Home Staging – Reupholster Your Chairs For A Fresh Look to Sell Your Home.

It was time for me to put my home on the market and I began to ponder about staging it.  I looked around at the furnishings and thought they needed a facelift. New fabric would be an inexpensive way to bring life back into the furniture and help the house shine. It is an easy and inexpensive way to improve your home decor and give your home a warm welcoming feeling.  I knew this would help me get top dollar for my home and sell fast!

I had my work cut out for me and being under a time crunch I farmed out the new slip covers for the couches. I had the time to make the curtains, throw pillows, and new seat covers for the dining room chairs. This fresh new look made all the difference in the world in staging the home to sell.

A real estate client asked me to do her dining room chairs for her. So I decided to document the process to share with you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TODAY’S DIY PROJECT: How to Reupholster Your Dining Room Chairs

FABRIC

The first thing you need to do is to unscrew the chair cushion and measure the chair seat to determine how much fabric, batting, mesh, and foam you will need.  Buy extra! There is nothing worse that having to run back to the store for more fabric. You can always make a throw pillow or napkins (in you spare time) if you have leftover fabric. Check out your local fabric stores as well as online. I find Calico Corner to have some beautiful high end fabrics. Online Fabric Store offers some great fabric and great place to get foam forms as well.  

 

Home decor fabric is usually 54″ wide so 3/4 yard will work for 2 chairs to cut two pieces that are 27″ x 27″. However, be mindful of the pattern repeat – you may need extra fabric.

 

MEASURING FOR FABRIC AND FOAM

MATERIALS

Materials: Scissors, staple gun, screwdriver, ruler, cutting board, staple remover, a flathead screw driver, pliers, fabric, mesh, seat foam, and batting. Buy some extra fabric to make a table runner and some throw pillows to tie the room together.

COST & TIME

Time to complete project from shopping to dining table is about 25 hours. Cost in fabric for 6 chairs of quality home decor fabric and foam, mesh and batting $150. Cost to hire out $1200 + $150=$1350.  It’s a no brain-er for me. Not to mention it’s fun and creative. Channel your Martha Stewart!  You can do it!

If I haven’t scared you away yet…

Lets begin!

Here is our patient before…

Remove the old fabric, foam, batting, and mesh from the seat. They are attached with staples and can be difficult to remove. I find that a screw driver and pair of pliers works well.

 

Once the fabric is removed from the base of the chair measure the seat to determine how much fabric you will need. You will need an equal amount of batting and mesh. I suggest buying a few boxes of extra staples as well. This project takes more staples than you think!

 Foam

You should purchase a high density foam so it won’t break down over the years and support your body weight. If the old foam is in good shape then use that. Usually the foam is 2-3 inches.

It is cheaper to buy a long piece of foam and cut it yourself instead of cut squares. Most seat cushions are not perfect squares so you will have to cut it anyway. You can use a knife or scissor but the BEST tool for this is an electric knife.

Lay the seat template on the foam and outline the areas to cut.

I have cut 4 foam cushions to size.

Batting

Lay a seat temple on the batting to mark how much to cut. – Cut 4 of these for each chair.

Make sure it is big enough to wrap around the cushion so you can staple it to the base.

 

Put batting on table, then foam, then seat. Wrap the batting around and start stapling it to the bottom of the chair. Pull it tight to keep the foam in place.

 

You now have the seat base, foam and batting done. Repeat batting steps for fabric.

When cutting your fabric be sure to match the patterns on each chair. If you are new to sewing I suggest your buy a solid fabric or one with a small pattern. I draped some fabric over these chairs to demonstrate how the patterns should look.

 

Use long table to cut your fabric for the seat cushions. Make sure you cut it large enough to wrap around the seat and staple to the back of the cushion.

Start stapling in the middle of each side first and leave the corners for last. Pull the fabric tight – put some muscle into it.

Next for the finished look staple the mesh on on back turning under the edges.

You are ready to screw the chair seat back on the base of the chair.

 Dining Chair Done!

Time to complete (measure, shop, order, reupholster etc.)  @25 hours. Money saved $1325! A great DIY project especially if you want to get your home ready for the holidays. Have fun!

Contact me if you have questions! Eileen@eileenandersonrealtor.com

“At the Heart of the Sale”

 

Additional Resources Include:

How to make a Stone Wall with No Steps Skipped via Eileen Anderson

Staging a living room with Slipcovers via Kevin Vitali

3 Tips to Make Your Home Feel Like a Model via Ellen Pitts

Ten Easy Home Staging Tips via Sharon Paxon

Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Appealing to Buyers via Bill Gassett

Decorating Tread Forecast to Today’s Homeowners via Karen Highland

 

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Real Estate information was provided by Eileen Anderson, a recognized leader in her field. Eileen can be reached via email at Eileen@eileenandersonrealtor.com or by phone at 860-966-2112. Eileen has helped people move in and out of many Connecticut towns since 2000.

Thinking of selling your home? I love Real Estate, sharing my knowledge and helping people find the home of their dreams!

I am licensed for residential real estate sales in the state of Connecticut including but not limited to the following CT towns: Avon, Bloomfield, Burlington, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, East Granby, Hartland, Hartford, Suffield, Windsor, New Hartford, North Granby, Farmington, Simsbury, Suffield and West Hartford, CT.