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If you’ve ever been tempted to take on an upholstery project but were intimidated by the enormity of the job, or are looking to get started with upholstery in general but don’t know where to begin, dining chairs could be a quick and easy job, with a high ROI. Or so I thought.
In my previous post I shared a set of antique dining chairs I found on Facebook Marketplace, and talked about my plans for a quick makeover. Today I’m here to share the outcome (and eat my words). The chairs were simple enough to reupholster, but the whole process took much longer than anticipated, and needed skills I did not possess but had to acquire quickly.
Despite their beautiful design, the chairs were in very poor condition. The frames were wobbly and creaky and most of the joints needed re-gluing. The mahogany finish was also in need of a refresh, faded and scratched, and sticky with grime from years of use. But the biggest surprise were the seats – dipped and loose and mushy, and very uncomfortable. So for the first time in my upholstery journey, a chair project required more than just new batting and new fabric, but a complete carpentry repair of the frame and fresh webbing for reinforced seat support.
While not my quickest makeover, this was a deeply satisfying job. I learned a lot and ended up enjoying the process quite a bit, which was a nice surprise. For those of you interested in taking on a similar project, I made a list of the things I did, most importantly, what worked and the products I would highly recommend (linked below).
- To fix any loose joints, you’ll need some wood glue and an assortment of carpentry clamps.
2. To restore the wood finish, I found an easy shortcut while researching different methods online, and it worked really well. First, clean any grime and sticky areas with a microfiber cloth and some lukewarm soapy water. I used a few drops of Dawn but any dish detergent will do.
Once the frames are clean and dry, some fine steel wool pads dipped in Howard’s Restor-A-Finish (Walnut) will smooth out any superficial scratches, leaving the wood finish revived, velvety and soft.
3. To seal everything and add some luster to the wooden frames, a clean rag with some dollops of Howard’s Feed-N-Wax makes a world of difference, and pairs beautifully with Howard’s Restor-A-Finish.
A word of warning: I learned this the hard way but, ideally, all of these repairs need to happen after you’ve removed the old upholstery but before the new fabric goes on. It’s common sense but if you’re tempted by a shortcut, like I was, the new fabric could get stained.
4. Materials: The essential materials for reupholstering these chairs were the usual set of suspects: cotton webbing, batting, muslin, pipping (optional) and a choice of top fabric. To give you an estimate in terms of yardage, I used 0.75 yards per chair, plus contrasting fabric needed for the pipping.
So, after many weeks and several messes and missteps, the makeover is now complete, and I am looking for a new project to get my hands on. Here they are in our dining room!
For the top fabric, I reused parts of an old IKEA sofa slipcover and I have plans for future seat slipcovers to protect their life, but also to switch things up seasonally. (The chandelier is a vintage piece I adore and bought at Brimfield last year.)
If you’d like to know more about this dining room chair makeover and the upholstery process and other tools, products and materials used, let me know. Take care!
Beautiful work, Eva! I know these took a while, but it was so worth it. I’d love to see more of your Brimfield finds. I’ve never been but have always wanted to go. Thanks so much!