Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Upholster A Chair Cushion

Well, we can check cheerful desk chairs off of our wish list for the office.

how-to-paint-and-upholster-a-chair

You can read all about how I prepped, primed, & painted them here. And now for the quick upholstery deets.

Chair Done2

I had some leftover fabric from the dining room curtains on hand so I laid it over the detached seats and centered one of the grellow thingies (that’s a technical term) and trimmed the fabric around the cushion, leaving enough that I could easily pull and staple to the backside. Update: Here’s an affiliate link to the same fabric on amazon for anyone looking for it. 

Chair Upholstery1

Making sure it was staying centered, I carefully turned it over and shot four staples into it while pulling it nice and tight (I have a basic manual staple gun for around $20 from Home Depot). Those staples went in at noon, three o’clock, six o’clock, and nine o’clock.

Chair Upholstery2

That way I could flip it back over and ensure things still looked straight and that the fabric was pulled tight enough (if it wasn’t, it would just be four staples to pop out instead of a dozen). After confirming the pattern still looked nice and straight from the front, I flipped it back over and spaced out about six staples per side (while pulling the fabric tight along the way).

When it came to the corners, I just treat those like wrapping a present. It’s hard to describe in words that don’t make it sound like a super complicated ten step process (it’s not) but I basically just fold the fabric into little triangles like the side of a present and staple them until they look good from the front. The front is all that matters – so the back can look all weird like this:

Chair Upholstery3

As long as you turn it over and things look great, you’re golden.

Chair Upholstery4

So I just did the same thing with the next cushion (lining up the grellow thingies in the same way so it would look like Cushion #1’s twin). About 30 staples later that cushion was done too.

Chair Upholstery5

The entire upholstery project probably took me thirty minutes from start to finish. Maybe 45 because I kept pausing to watch Housewives of Beverly Hills. Oh and the reason I just went over the fabric that was there was because we didn’t have any cushion/fabric related issues (other than the fact that we didn’t like the fabric). So it wasn’t like we had odor problems or a flat lifeless cushion to deal with (which would have involved removing the fabric and the cushion and getting new foam from a place like JoAnn Fabric).

Then of course the hard part was waiting for my spray painted chairs to fully cure so they were nice and hard and ready for every day use abuse. I gave them two sunny days outside (which also helps speed up off-gassing since spray paint can be stinky until it’s fully cured)…

Chairs Spraypainted

… and a third day in the sunroom (with the windows cracked and the fan going to continue to allow them to completely dry before bringing them inside). Then late last night I danced a giddy little chair-time jig and slipped the newly dressed cushions onto those so-fresh-and-so-green chairs (securing them with the same four screws that I removed from the underside to free them here). The result was nothing short of magic. But the cool kind involving levitation and mind-reading. Nothing weird like a bad card trick or a double sided quarter.

This photo’s coloring is probably the most true to life (below). They look so great with the white cabinets and the dark wood counters.

Chair Done6 Color

Yeah, we’re kind of obsessed. We love how the more intense greeny-yellow in the chairs’ paint & fabric relates to the soft pop of color in the stencil. Instead of taking away or competing with the stencil, they just seem to bring out the grellow pop on the wall- so they enhance/add to it (if that makes sense). Although I’m not sure how well it’ll come across in pics (colors seem to vary by monitor). In person the pairing is pretty darn amazing.

Chair Done4

Since the stencil is so subtle and the chairs are so bold, they sort of layer in together – so it’s not chaotic and weird (which would probably happen if the stencil were more high contrast or the chairs were more washed out). The key is to keep things at different levels (ex: bold pillows on a more subtle tone on tone rug or sofa). Since if everything textile, accessory, and furnishing were fighting to be the star it might get kinda… Lady Gaga. Not that there’s anything wrong with that if it’s what you’re going for.

Chair Done2

The best view of all is through the dining room. Me-ow. And I love that the table runner is easily switched if I feel like cutting the green… but for now I dig it. Can’t wait to add some large scale art above each chair for some much needed height in the office (but nothing too crazy to compete with the chair + stencil combo).

Wide Chairs From Din

But now, back to the close ups.

Chair Done5

Chair Done1

Our office just got a whole lot happier. And we did too. Picture me serving up a nice cheesy grin.

These $35 secondhand babies have certainly come a long way. Here they are right after we bought them from a local secondhand store:

Chairs 1

And since we already had the fabric on hand, our makeover total was just $18 (the cost of three cans of Ivy Leaf spray paint from Michael’s). But if you wanted to add the initial cost of the chairs ($35 a pop) and the fabric ($12.99 for a yard, which was all I needed for both seats) it comes to a nice even $50 (and fifty cents) per chair. Which makes me all sorts of hyper since similar chairs (like these and these) are in the $200-$250 range. And don’t look now, but this guy is $694 on ebay. Woah nellie.

Oh and just to keep it random, I snapped another pic of the stencil. Because it makes me happy, and it’s so hard to capture. Elusive little guy. Of course the pop of color looks yellow in this pic, but it’s a lighter shade of the chair in real life.

Stencil Again

Have you painted or upholstered any chairs of late? Do you have extra fabric laying around that you’re itching to use? Do you have the same magic hierarchy as I do (with levitation and mind reading at the top and bad card tricks and double sided coin gags at the bottom)?

Psst- Check out the first half of this chair makeover here.

Psssst- We just announced this week’s giveaway winners. Click here to see if you’re one of them.

Comments

  1. Regan says

    Love the chairs! They’re so fresh and fun!
    By the way, can I please borrow some of your patience? I rarely wait the 72 hours to let something cure – I’m usually tapping my fingers after 15 minutes!!

    Reply

  7. toni from says

    The chairs look amazing, thanks to you I now have a grellow fixation and I am finding it everywhere, literally EVERYWHERE right now.

    Reply

  8. Tabrese says

    Oh my goodness I absolutely love how these chairs came out!!! They make me smile and the view from the dining room is amazing:-) I must admit though that the whole time I was admiring the chairs my eyes where also drawn to the new lamps. THEY STOLE THE SHOW (where did you find those beauties???)

    Reply

  11. Alisa says

    Love these chairs! They’re so happy! Are they super comfortable? I would love to do something similar in my home office, but I sit in my desk chair for 9 hours a day. I’m afraid I may be doomed to the ugly ergonomic desk chair til the end of time!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, we didn’t originally buy them for the office (we were thinking sunroom) but after sitting in them they won us over- so comfy and good for long days spent typing!

      xo,
      s

  12. Amanda says

    Love love love the colors! And I love the even though they are seperate spaces, the two rooms have some unity which makes them flow together so nicely! Great job!

    Reply

  14. Barb says

    I haven’t commented in a while but this is the BEST!!! OMG!!! The chairs are so wonderful and rich looking. Love them. This room is fast becoming my favorite room. It is B.R.I.L.L.I.A.N.T!!!!

    Bravo to you and such a great eye for style, color, and design. You are simply the BEST, Sherry!!

    B.

    Reply

  15. Darcy says

    OHH BOY! They look so soo freakin’ amazing!! I still can’t get over that stencil, I am soo in love with it. And now with the chairs in the room, it just makes the little grellow’s pop!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!

    Seriously, how are you going to get any work done?? I would just be sitting there, staring at my stenciled walls, petting the pretty chairs!!! LOL!

    Reply

  16. Kit says

    Love love love. You’ve totallly made me re-think my sewing room colour scheme. Which is good because painting begins this weekend!

    Reply

  17. Kelley says

    Nice job! I’m in the middle of some chair seats myself. I hope they turn out as well as yours did!

    I have to say though that (maybe I’m really slow) but it just now clicked with me that “grellow” was green+yellow. When you first mentioned it, for whatever reason, I was thinking grey+yellow — and was really confused when the color looked green on my screen! Doh!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, oops- should have pointed that out more clearly! It’s like when I say “ORB” and forget to mention it’s oil-rubbed bronze- I have this weird shorthand with myself. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  19. Magda says

    Do you ever worry about bedbugs when bringing in used furniture? That is something I’m paranoid about after a friend got some from furniture. Love the chairs! Great job :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      John had them in NY (and it was such a huge drama- he hated life) so we’re crazy about checking for signs of them and leaving furniture outside overnight (in the winter this kills them) or sealed in the sunroom and checking them once again before bringing things into the house. Thankfully bedbugs and their droppings are visible to the naked eye, so just checking seams and cracks of furniture and fabric can turn them up if they’re there.

      xo,
      s

  21. Nat says

    Oh my goodness! To be honest, I kind of expected you to paint it that color because it made perfect sense and knowing how much you love this color. Fabulous chairs, soo you (and soo johnatan adler;-). I’ve decided that for my new house once I am done purchaing main items like sofas I will DIY accents myself just because it brings soul into the house! You guys should have a show on HGTV, like both of you, and do on TV what you do at home. It will be a natural progression for you to fill that hole on HGTV, i.e. lack of a show that would relate to young families. I mean who can afford Candice or Color Splash makeover realy? The challenge is to realistically squish months long decision/DIY process into a 30 min show. Oh and I wish you still did the mood boards just for fun and just because ;-)

    Reply

  22. Patchofsky says

    Interesting choice! Being a bit more of a minimalist, I would have gone for a solid colour seat cover, maybe a lighter, greyish version of the lamp colour. But I enjoy the experimentation you guys have got going.

    I think there’s a typo – (but nothing too crazy to complete with the chair + stencil combo) – should read ‘…compete..’?

    Reply

  24. Paula says

    Oh! I see. They’re more “grrrr” than “ello”. I love it. If you guys decide to go a shade darker below the chair rail, then the whole thing will just be “meow”!

    Reply

  25. vicky says

    I actually did just do a chair – with wonderful, bright red script fabric. I have a thing for chairs – and I am like you in that I want them to be “happy”. Great job.

    Reply

  26. Liz says

    WOW! I’ll admit at first I didn’t like the color you chose for the chairs because I’m afraid of bold, neon-y colors, and because it was so different from the rest of the room. But now I totally get how it makes things interesting and just gives the room a punch. LOVING IT!

    Reply

  28. LIZ says

    Ok, seriously having chair envy. The green looks great in your space. I love the “risks” you have been taking with color. It’s paying off.

    ps – I also love the real time updates of your blog updates… so glad you decided to make this a priority over doing just finished project after finished project.

    Reply

  29. Anya says

    Just gotta say that I really love the fabric you used for your curtains and chair cushions! I grew up in Indonesia, which is where ikat fabric comes from.. The amazing thing about ikat is that the threads are dyed first and then woven together, giving it the fun variation and “line-y” texture to the fabric. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikat

    Reply

  30. Paige @ Final Clothes-Out says

    I really like them! They emphasize the green items on the built-ins that I hadn’t noticed much before.

    You said you might change out the green table runner someday if it got to be too much, but you could also change out those green candle holders! A little pop of some other Sue color along with the runner could be sa-weeeeeet.

    Reply

  31. Melissa Breau says

    I know you two are fans of typography… I think the office, above your desk would be an awesome place to place some long/tall typography art. I think it’d be bold, but you could do something monocromatic so it wouldn’t compete with the chairs or the stencil….

    Reply

  34. Robin says

    why I love your blog: you share the thought process, then you share LOTS of pics so I can see how it turned out. I can’t tell you how much it has helped me to work through my own decorating ideas and challenges.
    as you would say, woo to the hoo!
    Looks great – love the fabric on the seats.

    Reply

  36. Morgan says

    Sherry, I admire the way you handle negative comments. I know it is one the things that yall have learned while blogging. I just wanted to let you know that you do a wonderful job at it! Love the chairs and love the stencils. I keep telling my husband I want to do a DIY project but we just can’t seem to find the time. Hopefully soon!!

    Reply

    • Julie says

      I second this! I’m always so impressed by the way you respond to the negative comments. I love your outlook – it’s made me realize that if I love something it shouldn’t matter to me whether it’s anyone else’s cup of tea, because it’s going to make me happy every time I look at it! You guys are awesome.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks guys! Part of putting our whole house out there on the internet is knowing that not everyone would make all the same decisions if it was their house! But there’s a pretty great freedom that goes along with not worrying about trying to please the masses and just doing whatever you love in your own casa! Because I don’t think there’s a single paint color or fabric or furnishing that everyone would universally love – those are definitely personal preference things!

      xo,
      s

  38. Linda says

    The chairs, stencil and desk are beautiful, congratulations. I may be in the minority, but I think anymore grellow in the two rooms will tip the balance from great to too much. I can see some cleaner graphic lines in a smaller scale in future additions. The swirls on the wall and on the fabric are similar, so introducing cleaner lines will create nice balance, too. Just a thought…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, we’re definitely done with the grellow for now. We want to layer in some sophisticated art (maybe black and white or a soft photo or print of the sky or something blurred and low-contrast) and add soft things like an armchair in the corner and a nice texture-filled rug. Should be fun to see where we end up!

      xo,
      s

  39. Daria says

    I usually like everything that you do, and I love this apple green colour, but somehow not on your chairs. The green is overpowering, the fabric doesn’t stand out as it should. In my humble opinion, they chairs would look nicer painted in the same colour as your built-ins. If you ever get tired of the green in the future…

    I hope you don’t get offended, and if you like them that’s all that matters!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Nope, no worries at all! We definitely know that going bold isn’t a choice everyone would make! We just love how cheerful they are, and the seat fabric is barely visible from the dining room, so we love using a bold color on the frame of the chair to bring some interest to the office from that viewpoint!

      xo,
      s

  40. Erin says

    I’m recovering our dining room chairs this weekend. They are so beat and a new dining room set is definitely not in the 12 month plan.

    i am so excited though — they will be LIME GREEN ZEBRA print.

    I love the green. The more green the better in my world.

    Reply

  41. Elise says

    I still vote for some ombre canvas above the desk. While I think the colors of a b&w print would look great, there are already a lot of patterns going on in that space, so I feel like a photograph might look too busy. Maybe you could do the canvas in that pretty plum color on sue..

    Something like this: http://www.marthastewart.com/sites/files/marthastewart.com/images/content/pub/ms_living/2008Q2/mla103837_0508_bench_xl.jpg

    Just an idea… I’m sure whatever you go with it will look fantastic.

    Reply

  42. Liz says

    They look great. I love how they tie into the couple of green items you have in your built-ins. After this post and everyone’s links to their upholstery projects, I’m super inspired to makeover my cane back arm chair. I’ve been wondering for awhile: what are the curly-q antler things are right above the doorway into the office?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We just thought they looked like big dark holes (in person the dark counter + the dark webbed chairs was sort of spooky – like big spiderwebs). But it’s definitely one of those personal preference things!

      xo,
      s

  44. Jyl says

    Ha ha centered “The grellow thing”

    The sewing term for that is the Repeat, or the repeat of the pattern. I know what you meant, but it wasn’t clear the first time I read it. Consider this my John Petersik inspired friendly correction for my favorite budding seamstress.

    The chairs look AWESOME! Love that chipper color!

    Reply

  48. Alicia says

    So bright and peppy! I’m loving it. I was a little concerned when I read that you put the staples in at noon, 3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 9 o’clock. I was all, “Man, she really took her time with those staples…” And then I figured it out. And decided more coffee was in order this morning.

    Reply

  49. [email protected] says

    I love that yall repurpose everything! The chairs look fantastic!!! I’ve been on a sewing kick this week. Sherry, I am a new sewer too!!! Yesterday I cut up one of my husband’s old button down shirts and made a bag. I live in the Caribbean so I don’t have a lot of fabric stores/craft stores on hand so I have to use what I’ve got!!!! Here it is if you want to see it: http://www.budgetblonde.com/2011/10/simple-sew-button-down-shirt-purse.html

    Love all your happy colors! Makes my day to read your blog!
    xoxo
    Cat

    Reply

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