This weekend, I worked on a reupholstery project for our dining room. Our chairs are over 10 years old and were barely more comfortable than sitting on a piece of plywood. Something had to be done, and buying new chairs that might not match the table didn’t really seem like a good solution. Also, buying an all new table and chair set wasn’t really something we wanted to do either. So I decided it was time for me to learn how to reupholster!

After hours of searching for fabric, I ended up getting fabric in the “discount” pile at S.R. Harris (I put discount in quotes because…is it really a discount when everything in the store is already discounted??). Originally, I had wanted to go with something that would be a bit more durable than canvas, but I couldn’t find anything that I really liked. I would have loved something in purple or a bright orange, but in the upholstery sections, those were very outdoor furniture looking. Although thinking about it now, who doesn’t want pink flamingos on their chairs year round?!

I was a little nervous about reupholstery, since I have learned how home improvement sites can make things seem really easy, and then, when I’m in the middle of the project, I realize how out of my league I am, and have a mess of stuff that I’m not sure how to make better or how to put back to its original form (Yes. I’m talking about retiling the bathroom…). But luckily, this was not too difficult. Really, the hardest part was getting the staples out! The second hardest part was getting the corners to look nice. The tutorial I was following was for a chair that goes into a frame, and the sides are hidden, so the wrap they did on the corners didn’t quite work right on my chairs, so I just winged it. They’re not perfect, but they’ll do. My only fear is that I didn’t wrap everything tight enough and it comes undone. That would mean I would have to remove more staples! Nooooooo!

For now, we are getting used to the surprise of having a really cushy seat under our butts, when we are used to sitting on plywood! I hope this lasts, but if it doesn’t, that just means that I can change out the fabric and maybe find something I like more. Maybe I will just change the chairs up as they come apart, and then all of the chairs can be different. That could be fun! (This is my way of pumping myself up, in case I have to deal with removing more staples…I put a LOT of staples in these chairs…)