DIY chair

So recently I reupholstered a chair, and I thought it would be fun to blog about it!  I don't normally do this sort of thing, but I do do a lot of DIY crafty stuff.  I am hoping to post more DIY projects in the future.

This is my chair...

It was from Argos about seven years ago and was very cheap.  The framework is completely fine, but the plastic covering had begun to peel off.  It seems a shame to throw an otherwise good chair away, so I thought why not give upholstery a bash?  There was very little to loose as it was looking pretty sorry for itself and very cheap in the first place!

The first thing I did was to look through my Mum's fabric stash.  As I am a student and generally moving from house to house each year, I wasn't bothered about finding fabric to fit with any colour scheme or room in particular.  My main concern was to find a durable fabric that I vaguely liked and went with the chair. Over the years of doing DIY projects I have learnt to be open minded about pattern, what looks good on it's own often doesn't look good in the finished project, and something that seems horrendous may go really well.

There were two corduroy options that I liked, but thought they might be uncomfortable to sit on, and perhaps cling to jeans.  There was also some left over curtain fabric that I liked, but I eventually settled on some upholstery fabric that Mum had been given for free in the past.  It was only slightly bigger than what I needed, and goes well with the silver of the chair so I thought why not!

Tools required:
-Screwdriver
-Scissors
-Staple gun
-Pliers to pull out staples that do not lie flat
-Some sort of tool for making holes in fabric (I used a seam ripper)


Materials used
-Fabric


Basic steps:

1. Unscrewed the seat and back rest of chair to check that everything that needs to come off will do, and can be put back.  
2. Remove plastic covering, smooth excess foam round to the back secure with staples.
3. Cut fabric to size (I made a minor error here by cutting the fabric the wrong way round with the pattern going horizontal rather than vertical, but it worked out ok as I had enough excess to switch it!) 
4. Staple fabric to chair pulling out any staples that do not lie flat, this was tricky with the back rest as it is completely curved, so it was difficult to get it lying flat in order to staple.
   
5. Ensure foam and fabric are lying flat on underside of chair and attach panel, make holes for screws.
   
6. Clean framework of chair and assemble pieces.

The fabric is definitely not my usual style but as I say, something I would have usually liked may not have worked.  I like how the fabric goes with the colour of the chair.  I could have repainted the framework, but that would have taken a lot of time and extra energy that I really don't have.