Reupholstered Chair

Here is the after shot!

And here is the ugly before

Here is my take on reupholstering. This is my very first time EVER reupholstering something, and so if I can do it, you can do it. 

I started by looking to see if I could find anything about it online. I found a lot of people telling me how to do it, but only one thing that was helpful was this:

1.  Take it apart carefully, paying attention to each detail. I personally took pictures of each step/part of the chair that I took apart. That way when I put it back together I could look back at the pictures to make sure I was doing it right. 

2.  The other piece of advice, that I was not given but would like to give to you, is to record each thing that you take apart in order. So if you take the back off first {which would be my recommendation} then right that down first on your list. Here is a sample of my list:

Back 

Back lining

Back padding

Chair skirt

Headrest fabric

headrest padding

Headrest cardboard {you will know when you take it apart}

Ok, so that was the first part of my list and I was very meticulous. The reason is because you will want to know in what order to put it back together, and all you will have to do is start from the bottom of your list and work towards the top until you are replacing the back. 

3.  Choose a fabric that has a design. Not a geometric design because then you have to piece it just perfect which can cause a lot of stress if this is your first time. Also, do not use fabric that is just one color because then you will see every mistake that you make if you don't pull it tight enough, or it tufts in one spot. Now if you get a random pattern, like the one I used, it is perfect because it hides any mistakes, but it is not a geometric pattern {reoccuring pattner} so I didn't have to line it up perfectly. 

4.  Save ALL the pieces of fabric that you take off. You will use these pieces as the pattern to cut out your new fabric. I needed 7 yards of fabric for this chair. I would say this is a pretty safe bet for any chair that is even somewhat large. Each piece that you take off, label it. I used a big old sharpie and drew on each ugly yellow piece of fabric so I would know exactly where it needed to go. 

5. Save ALL the materials that they originally used for the chair. I reused padding, buttons {I just covered them with my fabric, gluing it over the original fabric}, the cardboard strip, and the nails. ANYTHING that you can salvage to use again will save you money. 

TAKING IT APART:

1.  On most any chair, you will start with the back. Just pry that back slab off with a screw drived. Stick the screw driver in the side and pry it off.

2. After that you will see all the staples that you will need to remove so that you can take the rest of the fabric off the chair. If you need any extra help in understanding how to remove the fabric from the chair, look up reupholstering on youtube, there were some good ideas. 

I am very pleased with this chair. It was a very difficult one to start with because of the tufting on the back and arms, but it was worth it because I loved the shape of the chair, but HATED the color. 

I did not put specific pictures of me taking it apart or putting it back together because none of it would have helped you unless you had a chair EXACTLY like this one. That is why I just put the steps that I used to reupholster this chair. 

However, I do have the pictures of taking this chair apart very meticulously. If you find that you are confused on a step, feel free to email me and ask questions, I would love to help you and share any knowledge that I have from finishing this chair. 

HAVE FUN!!