Let’s just start with the my feelings on reupholstering my very first chair…yea it’s not fun!
I will not lie and make this project seem like it was easy as 1, 2,3 and I now have this magical looking chair sitting in my room after a few hours of tons of fun work! lol
Yes, it was an experience and I did save myself quite a bit of money on reupholstering another find on craigslist, but I would not say the chair is perfect looking. Lets just say I probably could not sell this piece, grateful I’m the happy owner of it : )
So where did I begin with this project???
1. Craigslist!!!!!
Yep another great find for only $45.
Finding a brand new chair today I would probably spend over $350 on it! Once again…not in this girls budget.
2. Jo-Annes Fabrics had a great selection that I was able to gather two different patterns (by choice) and some trim and I paid around $30 for my materials. Grateful for sales and coupons which helped save me some money here as well.
3. Painting and waxing using annie sloan chalk paint
4. Taking on the reupholstering project.
To start I took the fabric off of the back of the seat. This took tons of time and patience especially since there are soo soo many staples. Phew!
Once this is done you are left with an empty cushion. Start reupholstering the back side first, which I used my pretty flower pattern fabric for.
The best way to describe how to do this is to follow the pattern from how the chair was put together. I may have slacked slightly on this, and I was left on my own : (
After this was in place and looking pretty decent I started adding the fabric to the front and trimming the fabric to the size and shape of the cushion.
Any mistakes the trim should cover up…even though my trim could only help my project so much. I hope you all have better luck with this if you ever decide to reupholster something. Not trying to sound like a Debbie downer but I think I may just stick to my paint brush and stay away from reupholstering…since it is a little challenging and less successful for me.
Anyway…After finishing the top I decided I was going to call my dad to help me finish the rest of the chair. He has done a few reupholstering projects years ago and I thought he would be better at this then I.
I had planned to leave the fabric on the bottom cushion since it would be less work than ripping it off and I figured I would just leave the chair in tack and reupholster the bottom cushion as is. This is why I am happy I called my dad in…the second he arrived he started disassembling this chair. I tried convincing him to leave it as is and we could make it work, but he knew best!
As for the previous fabric being left on we did stick to that, but we had to take part of it off to follow the cutout pattern. This helped a lot since we were starting to cut it all wrong.
So happy my dad helped out…made my life a whole lot easier. Did I mention that my husband told me wayy more than once that this was a bad idea and that it was not going to be easy. Do you think we argued about this? of course! I guess for once I was not right!?…Can’t believe I just said that haha.
He never reads this anyway…; )
So I hope this was somewhat helpful for anyone who is a first time reupholster chic…and when I say that I mean learn from my mistakes and run far far away from this crazy idea!
Proud I got it done though and from the back it looks pretty good…which is the part that you will see from the room anyway since it will be going into our master bedroom in front of a desk (another craigslist buy I’m in search of)
I do have to say I love my fabric and the annie sloan paint complements our the blue in our room and fabric so well!
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| You can see both patterns here |
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| A little styling never hurt anyone! |
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| Very Handsome looking |
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| The pretty Side |
15 Responses
Your chair turned out beautiful! Can’t wait to visit more of your blog! 😉
Thank you so much Michele…looking forward to following your blog!
HI Deborah, I love this chair!! I really love your combination of fabrics!! I know this is your first time, but kuddos!! What would make your life easier for upholstering?? Get an air compressed stapler, only about $100 on amazon… It really makes all the difference… I have a couple of tutorials on my blog if you get a chance to check out… I just shared my antique settee that I reupholstered …. Yes, upholstering is a labor of LOVE!!! patience, and a lot of staple pulling out and starting over…. Keep in touch, I would love to see your other projects!!
Here is a quick tutorial on upholstering a chair:
http://www.idreamofjeannedesign.com/2013/05/step-by-step-chair-transformation-chalk.html
I have a couple other tutorials also… I hope to share a French back tutorial also soon!! Have a great day!!
Keep in touch!
Jeanne
http://www.idreamofjeannedesign.com
Thanks so much Jeanne….you are so sweet to leave me a comment and give me a complement : ) I did read about using an air compressed stapler, but of course since it was my first project I used what I had. If I do plan on doing more upholster jobs I will make the purchase. Thanks so much for stopping by and looking forward to following you and checking out your tutorials.
Stopping by from I’m Lovin’ It Link Party. Congrats on you first chair, we’re planning on re-doing one soon. This inspired me to get it done asap. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by Kat! Looking forward to seeing your completed chair : )
Very handsome chair! Love your choice of fabrics and paint, and I think you did an excellent job, especially being your first! I see lots of DIY in your future. Visiting from MMS.
Rita C at Panoply
Thanks so much Rita! I appreciate you stopping by and leaving me a comment.
LOve your chair and your honesty at how not easy it was. I haven’t done one myself but can imagine the work put into it. Nothing like the satisfaction of a successful redo!
Absolutely! So sweet of you for leaving me a comment.
Looks great! I would love it if you joined and contribute your awesome posts at my link party at City of Creative Dreams, starts on Fridays 😀 Hope to see you there at City of Creative Dreams Link Party.
thanks so much…looking forward to posting future links at Creative Dreams : )
I LOVE the chair! It turned out beautifully! And reupholstering is a tiresome/tedious project. You were BRAVE! 🙂 I found an adorable chair — I will not even try to reupholster. Although it might be easier than what you had to tackle since my chair has no insides…LOL. I blogged about it the other day if you are interested in reading about it. Have a great day! http://chasingquaintness.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-almost-chair.html
Hi Benita,
Thanks for your comment. I would love to see how your chair turned out. I know wayy too much work haha. Next time I’ll just try painting the fabric : )
Deb, I’m posting my reply to your comment here as well because I’m just not really sure if it comes back to you when I reply and I didn’t want you to think I didn’t see it! 🙂
Deb, thank you for the compliment and comment! I just thought it would be something different rather than ending up in tears for days because I couldn’t reupholster it. I truly love the way your chair turned out! Gorgeous!! I just started in January so I really appreciate the encouragement!