When we left for Spain 3 years ago, we were forced to lighten our load. We had an old, heavy table that we decided to part with. At the time, i assumed that when we got to Spain, we would just buy a used table at a yard sale or thrift store. Unfortunately, the Spaniards don’t do either. Our only option (well, besides cardboard boxes) was a dinette set with fabric covered chairs.
Cream colored chairs.
They were cream colored anyway, until we pulled off the plastic.
Needless to say, when we arrived here in Kansas, recovering the chairs was a priority. I have never recovered anything before, but I figured I couldn’t make them look any worse.
My son and I started on the first chair. In theory, the job should have been very simple. You take a butter knife or staple remover or flat head screwdriver or something and pry the staples out. Apparently the staples were made of titanium or something because they would not budge. A couple of hours into the job and my husband took pity on me and helped us out.
Here’s how he did it:
The seats to the chairs screwed onto the frame. He turned the chairs over and unscrewed the seats from the frames.
After removing the seats, he turned them over and took out the staples. Then he took off the old fabric. We used the old fabric as a pattern to cut out the new fabric. I bought the new covering at Hancock’s…just a fake leather type fabric. I wanted something I could easily wash off after each meal.
BTW, if you are a homeschooler, ask for a teacher discount card. They let me combine the discount card with a coupon for a really great deal!
Once we cut out the new fabric, one of us would stretch the fabric over the cushion while the other stapled it down.
Once the seats were recovered, it was just a matter of screwing them back on to the frame.
A look at our “new” chairs…
