Let’s face it,  sometime in your life,  it’s nice to have a little change and, maybe get  a little “work” done. Nothing major, just a little freshening up.  A snip here and a tuck there. Just a little tightening and firming  around the edges does wonders for your “assets”.  Age just seems to sneak up on you, and you start to notice those fade spots, wrinkling, and sagging.  So, if you just can’t stand it anymore, bite-that-bullet and  go  under-the-knife!  You’ll be glad you did.  Yes sir-ee… those old chair cushions never looked so good!!   (watch out, laugh lines).

It was time to recover my dining chairs, they were showing their age spots and I wanted a little update as well.  So I scrubbed, and assembled the instruments… a screwdriver, staple gun, scissors, needle-nose pliers, and 1- 1/2 yards of fabric for 4 chairs,  ($8. a yd. on sale).  The operation proceeded under the sedating drip of a Diet Coke. Luckily, there were no complications and the patient was back in the recovery room just in time to dine.  This is one of easiest “band-aid” fixes you could do to add a new life to your dining room without  major surgery.

Here’s the simple process…( since a word is blocked because of inappropriate dual meaning, I will replace, “what you do with a screwdriver”, with “threaded fastener” for the blocked word…yes, I know).

Most seat cushions are attached to the frames by “threaded fasteners”. Turn the chairs over and unfasten the seats from the frames.

Once the seat is off, take off the old fabric by removing the staples that hold it on.

Use the old fabric, off the chair,  for a pattern for the new covers.

Lay out the fabric to fit all covers, and cut out each one, from the pattern.

Lay the seat upside down on the new fabric and pull up fabric around all 4 sides.

Staple in the center of each side first, pulling fabric fairly tight as you go.

Then staple all around the sides and the corners last.

For corners, gather the fabric evenly around the corners,  and wrap up over the corners and then staple in place.

Trim excess fabric so the “threaded fastener” holes in the seats are exposed.

Set seat back on the frame and attach it with the old “threaded fasteners”.

 I think you’ll like how the new seats look. I like mine. I used a stylized black and white coral pattern to go with my decor. Pick a fabric that works with your decor and your “lunchtime lift” will be complete and painfree.

Well that’s it, from the land of the stretched, stitched, suctioned, and stuffed (Orange County, Ca.).  Here’s to looking fantastic… figuratively and decoratively!!  (hay, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to keep up appearances).

Happy Dining!

(click on photos to enlarge)