How to Change a Dining Room Chair

January 20, 2014 by 1970 Dogwood Street

It’s not difficult to remove an undesirable fabric from the seats of your dining chairs. You will need new fabric and a loaded staple gun. Allow yourself a couple of hours for this project. Flip the chairs over and unscrew the seat pads from the chair frame.

Each chair requires about 1/2 yard of fabric, depending on the width of the seat. We actually took a shortcut and found a shower curtain at Target for $25. It was ideal because we only had two chairs to re-cover and the material is a heavy-duty cotton that we could apply right over the red fabric and not have to be concerned that the red would show through. The fabric also played nicely with the other elements in the room for which it was intended!

So here’s our shower curtain. All folded up in its packaging. We had to deal with the crease marks, so we broke out the steam iron and placed the fabric so that the underside was facing up to iron. We also slipped a towel underneath. It actually took a long time to iron. Those Target people really know how to sharply crease a fabric!

Since there’s a very graphic element to this fabric, we wanted to make sure that the fabric lined up the same on each chair. We played around with that a bit and cut the fabric to fit. We made sure we had a generous overhang, knowing we’d trim it along the way.

That first staple placement is an important one. Once you’ve decided how you want your fabric to be, flip the seat over and make sure the fabric is pulled taut and still right where you want it. Then staple on the opposite side of the first staple. Then you’ll staple the other two sides. Trim the excess at this point.

Note where the existing 4 holes are placed and keep those areas clear so that the pads can be easily screwed back into place. The corners can be challenging, depending on the shape of the seat. Just go slowly and fold the corners simply, like you’re tucking the sheets under a mattress.

That’s it. Choosing a pattern for the fabric can make it a bit more difficult, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be a pro!

Barb
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Most especially, I loved working with you both. You really took the time to ask the right questions to learn exactly how my family operates, our personalities, interests and styles and then, amazingly, put it all together.
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Why I LOVE 1970 Dogwood Street
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The services that Jen and Anne provide are invaluable. The key to their success is their ‘can do’ attitude. They approach each task with excitement and interest and anything they do will be a job well done. Their experience with design and furniture/color selection proved to be a life saver when they helped me decorate our new home. They are a delight to work with. I highly recommend 1970 Dogwood Street!