You’ve probably found yourself in more than one thrift store (or garage sale, or estate sale, or on Facebook Marketplace) that sold dining chairs that looked solid and functional, but were a little past their prime. You may have looked at a solid wood frame and thought, this would be a great addition to my home. But then after one look at the outdated, dirty and sometimes even falling apart pillows, you bolted in the opposite direction. After all, changing a chair is too difficult for a beginner – or so you thought!
Reupholstering the seats of old dining chairs is actually a beginner-friendly reupholstering project, and learning how to reupholster a dining chair will open you up to a world of savings. The great part about learning to reupholster a chair is that you can reuse the skill virtually endlessly—when you get tired of the fabric on your current dining chairs, you can simply replace it with something new. By reupholstering the chair seat, you can give it a completely fresh look without buying new furniture! How’s that for cheap?
Are you ready to learn more? Follow these instructions to learn how to reupholster a dining chair, even if you’re new to reupholstering.
Tools you’ll need to reupholster a dining chair
You’ll need to invest in some tools to reupholster a dining chair, but the good news is two-fold: they’re all affordable, and once you’ve mastered the task, you’ll be unstoppable and likely reupholstering every seat in your house (and after that, you can share your tools with friends and neighbors so they can do the same). Here’s what you’ll need.
How to reupholster a chair
1. Remove the seat from the chair.
To begin, turn the chair over and unscrew the seat base from the frame. Place the seat pad on a firm work surface
2. Pick up the old paper clips.
Using a staple puller, pry up any tacks or staples that secure the old fabric to the underside of the chair.
3. Create a new pillow.
After removing the fabric and discarding the staples, check the seat foam to see if it needs replacing. If it’s flattened and doesn’t have much bounce, or if it’s falling apart, you’ll need to replace it. Look for a firm foam that is 2 to 3 inches thick.
Place the old foam on the new foam board, mark with a marker and cut. You can use scissors or a serrated knife, but an upholsterer’s trick is to use an electric carving knife, which allows for quick cutting of the foam.
4. Glue the cushion to the seat base.
Using spray adhesive, attach the cushion to the seat base.
5. Attach the baton over the pillow.
Turn the pillow inside out and lay it on top of a large piece of upholstery. Holding the seat pad in place with one hand, lift the sides of the upholstery around the sides, enclosing the foam so that the batten extends over the back of the cushion by at least 2 inches.
Tighten the batting and place one paper clip in the middle of all four sides of the pad. Then continue to pull the batting, starting from the center on each side until all sides are joined. Stop stitching a few inches before you reach the corners. Repeat these steps on the remaining sides.
To secure the corners, pull the batting toward the center of the seat cushion, clip, then continue pulling and stapling on each side of the corner until the batting is secured and you have a crease-free corner. Trim the excess upholstery.
6. Fold the upholstery fabric.
Lay the uncut fabric face down on the work area, then place the seat pad upside down and place it on top of the fabric. Position the seat pad so that you can pull the fabric up and over the sides toward the back, with at least 4 to 6 inches of excess.
In the same way you stapled the upholstery molding, attach the fabric to the back of the seat cushion by placing one staple in the center on all four sides, pulling it as you turn to each side.
Keep the fabric taught, pulling out from the center on each side, turning the pad inside out and back, smoothing the fabric on the seat to keep it tight as you go. As with upholstery, you’ll want to stop stapling a few inches before you get to the corners.
To make a pleated corner, pull the center of the corner fabric to the center of the seat and fasten. Pull the excess fabric from the left side and fold it over the middle towards the right side and pin it.
Do the same on the right side, folding back over the middle to the left side and pin.
Repeat this on all the corners, then cut off the excess fabric. If you end up with some wrinkles in the fabric in the corners, you can fix them by pulling the fabric and pinning it in place once the wrinkles are smoothed out.
7. Reattach the seat to the chair.
Use a screwdriver to reattach the seat to the bottom of the chair.
Tips for reupholstering a dining chair
Your first seat pad may take some time, but your speed and accuracy will improve as you go. The biggest risk is to cut the fabric too short to wrap around the back of the seat pad. You can avoid this by buying an extra few yards of upholstery fabric and making sure to leave an extra 6 inches on each side as you cut each piece.
The best way to gauge whether you’re ready to upholster an entire set of dining chairs is to start with one chair first: grab a chair or accent chair from another part of your home. If you make it through that process unscathed, move on to the dining room. The whole process is actually quite simple once you get the hang of it – and it can even be fun!