Dining Room Chairs Do Over

July 19, 2016 by Ruthie 8 Comments

This post has been a long time coming.  Right before I got pregnant with this little one I was on a mission to get projects done!  With that being said I have a lot of projects that I have not shared with you all!  Today I’m sharing one of my most favorite transformations.  Over a year ago I fell in love with this fabric that I found at Hobby Lobby.  I couldn’t find it on their website but I found it at the OnlineFabricStore.net. (Tip: If you get the fabric from Hobby Lobby make sure you use their 40% off coupon as the fabric is a little spendy!)

Photo from OnlineFabricStore.net

I had the perfect idea for this fabric, as I wanted to redo two dining room chairs I’ve had for years.  My Mom bought these chairs for me while we lived in California to go with our dining room table.  Back in the day, our kitchen table was our only table so my mom got us two chairs to go on the end to fit more people. We now have a dining room table where those chairs now live.  Here is a before and after of the previous kitchen table.

Here is what the chairs looked like before any modifications:

I wanted my old/new dining room chairs to match the rest of my Restoration Hardware chairs so I decided to paint them black to match along with the change of fabric.  To start I removed the bottom cushion on each chair and then removed the piping along both cushions of the chairs.

I then measured out the fabric for the base of the chairs and then recovered them.  I actually ended up using a table cloth from Target for the bottom fabric of the chairs.  I was nervous the ikat pattern would be too much on the entire chair so I used the linen looking fabric as a buffer to the loud fabric.  Best part is I had a lot of fabric left over and it was a fraction of the price! 🙂

After the bottom fabric was finished I then gave the chairs a quick sanding and then spray primed and painted the chairs.  I didn’t worry about getting paint on the top fabric as they were getting recovered.

After the paint was dry I reattached the cushions to the chairs and began recovering the top area of fabric. I was very nervous to do this section as I had never done this type of reupholstering before.  I found the easiest way to get it to fit correctly was to make a template with the extra fabric I had from the bottom cushions. It ended up being a lot easier than I had anticipated, which is always a good thing!

From there I stapled the fabric into place and then tucked the fabric into the crease of the chair with a flat head screwdriver.

After that, all that was left to do was to add some upholstery trim around the top areas of the cushions.  I recovered both the front and back of the top cushions so I had to do this process a total of 4 times.  I used a hot glue gun to secure it into place.

I couldn’t be happier with the outcome of these chairs and I love how I can see the beautiful fabric from multiple rooms in my house.  I’m sitting on the couch in my living room right now with a view to my dining room.  I can also see the beautiful backs of the chairs from my kitchen.  It truly makes me happy to glance at these beauties!  After a long-awaited time, I’ve finally used this fabric that I have adored and I couldn’t be happier with the end result!

I hope everyone is having a great week so far!  This Friday I’ll be back with a few of my favorite DIY lamps for my Friday Favorites.  We have a sitter on Friday and my husband and I have a hot date night planned….finish painting the deck. 🙁  Boo!  We don’t want this project to last all summer so we’ve got to do it sometime!  Have a great day!

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