How to Repair a Cat Scratched Chair or Sofa

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Today I repaired our chair that our 2 angelic Kitty Cat’s scratched the heck out of. I love this red chair and I found it at a thrift store last year for $30. Our kitties just fell in love with it and have made it their personal scratching posts. I thought about taking it out to the curb with a free sign on trash day and then…………………………….. I thought let me see if I an fix it and make it look better.
That’s Oreo and his sister Chloe is running around somewhere.
You can see where they really scratched it up on the left, with stuffing coming out and then a little on the right. Now since I didn’t pay a lot for it, I knew if I ruined it, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
This red chair usually sits in my hubs Steeler’s themed Tv. Room (click to see that makeover) and then during holidays like 4th of July and Christmas I bring it into the Living Room.


Here want to laugh??? As I was measuring and dragging out the ironing board and supplies this is what I came back to. Coco in the chair and the two cats Oreo and Chloe above. They all wanted in on the action and wondered what I was up to.
Aren’t they funny? We have a mini zoo here with 2 dogs and 3 cats and we LOVE them to death and if you want to learn more about them click here to see the Dogs & Cats of Concord Cottage. 4 of the 5 were adopted from shelters and are the best pets we could ask for.
My plan was to use the red piece of fabric on the under side of the cushion. Again this is not a fancy chair, it doesn’t get sat in daily and it usually get’s used when we have company on Sundays….lol. So I’m not suggesting you go cut up your Ethan Allen furniture by any means. This is what worked for me.
I used a Waverly Decorator Red, white n blue plaid fabric I had and cut it the size of the bottom of the cushion. I folded the edges under and pinned it right into the piping seam and pressed it. I then sewed the plaid fabric right onto the cushion. The professional way would be to take it all apart and sew it together the right way. I wasn’t going for professional though, I was going for quick and easy.
I cut a big rectangle out of the cushion side where I had just sewn the plaid fabric.
then cut this into two patches and rounded the edges like a patch on a mans sleeves…..lol. I used pinking shears so the edges didn’t ravel.
This is my favorite secret weapon tool – Heat n Bond!!! It is a miracle worker and I use it for so many things. Anytime you want to applique anything this is your friend and it’s also great for hems in pants too. You can get it at Walmart or fabric stores for about $4-5. You iron it on, then peel it off and then iron that piece on. Here it is ironed on and then I peel the paper.
I then placed my patches where I wanted them with the chair on it’s back, sprayed them with water and began ironing. Taking my time I really made sure they stuck.
Voila, Chair makeover minus cat scratch fever. Omg I am so happy now every time I walk by it. Now I may even add some whip stitches later for interest but for now this is just great.
Here’s the cushion flipped over with the red, white n blue plaid. How cute is that??? If you want to see our Pottery Barn Inspired Americana Pillow there is a post on here too. We’ll be so festive for 4th of July too.


There are more details on the blog and also I new spray I found to help with my kitty cats scratching in the future too. Come on over and say hi.


Have a great day and thanks for stopping by, Lisa
ConcordCottage.com with Lisa Walsh Huff Kroll
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Jill Marie Jill Marie on Oct 07, 2020

    Smarty Pockets! Lovely!!

  • Stevemar2 Stevemar2 on May 26, 2022

    Do you think this would work on leather sofas? I’m not familiar with that bonding material, but I think I will get some just to have on hand.

  • Peggymac Peggymac on Jun 03, 2022

    Amazing!!! I must try. I'd also love to know the spray you found to keep your kitties from scratching. You said to go to your blog to read more about that. Is that concordcottage.com? Seems like it's no longer there. Thank you SO much, Lisa!!

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  • Peggy L Burnette Peggy L Burnette on Jan 02, 2023

    Yes we have all rescues too. 2 dogs each over 100 pounds each and 8 cats (we live rural and they were dumped on us). Beautiful job and beautiful critters.

  • Kim Kim on Jan 03, 2023

    Just one rescue cat, well behaved except for a piece of furniture or two he seems to like to scratch the lower front below the armrests (on occasion) Bad cat😽But he is loved. Thanks I think I’ll give fixing mine a try. Hope it turns out well.🤗

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