First Upholstery Experience...

My mother-in-law has asked me to reupholster her kitchen chairs several times.  She wanted me to go just pick some fabric for her.  Um... No!  I don't do that for anyone.  I have a very odd style and I never want to make people live with what I choose.

Like I said, she has asked me SEVERAL times and each time I tell her to pick out her fabric and I would do it.  *Note: I have never reupholstered anything* I was slightly afraid that it would be harder than it looks.

She finally got sick of the old fabric.  It's quite stained and doesn't match anything else she has in the kitchen our the neighboring room.  So, on Saturday when I got home from work, she asked if I would go with her to Joann's to pick out some fabric.

She was pretty shocked when we got there because she had no idea how many  patterns and textures they have, just in the upholstery fabric alone.  After seeing it she forgave me for not just picking one for her.  :P

She wasn't really sure what to get so she asked what I would get.  This is my philosophy on picking fabric...

1.  Never ignore your first response to a fabric!
2.  Texture!  I love fabric that makes me want to rub it!
3.  Realize that the "rule book" on home design and pretty much been thrown out the window.  Pick what you like!  Try to find one that fits in with the color choices in the room, but if the pattern is modern and the room it will be in is traditional.  WHO CARES!!!  It's will just make it that much more fun to look at!

Needless to say, she found a fabric that she really liked, fits in with the room colors, and has AWESOME texture!  SCORE!

Now, the hard work...

I learned really quick that there are a lot of staples used on upholstered seats!  A LOT!!!  That was the first job....

To accomplish the task, this is what I needed...

Getting the staples out was the hardest part!  First, I used  a steak knife to pop them up a little, then a screw driver the get one side out, then the needle nose pliers to pull it out...

The rest was cake.  Eyeball the fabric around the guts of the cushion, cut it and staple it on.  Since these chairs were bought the previous fabric on them, it came with this black mesh that went over the back to make it looked finished underneath.  So once I got the new fabric stapled on I reattached that black stuff so it looked all nice.

I will give fair warning to anyone thinking of tackling this project.  Whichever hand is dominant, that one will get pretty beat up.  Just to show you (Which pictures don't do it justice to how much it hurts)  I took a picture of my right (Dominant) and left hand so you could see the difference..

See the skin how it's just kinda bunched up..?  That's normal...

This is the messed up one.  It's all swollen and hurts something fierce!

ANYWAY!

Lets get to why all this time and pain and such was worth it....

The Finished Product!

She is probably going to change the color of the chair, but for now, I don't think it looks too bad.  It fits in so much better, and is not all gross and stained. (Plus all new stains will be hidden really well) ;)

Well, that's my first upholstery experience.  I can say that I will not have a hard time doing it again to maybe a chair I get or what have you!

Yay, for having some free time from work to do such cool things!