DIY Tutorial: Reupholster a chair

Happy new year, folks! So we made it to 2013, didn't we.... phew :P

The past 2 months have been a whirlwind. L.A.R.K was awarded the 2nd place by the panel of creative judges in Levi's You're Gonna Be Great (which comes with a much appreciated cash prize from Levi's too-- more on that in another post), I made a wedding gown for a dear friend (can't wait to post the pictures!), a collaboration with Notanotherbill appeared on British Vogue (whatttt... gosh!), and I saw some amazing sunsets with the husband at Kota Kinabalu when we travelled there for a wedding. WOW.

Anyway, here's something I did a while back. First of all, I have to say, when I held a power drill for the first time and "fired" it, I was taken aback for a bit. And then I just wanted to run all over town and drill stuff. Chairs, doors, cars, airplanes, burgers... Thankfully for my own sanity I have only gone as far as furniture.

You will need:

Chair to reupholster

Power drill *

Staple gun

Upholstery weight fabric

* You can also use a power screwdriver, or a regular screwdriver for this project :)

Find a chair that you would like to reupholster. Your chair may not look like this, but really all you have to inspect is where the screws that hold the fabric parts (back rest and seat pillows) to the frame of the chair are. 

For this chair, the seat pillow was attached to the wooden frame with 4 screws (marked with x's above). Remove those screws.

Pop out the seat pillow. Don't sit on the chair! ;-)

Staple your new fabric around the seat pillow, making sure the staple bullets latch onto the wood/chipboard plank to secure the hold well.

Fold the corners so they look crisp. Think of it as wrapping a present with wrapping paper :D

Repeat the steps for the back rest. The screws on this chair that held the back rest pillow to the wooden frame were located on the sides (marked with the X's above).

For the back rest pillow, take note to overlap the edges of your fabric on the underside of the pillow so that the staple bullets are not visible from the top of the chair. Also take note that the side staples are placed away from where the screw holes are, or there might be difficulty in screwing it in.

Pop back the pillow pieces into the frame, and screw back the screws in. If you're using a power drill or an electric screwdriver, hand-screw the screws into the holes halfway or so to help guide them in smoothly.

And... TADA!

Enjoy your new-ish chair! :)

Have you reupholstered your own furniture before?

And, are my feelings for the power drill unhealthy? LOL :P

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