A couple of months ago I was walking home from the store pushing a stroller loaded with my son and groceries and I stumbled upon this chair sitting on the sidewalk. Though the upholstery was in bad shape and not really my taste to begin with, I loved the shape of the chair and didn't want to risk it by coming back for it later.
So I scooped it up with one hand and lugged it the few blocks home. It sat in my basement for a while before I was able to give it some attention but I think the end result was well worth the wait and the sore arm from carrying it home.
I needed to do this chair for next to nothing so I was patient and faithfully checked the remnant section of my local discount fabric store until I found something I loved at a price I could manage. I finally stumbled across some fabric that was exactly what I was looking for &mdash and only $1.99 a yard. Because I had all the tools and most of the other materials on hand, I was able to do this whole project for less than $10.
I was able to manage the whole project without any sewing, which might have been even more exciting to me than the steal I got on the fabric since sewing is not my strength. I love the end result and the way it looks in the space. It is a great size for my small apartment and you can't beat the price!
Images: Kate Wangsgard
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Beautiful!
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Great job! Love the pattern too.
Love this look. Well done!
so how did you do this without sewing?? glue and staple guns???
looks great. I have the same shape chairs from West Elm, and I know C&B has something similar too.
yes, please elaborate on the actual process. I have a chair, tight seat, tight back, that I'd love to change, but haven't figured out how.
Very nice! I love a happy ending.
i like how the process is not mentioned at all.
Love it! I am very envious of your skills and your street find!
The chair looks great! Honestly, I thought you were going to say that you left your groceries & son on the sidewalk while you pushed the chair home :) Just kidding!
I don't understand how you did that without sewing.
I have a chair with similar issues (cracked upholstery, dated) - I'd love to hear about your process! Maybe a tutorial of some sort?
Yes, please show a tutorial on how you did this without sewing. I can sew, but it's hard for me to get the shapes right on a chair.
I too am so impressed by your skills. Last night, armed with new fabric and a staple gun, I tried to reupholster a mid-century dining chair (only the seat and back strip to cover) and was totally defeated - I just don't know how to get the fabric taught and neat over the curves of the wood. *sigh* Tutorial?
Me too me too: I have just such a freebie chair, and have no clue how to start. What tools did you already have? I can't afford hundreds of dollars for a reupholsterer.
I've done similar chairs and I suspect creative stapling and a touch of glue here and there did the trick.
Taut, lolafabiola. Doubt you could teach a chair anything.
Sorry, lolafabiola. Studying for grad finals. Grumpy.
Give it up - let us know how your performed such feats of magic! It looks too awesome.
I'd love to hear how you did this- its a project I've always wanted to try, but never had the guts. Please share!
Looks good!
I have the same exact chair, but in off-white. I'm dying to know how you did that.
I agree with everyone else - tutorial please! I'm looking for some cheap options to add some seating to my living room, and would love a chair like this!
This article is just a tease without the information about how you covered the chair without sewing. No fair.
Thanks for all the nice comments! It was much easier than I expected. The hardest part was getting the pattern lined up on each piece. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the process but will try to put together a tutorial for a future post. I used iron-on fabric adhesive to make the edging (instead of sewing it together) then stapled it on. Other than that it was just lot and lots of staples.
pmaher, I, too am studying for grad finals. At this point, I think the average chair has more capacity for brain function than I do.
Impressive and inspiring !!!
Very nice...
For real you need to give more detail than that! Otherwise I am dubious of this accomplishment. Looks great though.
I have that EXACT same chair in the same crappy condition- just yellow.
Please do a tutorial, because I would love to redo mine too!
This looks great!
Nicely done!
Just proves what a little imagination and elbow grease can do. Great job.
Another call for a tutorial!
What a great transformation -- excellent job!
pmaher and baba yaga - and I'm writing a doctoral dissertation at Harvard. Not sarcasm, a fact. Perhaps I couldn't teach a chair anything but I teach Harvard undergrads. Thanks. You'd be amazed how many people I don't call on their typos or other stupid comments on blogs for that matter.
And thank you, Kate, for the added info on how you reupholstered the chair (what I came back here for). I would very much love a tutorial.
Cara Russe:
But you're calling me out for trying to inject a little lightness into the post? Amazing. After taking the time to point out how effing smart you are, and how you are above pointing out how stupid other people's comments are, you do just that. Well, you're unintentionally funny, anyways.
baba yaga: I realized later that I misread your post (and pmaher's too for that matter). "I doubt you can teach a chair anything" was a play on my misspelling, not a personal attack implying that if I can't spell I'm too dumb to teach, which is where my exhausted, sleep- deprived brain took it. Clearly I can't neither spell nor read this week... so much for effing smart, lol. Sorry.
baba yaga- overreact much?