Crafts: Re-upholstered Chairs

We got these chairs from my parents when they updated their home two years ago. They were thinking of throwing them out but I quickly interjected and made plans to re-upholster them. 

 These chairs have beautifully carved backs and legs (wish I could say the same thing for myself.) The only thing in need of a makeover was the cushions. We found this great textured fabric from The Upholstery shop (on Elden St) and began the transformation. We saved the original foam, but you can easily change it out for your own chairs. We used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the chair.  The trick is to start in the middle of one side, making sure your design is centered, then going to the opposite side and staple in the center of that side to create tension.  You will want to keep pulling each side tightly so there is no slack in the fabric.  We alternated stapling opposite sides then moved on to the other two sides continuing the same pattern until the whole piece of fabric was stapled.   After the fabric was attached, we cut the excess off and covered the trimmings with gimp.  You can find a varied selection of gimp at any Joanns Fabric store.   

I must admit Ricky did most of the work, and I'm sure he did much better than I would have being the perfectionist that he is. I think they turned out well and look much better in our living room than they would have in a dumpster! 

We did another chair make-over with a chair that sister Laurie T. gave us.  The chair was in really good condition so there was no maintenance necessary.  We wanted to experiment a little bit more with this chair so we decided to paint the wood then get a fabric that matched to cover the padding with.  First, we took off all of the old padding and fabric.  Next we sanded all of the wood then painted it with a white primer.  After several coats of paint we got out our staple gun and added the padding and fabric.  We used a sealer for the wood and finished the fabric edges with more gimp.  

We really enjoy "up-cycling" furniture and figure it is a good way to beautify our home and be green while saving some green as well.  I know we have many creative individuals in our ward who have more great ideas.  Have you ever up-cycled furniture?  Completed a craft on a budget?  Feel free to provide your ideas and share the creative wealth!  

By Mindy G.