Upholstered Chairs Makeover
For many years I have owned a grand table set that I bought from a dealer that dealt in mid century hotel furniture. The table was made by McGuire of San Fransisco in the 1960's and came out of the MGM hotel. Through the years the chairs were reupholstered, as you can see in the pic the old chairs were in desperate need of new upholstery and a new makeover. The set is made out of high quality rattan cane.
I started by taking all of the upholstery off of the chairs. What an ordeal that was, tonsssssss of staples! Once I had the chairs bare naked I began by sanding the old finish of the rattan, it really came off easy. After sanding I cleaned the chair well with soap and water. I air dried them well. I used a spray primer to prime the chair. After they dried I spray painted them with Rust-Oleum Chalked paint in Chiffon Cream. I found the paint to be a little to pricy for the coverage but I had to try it! :)
After drying I started the upholstery. I chose a tropical feel fabric to reupholster them with. I wanted them to look fresh and airy. I used the old fabric as a pattern to cut the new fabric. I stapled the back of the top of the chair leaving about 2" all the way around. I'm not sure why so much but it was the way it was:) After I stapled the back I stapled these nylon strips in a cross pattern, just the way it was before.
Then I stapled the foam back in the chair and stapled the fabric to the front top of the chair. I used the old foam since it was in great shape.
When I cut the front piece to the chair I used the old one, bad decision! I never clued in that the fabric needed to be larger than the old one so I had enough material to staple it to the chair, obviously it had already been trimmed ....... Lol once I clued in, it went smoothly!
After I stapled the front piece I was able to trim it to size. Front and back done! After that I went after the seats. Easy-peasy. I took the dust covers and the old upholstery off, cut the piece of fabric to fit the old one and started stapling. I did 3 staples in the middle of each side then continued to the corners keeping the fabric tight. Cushions done!
After I was done all of the upholstery I finished the chairs by adding a silk trim to cover the staples around the top fron of the chairs. I did this by using the glue gun. Voila, finished chairs!
The set looked amazing, so good I sold it! My friend/client that owns an antique store in my area could not resist it so she bought it for her store. It didn't last long in there either, it found a new home!
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4 of 15 comments
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Loving the fabric!
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The fabric is beautiful......
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Your chairs are beautiful! I recently purchased two bamboo chairs and I am in the process of refinishing them. Now I can't wait to finish them! You did a great job! Love them!
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Thank you Tonya! I'm sure yours will turn out amazing!
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