Over the time period, the upper cover of the chairs wears off, and as a result, the overall comfort degrades, and alongside that, they also look a bit odd in the kitchen. Now, if you notice that your kitchen chairs have a worn-off upholster, you might wonder that there are no other alternatives than to get a new set of chairs.
Well, what if we tell you that you will be able to reupholster the chair. Yes, you can, and we are here to show you how to reupholster a kitchen chair. With that said, let us get right into the procedures.
Steps for Reupholstering the Kitchen Chair
You might be wondering that the steps to reupholster the kitchen chair would be a bit hard to follow. Well, we kept that in mind and,for that reason, have simplified the steps for you. The steps are:
Step 1: Collect the Required Materials
First of all, you will have to select a chair that requires reupholstering. In this case, the ones that have padding worn off, or the cover has deep stains on them are the ones that you are looking for. Once you have separated those chairs from the kitchen, you’ll have to gather these materials:
- 2 inches thick foam
- Fabric pen
- Tape measure
- Staple Gun
- Staples
- Utility knife
- Scissors
- Screwdriver
- ½ yard batting seat cushion
- ½ yard fabric seat cushion
- Dust cover fabric (optional)
With all of the materials gathered, you will be ready to start your reupholstering project. The measurement for the batting and the fabric that we mentioned is for one seat. So, if you want to reupholster more than one, you would have to multiply and get that much amount of materials.
Step 2: Remove the Seat Cushion
After gathering all the materials, you will have to start the reupholstering process. For that, you would have to remove the old seat cushion first. Now, to remove the seat cushion, you would need a screwdriver.
Flip over the chair, and you will be able to find screws on the bottom corners. You will have to unscrew them first. Then use a flat head screwdriver to remove the staples of the old foam.
If you can not get the staples removed, you might want to try to remove them with a re-upholstery multi-tool. Once you have them removed, you will be able to take out the old seat cushion.
Now, you will find that there is a wooden base on the bottom. You would want to keep that with you because we are going to reuse that.
Step 3: Cut the New Foam
Now that you have removed the old seat cushion, the next step would be to cut the new foam for the reupholstering process. Remember, we said to keep the wooden base with you in step number two. You need to use it here in this step.
For this step, first of all, you must measure the foam first. And to do this, you can use the old wooden base. Lay it on top of the foam and trace out the cutting points using a fabric pen. Once you have traced out the measurement, cut along the line using a utility knife.
Step 4: Cut New Fabric
After you have finished cutting off the foam for the re-upholstery process, cut a new fabric for the cover. However, you will be able to use the same old cover that you have taken out of the old seat cover, but we would recommend you to cut yourself a fresh new one.
For this, choose a fabric that matches the rest of the furniture or has the same color scheme. Lay the fabric on top of a flat surface and place the foam in the middle. Using the fabric pen, trace a line around the edges that are three inches out from the corners of the foam.
Once you have traced out the line, use the utility knife or a scissor and cut along the line.
Step 5: Cut the Batting
The fabric that you have cut in step number 4 can be used as a template for cutting the new batting. As we have mentioned above, you are going to need about ½ yard fo batting for one chair. First, you need to lay the batting on a flat surface and then lay the fabric that you have cut on top of it.
After that, you would want to use a fabric marker to line up the amount of batting that you are going to need. Lastly, cut the fabric along the line using a scissor.
Step 6: Attach the Batting
Once you have finished cutting the batting, you need to attach it with the cushion and the base of the seat. First, you have to start with attaching the batting with the base after making it go over the cushion. After that, you will need a stapler to staple the batting to the base of the seat.
The last step would be to pull the battling to the seat. Then trim the excess using a utility knife. Do make sure to cut along the outer edge of the staple line here.
Step 7: Attach the Fabric
Just like you have attached the batting to the base of the seat, you must follow the same process for the fabric. The first thing that you have to do for this step is to pull the ends to the corner of the base and staple it.
Pull the excess and cut them off from the staple line. Do make sure to make the fabric roll snugly around the corners of the seat, or else you are going to end up with a lot of tucks on top of the seat cushion.
Step 8: Install a Dust Cover (Optional)
If you want the bottom of the seat to be free from dust and debris, you need to install a dust cover. For this, you are going to need a dust cover fabric. They will be pretty easy to find in the market.
After getting one, the next step would be to lay it down on the flat surface. Use the bottom of the seat to measure the lines and then use a scissor to cut the dust cover.
Then, you must attach the dust cover on the bottom of the seat using a stapler. Do make sure that you have stapled them beside the staples of the upholstery, as in on the corners.
Step 9: Reattach the Final Seat Cushion to the Chair Frame
Now, you need to reattach the new seat cover on top of the chair frame. You are going to need to use a screwdriver for this process. Use the same screws that you have taken out of the frame in step number one. Make sure that you screw them tightly, or else the cover might start tucking on the top.
Final Words
Reupholstering an old kitchen chair will not only make them more comfortable but also will allow you to bring back the life in them. And we hope that we were able to show you how to reupholster a kitchen chair properly.
With that said, we would like to conclude here by wishing you good luck and hoping that the steps that we included were easy to follow for you.