How I Reupholster my Dining Chairs

Did you know that reupholstering a dining chair is one of the easiest DIYs? Before I owned a home and could tear down walls and paint whatever I wanted, I started my DIY journey updating old furniture. My first DIY was reupholstering this dining chair when I was in college. You don’t need many tools and it instantly refreshes your dining chairs!

What you’ll need:

1. screwdriver/drill
2. staple gun
3. fabric
4. Scissors
5. awl (optional but trust me it makes your life that much easier)

Remove the Seat from the Base

First, we need to remove the old fabric by taking off the seat base. you might need to flip your chair over and do an inspection on how it is attached to the base. Usually it is by screws somewhere in the bottom of the seat. Once you’ve found that, remove the screws using your drill or screwdriver.

Remove the Old Fabric

After removing the seat from the base of the chair, you should be able to see how the fabric is attached. Usually it is by staples (and hint, that’s how we are attaching the new fabric as well), however I have found that some really old chairs attached the fabric with nails. Regardless of the method, you want to remove the staples or nails to remove the old fabric. If you have an awl, this part is super easy! If not, I have been able to remove them by gently tugging on the fabric to loosen the fastenings. If you don’t have an awl, I highly recommend getting one, they are just so useful in general!

Measure your fabric

After removing the old fabric, you can lay your seat base on top of the new fabric. Before cutting, make sure you leave enough excess to wrap around the cushion to be pinned to the seat board. I tend to cut much more than I need, and cut the excess off later – that way I know I can’t make a mistake.

Staple the Fabric to the Seat Board

Next, you will wrap your fabric around the cushion and staple it to the seat board using your staple gun. Be careful on not stretching the fabric too tight and getting ripples, and conversely not letting it sag too loose. I like to staple one side, then staple the direct opposite side to get an even stretch all the way around.

Re-Attached the Seat to the Base

All that’s left is to re-attach the seat the base! If your fabric is covering the pilot holes, do not worry, a screw will go right through it without messing up the top. If you’re struggling to find the hole because the fabric is now covering it, use your handy dandy awl (or even a pencil) to poke a hole through the fabric into the pilot hole.

And there you have it! A super simple DIY that can completely transform the look of your furniture. ~enjoy!

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