January 28, 2014
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Re-covering seat cushions
The chairs we bought for our breakfast table came with these hideous striped cushions. We decided to re-cover them.
We bought some nice green fabric at Old-Time Pottery, unscrewed the seats (four screws each), and got to work. The fabric is simply pulled tight over the cushion and stapled under the seat board. It looks like these chairs had already been re-covered at least once. The original material was yellow.
We attached the new fabric over the old. It’s best to start with the corners, at least when you have this kind of corner, which is notched for the structure of the chair. The fabric should be stretched tight so there are no wrinkles.
The opposite corner is next, to ensure fabric is pulled tight over the cushion.
The sides are last. If you pull the fabric tight by the corners, wrinkling and puckering is minimized. The result looks quite elegant, especially compared to the ghastly blue stripes of the previous covering. This one had a lump on the front edge from the original upholstery. We undid that corner and tightened up the old fabric so that it ended up smooth and straight.
Quite an improvement, I’d say. The chair looks much more elegant.
My wife will probably be upset that I’ve let you see our ugly kitchen floor with all the paint drips. Don’t worry, it will soon be torn out and replaced with ceramic tile.
Comments (24)
looks much better.
Thank you. They even feel better when they look better.
Good Job! Now on with the flooring!!!!
I’m looking forward to the flooring being done. Last time I worked on flooring while Alicia was out of the country. Unfortunately she doesn’t have any trips coming up soon, and she gets bothered when things are torn up.
Love the “new” chairs and the “new, new” fabric! If you hadn’t pointed out the floor I probably wouldn’t have noticed – or would have thought it was the workshop… Things are looking so very nice (and I bet the new floor will be wonderful!)
My workshop floor is much worse. The new floor should look great; the dining room looks very nice.
I knew a woman years ago who would buy old chairs and refurbish then resell them.
I chuckled about the statement that your wife wouldnt’ want us to see the paint splattered floor.
I would enjoy refurbishing chairs, but I don’t know where I would sell them. Yes, my wife is sensitive about the appearance of our house, our car, her husband…
Those cushions were comfortable and now ,plus, they are beautiful .
I envy you because we have chairs in our living room without cushion at all . The seat is made with straw but they start to be old and the wooden bars all around the seat are not comfortable at all .
Good job and courage for the new tiling.
In friendship
Michel
In Dallas I had chairs with cowhide seats that had torn loose. We used some of them with cushions on top, but they needed to be fixed. I gave them away rather than fix them.
I understand Alicia’s feelings about the floor. I’d feel the same way.
You two did an excellent job! They are now beautiful chairs!
Good luck with the flooring! I love ceramic tile, so that is exciting!
HUGS!!!
Thank you. Ceramic flooring will do wonders for our kitchen and breakfast area. It looks shabby and depressing with that floor.
Looks great
Nice work. My mother used to cover chairs. She never charged enough for the work she did.
The new chair covers look great! I wouldn’t have noticed the floor either.
My chance to ask a dumb question: Did you not know the chairs had hideous striped cushions before you bought them?
Work is never done (thankfully) for the inveterate handyman.
We bought them at a thrift store. My wife liked them and figured we could eventually replace the fabric.
If people only knew how easy it is to fix things instead of replacing them…
It’s amazing what people don’t know.
I agree with the others. That looks much better.
I liked the striped fabric too. I think stripes make a place lively. But the green cushion looks good too. Good work Tim.
Stripes can be okay, but those colors didn’t match any of our dishes or decor. We now have a table cloth and place mats that match the green, and it coordinates with our plates.
I guess ,Tim, you are sleeeping on the beautiful chair with new cushion!!!
In friendship
Michel
Do you know I would be happy with this comfortable and beautiful cushion. Our chairs are right hard , and painful . They hurt the muscles of the legs!
In friendship
Michel