something old is new again

by tammy

- September 27th, 2009

A few years back I snatched a pair of these chairs from the dumpster outside my apartment. They were in fair condition… the legs needed to be detached, sanded and then reattached with some super-strength Gorilla Wood Glue. The seats were also a bit torn, but I put some pillows on top, and they were good to go.

A couple months ago I was out to lunch with some friends from work, and we walked past a reupholstering shop. They were having a vinyl sale, so we popped in for a peek. For $22 I got (a little more than) a yard of teal vinyl with the kitchen chairs in mind.

Since the seats were still in fair condition, with only a few minor rips and tears, I decided to take a short-cut by placing the new vinyl right over the old, eliminating the need for new padding.

The steps are outlined below… click on a thumbnail to view the full sized image.

: You will need: vinyl, sharp scissors, screwdriver, staple gun.

: Flip the chair over on a soft surface, like a rug, and unscrew the seat.

: Cut a piece of vinyl a few inches wider than the surface you want to cover.

: Place the vinyl, color side down, on the rug. Wrap the vinyl around the surface along a straight edge.

: Staple into place, flipping the seat back and forth to make sure it is smooth.

: After the first side is stapled on, flip the seat and gently stretch the vinyl to the opposite side. Flip and staple.

: I like to start the second side near the corner. Corners can be tricky, keep flipping back and forth to make sure vinyl is taught.

: For corners: pinch and tuck the vinyl in an accordian style, securing each tuck with a staple. It may not look neat, but no one looks at the bottom of your seat!