Reupholstering a Sofa Chair, Part 2

Here we go.....

What supplies do you need?

• Needle nose pliers
• Flat head screwdriver
• Hammer/Rubber Mallet
• Staple gun
• Cording (if your chair has piping you may be able to salvage it)
• Fabric
• New Foam or batting (if needs replaced)
• Patience, lots and lots of Patience

Step 1:  This is the MOST IMPORTANT step of this whole project.  Take pictures of all sides of the chair before you remove anything.  If you don't you will not remember how to put it back together.  If you think you won't need them, you are wrong.  (by the time I got it torn apart I could not remember anything about how it looked.)  Without them I would have been lost.

These are a few of the ones I took.

 

Step 2, 3 and 4 all go together.  So read them all before you start.

 

Step 2:  Remove all the staples!!!!!  About 5 minutes into this is when I asked myself.... "Why did I decide to do this?"  The number of staples in these chairs was ridiculous.  I think each one of my chairs had at least 800 staples in them.  (this is NOT a joke)

 

Step 3:  Take pictures as you go.  Again this is not something you want to skip.  As you take the chair apart you will want to have record of where and how each piece is put on.  This will help you put it back together.  Also keep track of the order you are taking the pieces off.  You will put them back on in reverse order of how you removed them.

 

I took about 50 or more pictures.  Don't be afraid to take to many.  It is not possible.  You will reference them later.

 

 

Step 4:  Save each piece of fabric you remove and LABEL them.  Do NOT just pull the fabric off and rip it.  You will use the original fabric pieces in Step 6.  So you need to know what they are and where they go.  (For example: Back, Arm, Seat, Front, R Side, L Side, etc.)

 

Also save all the Ply-Grip. (the long metal, sharp things you find on the chair. You can reuse these if they are in good shape.  If they are bent you can straighten the spikes out with the needle nose pliers and they will work fine.)   

 

Step 5:  After you have removed all the staples and all the fabric.  It is time to cut the "new fabric" for the chair.  This is where you will use the pieces you removed.  They are your pattern. 

 

 

What I did was lay each piece out on the new fabric and try to get the least amount of waste as possible.  (Make sure as you cut the pieces out, you label the new ones.)

 

Step 6:  Add the piping/cording around the arms.  Head over to: Make it & Love it 

for a great tutorial on how to make the piping.  Then attach it to the fabric for the arm. 

This was a very difficult step for me.  It took many tries until I got it right.  I don't have any pictures of how to do this because it was so frustrating.   (the before pictures came in handy on this step.)

I tried to skip this step but the chair just didn't look right without it.   (This is what it looks like finished.)

 



Step 7:  Time to put the chair back together.  (This is where you will be so happy you took all those pictures.)  Make sure you put the chair back together in the reverse order you took it apart.  The key is to pull the fabric tight.  (If you don't pull the fabric tight you will have to remove it and start over.  I had to do this more than once.) 

 

Step 8:  After you get all the main pieces put on it is time for the finishing touches.  Mine was the sides and back panel.  This is where you will use those lovely "spike strips"  called Ply-Grip.  The key to this is Go Slow.  Folding over the fabric a little at a time to make sure it is tight and smooth.  Use a hammer or rubber mallet to slowly tap the spikes into the wood.  This will cover up all the staples.  Watch your fingers though, the spikes hurt. 

 

 

Step 9:  DON'T GIVE UP!!!  You will want to. You will think about throwing it out the window.  Just keep going, you can finish it.  If I can do it, you can do it. 

 

Step 10:  This is an extra step I added, but might be a good tip, if you run into the same problem I did. 

My chair legs were originally covered with fabric.  (I didn't like that.)  I was planning to just stain them a dark wood color, at least that was what I wanted.  Unfortunately, when I removed the fabric, this is what I found.

YUCK!!!

Great now what am I going to do?  Well, it just so happens that while I was working on the chair I was also watching the DIY Network.  (love it and watch it all the time.  My family is a little sick of it.)  Anyway, the show I was watching (I think it was Man Caves) used veneer edging to cover the edge of a piece of plywood and make it looked finished. 



Of course, I thought that would be perfect.  So I made a trip down to Home Depot and after 15 min of trying to find the right isle, I found it.  It is super easy to use.  All you need is regular scissors and an iron.  So that is exactly what I did. 

I applied the veneer and stained it with my Minwax Dark Walnut stain.  Here is what it looks like now.

(obviously you would want to do this before you assemble the chair with the new fabric. You don't want to get stain all over the new chair.)  I just put it at the end because it is an extra step I had to do.

 

 

 

The last and final step of it all is...... Enjoy it!!!  

 

 

It took me quite a while to get the first chair put back together but the second one was a breeze.  It was worth all the hard work and frustration.  We sit in them all the time.

Here is the Before and After:

Cost of this project.....  $20/chair, $50/fabric, total cost: $90.00 for two beautiful "new" old chairs.

These chairs are now part of our new sitting area.  It is where I sit every morning and enjoy my coffee.   Post of finished area..... coming soon. 

 

 

 



 



Reupholstering a Sofa Chair, Getting Started

After many years of not using our formal dining room, I decided to turn it into a useful space.

 

First, I wanted to find some comfy chairs.  Of course, I couldn't find any I could afford that looked the way I wanted them to.  So I decided to settle for what I could find.  We came across two chairs on Craigslist.  They were super comfy, in good shape and I loved them.  (Well, everything but the fabric.) 

 

I slept on it many nights and had several discussions with Mom about what to do.  (Whenever I am not sure what to do with something I always talk things out with her.  We brainstorm and always come up with the right answer together.)  She encouraged me to go for it and tackle reupholstering them. 

I was scared.  I had never done anything like this before, EVER!  So after a few weeks of researching other blogs, I decided to just go for it. 

 

Here are some of the places that I went to for my research.... 

All Things Thrifty - Reupholstering 101



do it yourself divas

Little Green Notebook; Parts 1-4

Instructables How to Reupholster a Chair

DIY Project-aholic

 (and many more.)

 

So the next question is...  How much fabric do I need?  Here is the best resource out there. 

Brooke over at All Things Thrifty posted this wonderful chart showing how much fabric you need. 

Here is the link to her post.  All Things Thrifty - How much fabric   It is a must read. 

 

Off to the fabric store I went.  Of course, everything I liked or wanted was way more than I wanted to spend.  I figured for my chairs I would need between 5-7 yards of fabric per chair.  So when all the fabric I loved was between $25 and $30/yard.  I was panicking.  How was I going to do this? 

 

Being the thrifty girl I am, the big red CLEARANCE sign caught my eye.  Fabric Depot here in Portland, OR has a huge Home Decor Clearance/Bargain Fabric Area.  It is worth a look, trust me.  I ended up finding fabric that I loved, in the exact color I wanted, for a price I could smile about. 

 

Yay!!!! 

 

Now it was time to get started!  Check out how I did it here..... Reupholstering Chair, Part 2

My Work Space is Finished

I know it has been a while since I have posted.  I have completed many projects that I am so excited to share with you.

First I wanted to share my finished work space.  This is where a lot of time is spent getting ideas and is also where blogging happens.  This was a bunch of little projects that came together to create a space I enjoy. 

I previously posted my Sawhorse Pallet Desk and The Painted Chair Makeover.  (click on the links to check them out.) 

Here is the run down on the other little projects that I did to finish off this space.......

First, the large bulletin board.  This one was a little time consuming but I am so happy with how it turned out. 
I purchased the frame last year at a barn sale for $3.00. 

It was silver when I got it.  I thought that I could just quickly repaint it but that was not the case.  Turns out that the silver was painted over the top of gold paper covering the frame and of course it was peeling off.  I knew if I tried to paint over it I wouldn't get the result I wanted. So I started peeling and scraping.  Once I got all the gold and silver off, I then got the remaining paper wet and scraped that off. 

(Finally down to the bare wood and time to paint.)

 

I decided to paint it the same color as the sawhorses to tie it all together.  Then I distressed it a little and the frame was done.

 

Next came the cork board.  I had a piece of wood out in the garage that fit into the frame perfectly.  (what are the chances, never happens.)  Then I attached the cork to the wood.  (tried using spray adhesive but that didn't hold, so I ended up using tacky glue.)  Stacked a ton of books on top and waited for the glue to dry.



 

(an important little tip: make sure you trace the inside of the frame and cut your cork to fit.  If you make it the size of the wood it will not fit in the frame correctly.)

 

I didn't really want it to look like a plain old bulletin board.  Not very fond of that.  So I covered ti with a piece of burlap.  Was super easy.  Just cut the burlap, wrapped and stapled it to the back and voila!

 

Next little part to this was the crates I used to hold my goodies.  This was really easy and inexpensive too.  I pick up these little crates from the thrift store all the time, just in case I need them. 

 

 

(As you can see, I remembered to take the before picture after I started staining the first one.)

 

All I did was stain them the same color as the desk top, Minwax Dark Walnut.  I then figured out where I wanted to hang them and put them up.  I didn't want to make a ton of holes in the wall so I used the little 3m strips (2 on each crate), on all but one.  One of the crates I used screws with wall anchors because I knew what I was putting in there would be heavy.  It is one of my favorite finds.

(This little antique phone.  I found it at an estate sale for $2.00.  It was used on a switchboard at one time.  It still has all the original cords attached with the little plugs for the switchboard. )

It is a heavy little thing.

I made a little sign to go above the bulletin board.  It is made out of wood from an old pallet. I will probably change out at some point.  

 

And just found a few things around the house to fill my little crates.  I am sure as I find other great things on my travels I will change them out as well. 

 

The last little thing I added was this cute little "spinning wheel lamp" I found at a garage sale last summer.  I bought it for $1.00, yes a dollar.

 

It wasn't working, so we took the wiring out of another lamp I didn't want any longer, and rewired it.  Then I took a little shade I found at the thrift store for cheap, and covered it with some straw rope.  Cleaned up the lamp and it is a perfect fit. 

 

There is only one thing missing from this space to make it complete.  Check back in the next few days to see the unveiling of my favorite piece so far.  I am so excited about it and can't wait to share. 

Total cost of this space:  About $30.00 from top to bottom!!!