Home » Projects » How to Reupholster a Chair Seat: The No-Mess Method

How to Reupholster a Chair Seat: The No-Mess Method

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

Alrighty, friends.  I’m going to be 100% honest with you.

I had initially planned to title this blog post, “How to Reupholster a Chair Seat…the Easy Way.”  Though after actually tackling this DIY project, I couldn’t in good conscious call it easy.  It took an an entire afternoon, two sets of hands, and lots of sweat.  (And all that was after six months of procrastination.)

That said, here’s what I will say:

  • It’s totally do-able.  Especially with a buddy.
  • I think our method is easier than other methods.
  • It’s also a “no-mess” method.
  • And I’m still glad we did it.

As is my bent, I will be sure to give you all the nitty gritty details of our no-mess method, as well as the tips and tricks we learned along the way.  That way, you’ll feel confident to stop procrastinating your chair reupholstery project and tackle it once and for all.  You’ve got this!

Every Chair Has a Story

Mark and I purchased a set of 6 black dining chairs on Craigslist a few years ago.  You may recall them from a certain story called “The Old Chair, The New Chair, & The Girl,” that I shared on this blog once upon a time:

The Story of The Old Chair, The New Chair, & The Girl | The Thinking Closet
Click HERE for the full story.

When we refinished our table and chairs with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey this past summer, the tan cushions no longer matched.  Also, the padding on the chairs was thinner than we liked.  So, we decided our reupholstery project would involve both a change in fabric and cushion thickness.  After all, we wanted to make these nifty chairs as comfy as could be for our derrières.

The Beginner's Guide to Distressing with Annie Sloan | It turns out that distressing with Chalk Paint® Decorative Paint by Annie Sloan doesn't have to be stressful at all! Here's a detailed tutorial for how to age and distress a piece of furniture to give it that time-worn look, rich with character. This guide is your one stop shop for inspiration; so what are you waiting for? This paint is SO easy to work with.
Click HERE for “The Beginner’s Guide to Distressing with Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan”

And voila!  Here’s the “after”!  Aren’t they purdy?

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

No-Mess Method

Now, the best part about the tutorial I’m about to walk you through is that it does not involve the headache and mess that comes with most reupholstering projects.

Why?

Well, our chair seats were so thin that we decided to simply add a new cushion and new fabric atop of the existing seat and recover from there!  Thus, we avoided having to remove rusty, gnarly staples and layers of old fabric and batting.

So, if your existing cushion is just right or too thin like ours was, consider it a blessing in disguise!  Because the no-mess method really does eliminate the most grueling steps of a typical reupholstery project.  And I’m all about working smarter, not harder.  Can I get an “Amen”?

Supplies

Tutorial

Step 1.  Remove your seat from the chair.

First things first, you’ll want to flip your chair upside-down (on a sturdy table for support), and use your screwdriver or drill to remove the screws that connect the seat to the chair.  Every chair will look different here, but I trust you’ll crack the case!

Step 2.  Gather your supplies.

Visit your local craft store to purchase foam and fabric.  From all my research of other reupholstery tutorials, 2″ high-density foam seemed to be the group’s consensus on what works best.  So, I stocked up!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Here's the recommended 2" firm foam.

Mark and I also picked out some nautical-inspired fabric in the home decor fabrics section that we really love.  Though I fully recognize that we will soon have a wild-eyed baby in our midsts, and when she enters the inevitable food-slinging phase, we may regret our decision in choosing a lighter fabric with so much white in it.

But you know us.  We’re suckers for a luscious nautical-pattern!

If you already have food-slinging children in your midsts (or perhaps food-slinging adults), you may want to opt for a dark fabric or even a water-resistant one.  Or you can live on the edge like we do!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Here's a snazzy nautical pattern ready to be stretched across some cushions!

TIP #1: While shopping, bring along a paint stick with the exact color of your chairs to help you purchase coordinating fabric.  I made the error of trusting my memory, and the first batch of fabric I bought was way too warm in tone for our cooler gray.  Lesson learned!

TIP #2 for the Type As: We didn’t realize this until after the fact, but if you look closely, the green of the foam does peek through the white sections of our fabric a bit.  It’s not very noticeable, but definitely something to keep in mind if you are wanting a crisp white vs. a duller white.

Step 3.  Cut your fabric.

We actually had a really helpful employee at Hobby Lobby who helped pre-cut our fabric into squares for us, so if you know what dimensions you’d like to work with in advance, that’s an option.  We were working with the end of the bolt (2 2/3 yards), so we had just enough for 6 squares, plus 2 extra if when we need to re-do a few chairs down the line.  If we had more fabric to work with, I would have given ourselves even more margin around the edges.  It’s always easier to trim down than try to stretch it when you’re in the staple phase.

Step 4.  Cut your foam.

Since we opted for a “no-mess method,” we planned to simply layer the foam atop our existing seat-and-cushion.  So, we cut our new foam pieces slightly larger than our original seats–one extra inch wide and tall.  That meant that with our original seat measuring 14 x 15 3/8″, we marked the foam with a sharpie so it measured 15 x 16 1/8″.

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! Easy as pie.

Then, we busted out the Cutco bread knife, which actually cut through the foam fairly easily.  A rotary cutter, electric carving knife, or Xacto razor saw should work for you, as well.

Mark really perfected this step and had a few tips to offer you all:

TIP #3: Get in a good position first so you can attempt to cut your foam in one clean motion (not little bits at a time), cutting all the way through to the other side at a slight angle.

TIP #4: Use a box to help you keep your knife straight up and down.  Just hang over the edge the exact amount of foam you are going to cut.  The box will help keep your knife in a straight up and down position.

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! Easy as pie. And with a bread knife, the foam cuts smooth as butta'.

Step 5.  Staple down your fabric.

Here’s where it really does take two to pull this off, so if you haven’t done so already, grab a pal or passerby along with your trusty staple gun

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Time to grab your trusty dusty staple gun and get to work!

…pre-loaded with ammunition!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Time to grab your trusty dusty staple gun and get to work!

Okay, so generally, there are two different methods when it comes to securing the fabric around the edges:

  • the pleating method, best for rounded edges (demonstrated HERE and HERE)
  • the folding method, best for square-edges (which we did)

I thought I’d like the look of the pleating method best, but truth be told, I found it just too challenging to pull off with square-edged seats.  Ultimately, folding just worked better for us, and we both were pleased with the clean, finished look.

To start, we laid out our fabric, then centered atop it our foam followed by our original chair seat (making sure everything was “wrong-side” up).  I used my yardstick to center it all as best I could.

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! Easy as pie.

This is perhaps the most important part: I didn’t want the three layers to shift too much in the stapling, so I firmly planted my forearms down on the center of the seat while I stretched over the fabric on side A in order to secure it.  Here’s where I started to break a sweat because I pulled it fairly taut before Mark started planting his staples.  We started in the middle and worked to the sides, a few inches in between each of the staples.

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! Work with a buddy to ensure your fabric is tightly secured.

Remember, the under-side of your seat doesn’t have to look too pretty, but the more methodical you can be in your approach, the more uniform the finished cushions will look.

As we streamlined our approach, here was the order we followed for each of the 6 chair seats:

  1. staple down side A (center to ends)
  2. staple down the opposite side, side C (center to ends)
  3. staple down side B, one edge to the other, folding it like a package; cutting excess fabric if needed.
  4. repeat step 3 for side D
  5. fill in the gaps with even more staples

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! Work with a buddy to ensure your fabric is tightly secured.

TIP #5: Pull the fabric more taut than you think you need to because over time, the threads of the fabric will loosen, and you want the cushion to remain taut when the weight of a person is sitting on it.  It may appear as though the fabric is puckering, but when you go back in to add more staples, most of the puckers will vanish.

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! No one will see the under-side after all!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! No one will see the under-side after all!

TIP #6: When it comes to folding those edges, I recommend just working slowly and aiming for smooth, clean edges.  Be consistent in how you fold.  For us, sides B and D were always on top of the fabric while sides A and C were always buried underneath.

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! The folding method works great for square-edged chairs like this one.

Step 6.  Reattach your newly reupholstered seats to your chairs.

And now you’re ready to flip that chair upside-down on the table again, grab your drill and screws from step 1, and reassemble your chair with its newly reupholstered seat cushion.  Then, cue the happy dance!

Photo Sesh

We’ve been enjoying these cushy, reupholstered chairs for a few months now.  Not only is mealtime more delightful, but so are game nights, Bible Journaling sessions, and blog post writing.

In fact, now you know where to picture me as I plunk out my tutorials on the laptop for y’all.

Ready to “oooh” and “ahhh” along with me?

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

Now, doesn’t this cushy-chair look inviting?

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat: DIY Tutorial full of tips and tricks. Gotta love this "no-mess method" that eliminates the most grueling steps of any reupholstery project! Keep the original seat intact and simply add a new cushion and fabric atop it! This is my kinda' project!

To Close

I hope this wordy wonder of a tutorial helps empower even just one of you to finally transform that chair that has been bumming you out {pun-intended}.

And for those of you who are reupholstery masters already, feel free to chime in below in the comments with your tips and tricks.  That way, we can all learn from each other!  That’s how we do here at The Thinking Closet.

Have a fantasmagorical rest of your weekend, friends.

signature

 

 

*Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase after clicking through, The Thinking Closet may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Thanks for helping to support this site!

| |

35 Comments

  1. Giving this a go. Love the tutorial very well written and easy to understand. I have my in-laws table from 60 years ago. Its cherry won’t be painting it, but the chair cushions need some love and I want a more relevant pattern for the chairs

  2. Lauren, after tackling this project for myself over a number of redecoration projects, as well as for family and friends, I have one piece of advice. Begin by placing your seat on the fabric – just as you did – pick up one side and staple it in place in the very center. Then on the opposite side, pull the fabric tight and secure it with a staple in the center. Do this as you work around the rest of the 4 sides. Now, having secured the fabric on all sides, start adding more staples, alternating them equally as you work around the chair seat, pulling the fabric tightly and smoothing it as you go.
    This method allows you to reupholster the seat singlehandedly. And as for cutting the foam larger than the seat, if you don’t, it may make for an easier job, but it might not be very pretty unless you cover the foam with some sturdy batting to soften the edges so they will give a rolled appearance.

  3. Hi, thanks for your tutorial! Can I ask why you cut the foam an inch larger? Do you find it just helpswith the finish on top when you start pulling the fabric tight?

    1. Hi Lianne! So glad you enjoyed the tutorial. Ya know, I think I just wanted the cushions to feel plush and comfortable, and I also wanted to be sure you couldn’t feel a bulge from the original cushion on the sides. But I could have probably left them the original size without any problem. So, trust your gut!

  4. This is great. I’ve done a couple office chairs in the past and have my dining chairs as my next project. I see you do not strip away the old cloth and foam… Is this just for a quick and easy job or do you not find the need to get rid of the old(dirty) foam and cloth?

    1. Ours were still nearly new since they had been made by someone just a few years back…but we wanted new upholstery and thicker foam, hence the no-mess method of just building atop the original. But yes, if it was old and smelly, I’d probably go messy and start afresh!

  5. To keep the green foam from showing thru and to soften the edges I recommend a thin layer of batting over the foam. You can get professional upholstery supplies, like batting, on Etsy from the UpholsteryMania store.

    1. Ann, on another site I saw it was recommended to use a lining fabric. Would you use the batting in addtion or instead of lining?

  6. Thanks for a great picture step by step guide. I am going to try this to make some cushions for my new out door chairs.

    I was just wondering if you know how big your squares were when you started.

    Thanks so much!

    1. Eek! I don’t remember! And I can’t quite figure it out retroactively because of how our seats are put back together. But maybe this will help you figure it out: “We were working with the end of the bolt (2 2/3 yards), so we had just enough for 6 squares, plus 2 extra if when we need to re-do a few chairs down the line. If we had more fabric to work with, I would have given ourselves even more margin around the edges. It’s always easier to trim down than try to stretch it when you’re in the staple phase.” Best of luck, Sarah! Hope your project goes / went smoothly!

  7. Love the fabric!! Great job. But I have a questions, I’m looking at reprinting my table and chairs with Annie Sloan paint. Do you recommend it, do you have any tips on how to paint. Does it hold up to the wear and tear !! Thank you ?

  8. Last summer, I picked up a chair up a chair off the side of our road, and it’s been sitting on our back porch ever since just waiting for me to fix up so it can sat upon! It’s not the same type of hair as the one in this tutorial though, and would be very difficult to upholster, I think. The fabric seems good and strong still, and it’s a really sturdy chair, but the problem is that the fabric LOOKS worn, and the wood looks a little scratched up, even though it’s sturdy. I’ve been thinking about using your Annie Sloan tutorials – just haven’t gone into action on it yet! You have a fellow procrastinator here!

  9. These turned out beautiful! Great team effort & I love the fabric & new look of the table set.
    I also would recommend the spray Scotch Guard, it will help even with adults using them.

    1. Thanks so much, Mom! It feels good to have them complete at last…or ALMOST complete. Once we spray on some Scotch Guard, then I’ll rest easy. 😉 Thanks for the recommendation!

  10. aha! now i know why we’ve been waiting! i have the fabric here in my sewing room… it’s the foam we’re waiting on…hubby has a particular depth/firmness in mind, so we have to go to a specialty foam store… it’s a recurring item on our saturday errands list 🙂 i sent him the link to this blog, so maybe he will be inspired to look for the foam! thanks for this!

    1. Oooo! Love that he has such a strong vision for the foam! I’m sure we could learn a thing or two from y’all. Can’t wait to hear how your project turns out. 😉 Enjoy the process, Robin!

  11. Lauren, I recently covered my kitchen chairs in much the same method. Because we have a 4 yr old godson and a cat who likes to claim our dinning chairs, I wanted to protect the fabric. I bought a can of Scotch Guard and sprayed all the seats to protect them from spills and animal mishaps.

    1. I’m definitely going to invest in some Scotch Guard then…especially since my sweet MIL said the same thing! Good to know such a thing exists. And that your godson and kitty are enjoying those chairs of yours!

          1. Oops…shame on EEcoggins auto correct…that monster. The word “it” should be “is”…and “you” should be “your”. But I don’t mind, I read for understanding instead of correction unless I’m dealing with legalism.
            Lauren, thank you for your directions and pictures. Your chairs look really nice after you reupholstered them.You also made the project appear simple. I’ve been wanting to reupholster my dining room chairs for years but I was afraid I miss them up. I’m going to try it…pray for me.

    2. I was thinking of doing the same to mine. I am in the process of doing six chairs! This is my very first attempt at a progect like this and the though of scotchguard keeps coming to mind.

Your comments make my day!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *