Supplies to Reupholster a Chair Seat

• Kitchen Chairs to Reupholster
• Upholstery Fabric
• Screwdriver
• Staple Handtool Remover
• Pliers
• Hammer
• Foam for replacement (if needed)*
• Fabric Scissors
• Staples
• Stapler

How to Reupholster a Chair Seat

1. Using a screw driver, unscrew the screws that hold the cushion seat bottom to the chair frame.
2. Now that you have your chair seat detached from the frame, look at how much fabric you have on your current chair bottom. If the current upholstered seat cushion has a thinner fabric and you feel like adding another fabric layer on top will be fine, proceed to Step 5.
3. If the upholstery fabric on the seat bottom is thicker, let's take the original upholstery off. To take off the original chair seat upholstery, use a flat head screwdriver and pliers to pull out each of the staples. If you have brads instead of staples, it's the same process. You just need to pry up the head of each brad and pull it out with pliers.
4. Once you remove the old seat upholstery, keep the old fabric because you will be using the old upholstery as the cutting template for your new seat cushions.
5. Update your foam cushion if needed. Cut the cushion to size with a serrated knife.
6. Using your old fabric as a template (or the size of the seat bottom, plus 2" on each side), cut your new upholstery fabric to size.
7. Lay the fabric face down on the floor. Place the cushion on the fabric and then the wood chair base next.
8. Using a staple gun and lightweight staples, test out the staples to make sure they are the right size for your chair base.
9. Starting in the middle section on each side of the chair, insert staples into the fabric on the chair base.
10. Check to make sure the fabric is pulling well, making to pull it snug but not too tight.
11. Continue stapling the upholstery fabric to the chair seat.
12. On each corner, I like to pull and staple the front portion of the fabric to the seat cushion. Then, I like to fold the side of the corner and staple that part back. When you are working to reupholster a chair seat, you need to work with the fabric to get the cleanest fold that you can on each corner.
13. Once you have your reupholstered dining chair, place the cushion on the chair frame and check to make sure it looks good. If it looks good, using a screwdriver, attach the seat base to the wood chair frame.

FAQ's on Recovering Chair Seats

Can you reupholster a chair without removing old fabric?

Yes, you add upholstery fabric for dining chairs right over the original fabric if the original fabric isn't too thick. I talked about this more in depth in the video and have reupholstered a chair without removing the fabric before. In this video I did go ahead and remove the original upholstery before recovering the dining room chairs.

Is reupholstering a chair difficult?

Reupholstering a chair seat isn't difficult. If you are recovering a kitchen chair with a basic seat, this is a great beginner project. Slowly take apart the chair cushion, taking pictures of each step (if you think you need them to remember) and then follow the steps above to replace the upholstery. You can do it!

Can I reupholster a chair myself?

If you have a simple kitchen chair seat that you want to reupholster, you can totally reupholster a chair by yourself. For a wingback chair or a chair with a skirt, I, personally would hire a professional upholsterer.

How much fabric do I need to reupholster dining chairs?

I would plan on ½ yard of upholstery fabric per seat cushion.