by Steven Vryce

Created on: July 25, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2011

Can you afford the outrageous prices furniture galleries charge for a dining room set, or even a single chair? Want to easily, and cheaply, change the look of your dining room without any painting? Whether reviving old dining room chairs, or simply retouching those old chairs from the thrift store, is easier than it looks, and can change the entire ambiance of a room. Dining room chairs are a great place for the beginner to learn basic upholstery techniques. I recently purchased six chairs at a local Goodwill for a table I had refinished last summer. Never having upholstered anything before, I relied solely on the knowledge of others via the great information oracle; the internet.

Although the design and structure of dining room chairs vary immensely, if working with an older chair (like those typically found at a thrift store), it will often consist of a wood frame, and the seating portion itself. The upholstery is located around the seat of the chair, so an intentionally narrow focus has been applied to examine just this portion of the chair.

A few items are necessary to have on hand before starting your upholstery task. These items are as follows: Phillips and flat head screwdrivers, a staple gun, foam padding, and replacement fabric. The screwdriver and staple gun are easily obtained from your local hardware store. The foam padding and fabric can be found at any fabric store.

Before anything else, measure the width and length of your chair seat. This will aid you in procuring the appropriate amount of fabric and foam padding. Now flip the chair over and use a Phillips head screwdriver to unscrew the four long wood screws holding the seat in place (using an electric screwdriver can really speed up the process). Set the wooden frame of the chair aside for now and place the seat cushion-side down on the ground. You will see staples holding the fabric on the underside of the seat. These will need to be removed. Use the leverage of a flat head screwdriver to pry the staple loose. Particularly stubborn staples can be pulled loose with a pair of pliers (vice grips seem to work best). Once all of the staples have been removed, the fabric will pull off with ease.

Having successfully removed the fabric, I found that there was more than one layer! Apparently, a few other people had previously had the same upholstery idea as myself. Each layer of fabric revealed efforts from the previous decade. After removing the '90s striped fabric, the obscenely bright colors of

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