Reupholstering a Dining Room Chair

Are you looking to reupholster a dining room chair? You can make your dining room chairs look like new with just a few simple tools and a couple of hours of your time. A simple dining room chair with just an upholstered seat is one of the easiest upholstering tasks.

First, measure the seats to be upholstered and add about 3 inches all around. Using these measurements, multiplied by the number of chairs to be done, head for a fabric store to choose upholstery fabric. Since these chairs will get heavy use, choose something sturdy, but attractive. You will also need scissors, a craft knife, a screwdriver, and a staple gun that can handle 3/8-inch staples. If your chairs need new padding, you will also need to get some foam padding.

Cut the padding to fit the chair seat. Cut the upholstery fabric to fit the seat, plus the vertical dimension of the foam padding, and allow about three inches all around for stapling. Remove the chair seat by unscrewing the screws that secure it to the chair. Put the screws in a safe place. Remove the old fabric and the padding if you are replacing it.

Place the new padding on the seat and cover with the new fabric. Turn the seat over and stretch the center of each side to the seat bottom and staple in place. If you are using a patterned fabric, turn it over to make sure you like the way it looks.

Continue stapling the fabric in place. Start from the center staple and add a staple about 1 to 2 inches on either side of the center, turning the seat as you go. Once you have three staples on each side, add two more staples to each side. Continue in this manner until you near the corners. Fold the corner fabric so that it will be hidden when the seat is in place and staple in place. Reattach the seats to the chairs with the screws and you're done!