Dad & Daughter DIY - Chair Cushions That Pop

Jim Cox
by Jim Cox
2 Materials
$17
1 Hour
Easy

New chair cushions for my daughter's apartment needed to be brightened up a bit. She bought some material and said " Dad can you help me? "


Here's how we handled it

Here are the cushions that came with my daughter's new dining set. It's her first apartment on her own and she's paying attention to every little detail.

She bought two yards of this material at a local fabric store. This material will be easy to work with


(In my opinion it's not very durable, but she's single and lives alone, so she can rotate the chairs, and it's easy enough to change out if they show wear or she changes her mind)

We put a cushion upside down on the material and cut a piece to fit with some room to spare

Pulled up one side and attached with my air powered staple gun. We used 3/4" long staples. Any longer and they might have been felt through the cushion (we DID test for this). We pulled the material tight and stapled the the other side, then the back, and finally the front. The first cushion took her ten minutes, after that five minutes each.

After the material was all stapled in place, we had lots of excess in the corners we simply trimmed with a pair of scissors.

Here is my bashful/reluctant daughter posing with her first cushion. (That odd thing sticking out to the right is my telescope ; )

I sat each cushion on the edge of my fireplace and gave it a good sitting workout. I didn't want a staple injuring someone later. Here they are stacked up and ready to go back to her house.

She had already assembled her chairs. I simply attached the cushions with the original hardware from the furniture manufacturer

Here is here dining area. I'm really proud of her for wanting this look. It's a darn sight better than that muddy brown she purchased. I'm not an upholsterer, but I think we got the look she wanted and saved her a ton of money in the process. Not bad for a college girl!


I supplied the staples. I used way less that 10% of a $10 box, so I listed $1 in the cost below. As far as tools, it's a $29 air-powered staple gun from Harbor Freight.


Please comment if you have ideas that can help the next person, and as always - Happy Hometalking!

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Frequently asked questions
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  3 questions
  • Deborah Deborah on Dec 30, 2020

    I have circular attached cushions and need a desperate need of a makeover. My attempt left a lot of puckers and not looking even and tight. What would you recommend?

  • Evon Evon on Jan 05, 2021

    Since the cushions are not real thick, when you sit on those cushions, wouldn't the staples pinch?

  • Joanne Joanne on Jan 29, 2021

    Any solution to covering attachable cushions so the bottom doesn’t show? Or do you just keep one side up?

    Thank you

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