs in the dining area.

The biggest motivation for this change? I saw that the neighborhood is having the annual garage sale soon, and I really need to sell the extra table and chairs that we brought with us from Illinois.

I liked the black chairs, but my husband liked the original ladder back chairs that came with the table. He is a self-confessed matchy matchy guy.

The thing that doesn't match? These old plaid seat covers. This dining set is nearly twenty years old, and it was time for a change.

I decided to use what I have on hand to give this dining room a little makeover. I had a lot of fabric from IKEA on hand, and decided it would work just fine. You may recall that I once tried to use this fabric for curtains, but took them down in favor of the buffalo check curtains from Ballard Designs.

I grabbed my tools: heavy duty stapler, staples, screwdrivers, hammer, pliers, and scissors.

For starters, I turned the chairs upside down to unscrew the seats.

The chairs only have five screws holding it in place, so no big deal.

I used the chair pads to judge the size of fabric needed.

Now a professional upholsterer, A.K.A. Sister Jenny, would have gone through the effort of removing the old fabric, and probably adding more padding to the seat. One day, that may be in order. But today was not that day.

The key is to pull the fabric taut and staple, starting on one side, and then the opposite side, but leaving the corners for the end.

Okay, we need to talk about the corners. It's the thing that every novice freaks out about. And yep, they will probably not be perfect. But if they turn out terrible, it's pretty easy to pull out a staple or two and try again. Just pull taut and make a nice pleat, then staple as needed.

After I stapled the corners, I trimmed a little excess fabric. Now the seats are ready to go back on the chair.

Screw the top back on to the chair base, and voila. Upholstered chair in a sweet new fabric!

I decided to prop the captain's chairs against the back wall, giving us a little more room to navigate around the table and easily get to the kitchen or the back deck. We can pull them out when we need them.

I thought these red gingham runners (formerly valance curtains) would be fun for the summer. It gives the kitchen a picnic look, and the red really fits with the cottage feel.

So while I had the fabric out, I thought I'd make a fast pillow cover for one of the pillows on the sofa.

I found the two quilted pillow covers at Pottery Barn recently for $10.  Bargain!

In a little cottage, a lot of spaces have to do double duty. So the hutch may hold dishes, but it also holds the colander, some cookbooks, a few board games. It's always evolving.

I took a photo of the island because it is normally covered in piles of stuff ALL THE TIME. Mostly my fault, but it does seem to be the landing pad for the whole family.

So there it is. Just a little refresh for the space.

Thanks for visiting the cafe today!