Bring new life to an old or second-hand chair with great bones by re-upholstering it. Instead of paying for someone to upholster a chair, try it yourself, it is not as difficult as it may seem. Your efforts will be well worth it as adding a new fabric is an affordable way to give a fresh look to a worn-down or dated chair.

What You Will Need:

• Upholstered chair
• Upholstery fabric
• Upholstery scissors
• Staple gun and staples

• Fabric edging
• Pliers
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Upholster foam (only necessary if the old foam is not plush enough)
• Paint brush (only if painting the frame of the chair)
• Iron and ironing board
• Acrylic or Oil paint (only if painting the frame of the chair)

How To Re-Upholstering A Chair:

1. Find an upholstered chair that has a shape that you like, either within your own home or by purchasing a second hand chair from a consignment store or garage sale.
2. Remove all the existing fabric on the chair, including any edging by using pliers or ripping it off carefully by hand. Try your best to remove the fabric in one solid piece so that you will be able to use the fabric later as a template with your new fabric. Typically the easiest way to remove the fabric from a chair is to start from the bottom of the chair and use pliers to remove all the existing staples that were holding the fabric in place then slowly pull the fabric removing additional staples when necessary.
3. Optional step: Paint the frame of the chair using acrylic or oil paint. Paint the frame of the chair in two coats of acrylic or oil paint and allow the paint to dry fully before continuing working on the chair.

1. Determine how much fabric you will need either by measuring the chair, or by measuring the fabric removed from the chair. Make sure to include additional fabric in your calculations for mistakes as it is always better to have a bit extra.
2. Purchase your new fabric and iron it to remove any wrinkles or creases within the fabric.
3. Using the old fabric pieces as a template cut out a piece of the new fabric using upholstery scissors that is one to two inches larger on all sides.
4. If the chair is not plush enough cut out a piece of foam to the exact size required and place it on the chair. For more information on cutting upholster foam see here.
5. Attach the new fabric onto the chair by carefully stapling the fabric to the chair either underneath or around the bottom edge. Ensure the fabric stays smooth and tight while stapling all the fabric in place.
6. Remove the excess fabric using upholstery scissors cutting the fabric as close to the stapled edge as possible.
7. Using a hot glue gun, glue the fabric edging around the edges of the fabric covering all the staples. Allow the glue to dry before using the chair.

DIY Blogger Spotlight: This breathtaking re-upholstered chair was created from Sammi from Every Home Is A Castle, a DIY blog written by Sammi and her husband Simon. Visit Every Home Is A Castle to see more of Sammi’s amazing DIY projects.

Do you have a DIY Project you would like featured here? Email it to diy@aboutguide.com including the photo(s) of the project you would like to be featured.