Reupholstering the Blue Chair

Well, we did it! We tackled the blue chair this weekend, and I have to say I love the results. I can't take too much credit, because I was mostly just a helper in this project. I have a tendency to be a "finisher," which means I get things done... but not always in the right way. Matt's the opposite. He won't start a project unless he can do it right. We frustrate each other, but I think we're a pretty good team. Especially on this one, since we got the project done, and did it right.

Vinyl blue chair: Before

We took the dust guard off the bottom of the chair, and unbolted the arms. This gave us room to wrap the fabric pieces around each individual part of the chair (arms, seat and back) and then staple at the bottom. It worked much better than my original plan, which was to slipcover. It ended up looking much more tailored.

The chair was super gross in between the cushions. Whomever had the chair before me must have had a Kraft cheese and crackers obsession, as I found a bunch of those little red sticks. Shudder.

We added a small piece of foam over the cushion that we had leftover from another project. It covered up the rip in the vinyl, and made it cushier to sit on.

Basically, we wrapped the arms entirely, and stapled along the bottom. Then we wrapped the seat in fabric, and stapled on three sides (tucking it in as far as we could on the fourth side, the center of the chair). On the back we tucked in the middle, then wrapped the fabric around and stapled underneath. I may go back and sew a stitch or two to secure the back piece of fabric to the arms.

The project took about three hours, and an extra trip to JoAnn's for more fabric. We used about 4 yards, and have quite a few scraps leftover to make a couple throw pillows for the couch. We spent about $60, so 10 times the cost of the chair itself (a garage sale find), but not a bad price for a custom arm chair.

I now have my cozy little reading chair. Except the cats won't leave it alone. :) I am so happy that we transformed one of my favorite pieces of furniture, and hopefully have given it a whole new lease on life. I had this chair in my living room since I moved out on my own 11 years ago. I love the clean lines and the retro styling, but it had seen better days. Now it is softer and cozier, and perfect for our playroom.