Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Fit to Sit

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A few weeks ago, when I posted pics of our dining room makeover, I promised to supply further details on those reupholstered chairs.

As I said then, this set (including a table we did not keep) was purchased on Craigslist from a local woman (actually her son) who was downsizing after moving from her longtime home to a retirement facility.

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She and her husband had bought this beautiful pecan wood dinette set back in 1952, and it still had the original seat cushions and fabric! Some were not too bad looking considering their age...

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While others had clearly reached their end of days, with fabric disintegrating and foam flaking, coming apart and not just at the seams.

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This did not dissuade me though. I liked the form of the chairs and china hutch - sleek and contemporary in a mid-century modern way, and they were all very sturdy still. Even after over 60 years, the caning on the chair backs showed no damage. So as soon as we got them home, I set about restoring their beauty and functionality.

To do this I used:
*Foam - I got mine at Joann's when it was half off, but depending on the condition of your chair cushions, you may not need to replace the foam
*Fabric - Again, Joann's when all their upholstery fabric was half off. I bought 3 yards and used about 2.5.
*Screwdriver
*Pliers to remove any stubborn stables
*Good scissors to cut fabric
*Crappy scissors and/or serrated knife to cut foam
*Permanent marker
*Staple gun

I flipped one over and removed the four screws holding the seat on. Be sure to keep each seat with its respective chair as you go. This way, you know the screw holes will line up when you go to put the seat back on.

Reupholstered Dining Chairs

I used a flat-head screwdriver to remove the staples holding on the backing fabric.

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I repeated this for the main fabric, resorting to pliers when some staples put up a fight.

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Once I had the staples removed, I just set the whole thing into a big garbage bag, peeled back the fabric around the edges and lifted the wooden seat off the rotten foam. And even still, I ended up with yellow dust all over me. It was gross.

Reupholstered Dining Chairs

I hadn't realized when we bought them that these seats had a little bump-out in the middle, so there's more cushion under your tooshie.

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I thought about leaving that foam since it was still in fairly decent condition, but then I thought, no, Carissa, do it right the first time. Unfortunately, since I didn't realize this bump-out was there, I hadn't taken it into account when buying the foam. But don't worry, I made it work. Just you wait and see.
So I set my board on top of my foam, traced around the edges and cut it out.

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Next I sort of cut-and-pieced the remnants to fit the bump-out. Ghetto, I know, but hey, nobody's gonna see it except you and me, right?

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Only when I added the main piece of foam did I realize that the foam pads I bought were two inches thick, while the bump-out was only an inch deep.

Reupholstered Dining Chairs

So I used a long bread knife to cut my puzzle pieces in half cross-wise. This was tedious, let me tell ya. And it gave me lots of blue dust to go with the yellow dust. Yum!

Reupholstered Dining Chairs

But eventually, I got my pieces to fit into the bump-out and I could use the other halves of the pieces on the next chair.

Reupholstered Dining Chairs

Then I layered my board, bump-out foam, main foam, and then fabric face-down. Since my foam was two inches thick, I gave myself a good four inches around the edges for wrapping around the board.

Reupholstered Dining Chairs

Next I attached my new fabric, starting along the straight front edge, then curved back edge (you'll want to do opposite sides to keep the fabric taut). Then I worked my way around the other sides and corners. Honestly, I have no advice on how to handle the corners. I googled and youtubed a whole bunch and found lots of different suggestions. I tried several until I found one I liked. Feel free to do the same.

Reupholstered Dining Chairs

Now it was time to reattach the backing fabric to the seat and the seat to the chair.

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And last, but not least, put your butt in that chair and feel how awesome you are!

Reupholstered Dining Chairs



Reupholstered Dining Chairs Before & After

2 comments:

  1. Hi Carissa!
    Simple and classic! Love it!
    Wouldn't it be easier to cut the foam with an electric knife?
    I like this table better than the other!
    kisses from Portugal!

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    Replies
    1. It absolutely would've easier, yes... if I owned such a device. :)

      The table was custom made by James+James, a couple of great carpenters here in the States. We are so happy with it!

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