We’ll cover every aspect from start to finish in order to equip any beginner with the knowledge and confidence they need to reupholster dining chair seats.

This post contains affiliate links for which I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Please click here for more details. I truly appreciate your support!

After I posted this photo of my dining room to Instagram a few weeks ago and mentioned that I reupholstered the chairs, I got a few inquiries as to how to do that. So I thought it would be worth writing a step-by-step tutorial on how to reupholster a dining chair seat!

Let’s jump right to it, shall we?

How to Reupholster a Dining Chair Seat – Step by Step Tutorial

Choosing Upholstery Fabric for a Dining Chair

Before you can reupholster a dining chair you will need to consider your fabric! There are several factors you need to consider when choosing an upholstery fabric:

• How often will this chair be used (every meal, special occasions, just for show…)?
• By whom will this chair be used (adults, small children…)?
• How large is the seat and what scale of pattern do I want (lots of small detail, one large flower per seat…)?

Upholstery fabric durability is rated according to “double rubs” and fabric weight.

What is meant by “double rubs?”

Double rubs are the number of times a mechanical arm is moved back and forth over the fabric before the fabric fails. It’s estimated 3000 double rubs = approx. 1 year of use.

So what double rub count do you need?

Upholstery fabric durability is also defined by weight: Lightweight, Medium, Heavyweight, or in ounces per square yard.

Heavy duty upholstery fabric is usually more than 12 ounces per square yard.

How much fabric do I need to reupholster a dining chair seat?

To determine how much fabric you will need to purchase, follow these steps:

1. Remove the seat from your dining chair by loosening the screws on the underside of the seat.
2. Using a flexible measuring tape, start the measuring tape on the underside of your seat in the middle of the wood where you would staple; measure over the fullest part of your cushion, wrapping around to the opposite side of the wood frame under the seat.
3. Take that number and add at least an inch or two for “wiggle room.” I prefer to add 2 inches.
4. NOTE: If you are replacing the cushion with a new cushion you will need to add more according to the height of your new cushion.
5. Do the same in the opposite direction on your seat.
6. Take these numbers and calculate how many seats you can cover per yard (or whatever measurement you use). Keep in mind which direction the pattern runs on the fabric in relation to how it will appear on your seat.
7. Most upholstery fabrics come in widths of 54″ or even 60″ or 72″ – it just depends on the manufacturer.
8. TAKE PATTERN INTO CONSIDERATION. Consider what part(s) of the fabric pattern you want to have present on your seat or if it matters. For example, you may want a certain section of toile on each chair but the toile scene is only repeated once per yard. You may need more fabric to achieve that look.

Supplies Needed to Reupholster a Dining Chair

To upholster a dining chair seat there are a few supplies you will need. I’ve described them in great detail so you know why you need them and what I recommend or don’t recommend.

Sewing Scissors/Shears

Don’t attempt to use office supply (paper) scissors to cut your fabric – especially heavy upholstery fabric! You will risk getting unclean cuts and even snagging your fabric threads. I really love my 8″ dressmaker’s shears by Gingher. They have no trouble gliding right through the heaviest of upholstery fabric. Inversely, don’t ever use your sewing scissors on paper – it will dull them!

Staple/Tack Remover

This is for removing staples or upholstery tacks when you are removing the old fabric for your chair. Even if you’re not removing old fabric, it’s a good idea to have one of these for removing mistakes when stapling! I have a simple wooden handled one from Joann Fabric, but this one I recently found looks awesome.

Needle Nose Pliers

These are in case you need to remove broken staples or bits stuck in the wood. It happens more often than you’d think!

Screwdriver

You’ll need a screwdriver for detaching the seat from your chair – Philipps head or flathead depending on your screws.

Iron + Ironing Board

This is my least favorite part but very necessary! You’ll need to iron your fabric before you begin to remove any wrinkles. Trust me, it’s important!

Upholstery Stapler – Either Spring-Loaded or Pneumatic (plus air compressor)

It’s totally up to you which way you go on this. If this is the only upholstery project you will ever do, you may want to get an inexpensive spring-loaded stapler. They often have them at craft stores and on Amazon. I will say that the cheap ones from places like Joann are NOT my favorit. I find that they jam frequently. If you have many chairs to do or plan to do more upholstery, I recommend borrowing or purchasing a pneumatic stapler.

Don’t forget you’ll need an air compressor to power it! This pneumatic upholstery stapler I got from Amazon has been amazing! It has never jammed on me – even through my vintage chair project – and it comes with everything you need to get started (stapler, different sizes of staples, lubricating oil & maintenance kit). I bought a “long-nose” stapler to upholster vintage chairs that have a groove in which the fabric rests. You’ll see I’ve linked both my long-nose stapler and a crown stapler (more of a standard stapler) below.

Upholstery Staples

These are typically sold in the same aisle as the spring-loaded staplers or you can purchase them online. While it depends how thick your batting & fabric are, typically anything 1/4″ to 1/2″ is more than sufficient. You don’t want something too long that’s going to split your wood or be impossible to get out if you make a mistake.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

You should most definitely wear safety goggles (or similar) whenever you’re messing with staples – when removing and when stapling. Anytime you have sharp little metal bits potentially flying about you want to protect your eyes! Make sure you have goggles that you can clearly see through to be able to work safely.
You may also want to consider hearing protection if you are using an air compressor and potentially thin work gloves if you have sensitive hands and find the rubbing of scissors and pliers irritating. This is totally up to you – use your own judgement.

Upholstery Fabric

If you missed the part above on how to choose an upholstery fabric and how much you’ll need, scroll on up in this post! Did you know you can buy fabric on Amazon? Here’s the heavy duty fabric I used on our dining chairs.

Batting

I just use regular old batting from the quilting section of the fabric store. Batting just helps smooth everything out like the corners of the foam. You’ll need roughly the same amount as your upholstery fabric. You can purchase it at fabric stores or online here.

Foam (if replacing)

While I didn’t replace any foam for this tutorial (my chairs did not need it), you can reference step 3 of my vintage chair project to see how to cut foam to size. You can purchase foam at fabric stores like Joann Fabric or order it online, like this on Amazon.

Push Pins

These are not absolutely necessary, but they are helpful to hold fabric in place while you check placement.

For your convenience, here is a printable supplies checklist!

Now let’s reupholster a dining chair!!

Reupholstering a Dining Chair: Removing Old Fabric

Step 1: Prep your workspace

You will want to work in a space that does not have small children or pets present, if possible. You may want to spread out a drop cloth or floor covering to catch any flying staples or metal shards. (It makes for easier cleanup!) If you are using an air compressor make sure it is plugged in and pressurized. Gather all your supplies and turn on your music!

Step 2: Remove the seat from your dining chair

Turn your chair over and loosen the screws on the underside of your seat. Set them aside in a safe place like a jar or other container.

Step 3: Remove all staples or tacks

Use your staple/tack remover and pliers to remove the existing staples or tacks. Make sure you’re wearing eye protection for this! Slide (or wedge) the staple remover under each staple and pry it up. Use your needle nose pliers to pull out any broken staples or bits. Don’t feel badly if you break staples while trying to get them out. This happens all the time!

Step 4: Remove the existing fabric

Remove the existing fabric and batting (if you’re replacing the batting). Set it aside but don’t throw it away yet. Sometimes it’s helpful to reference the old fabric for making special cuts for corners.

Reupholstering a Dining Chair: Attaching New Fabric

Step 1: Iron your fabric

Trust me, you don’t want to skip this step! I personally don’t like ironing but it’s worth it to have smooth, taught fabric for a professional look. Be sure to turn your iron to an appropriate setting for your fabric. I like to keep mine around medium – just hot enough that it produces steam but not scorching. If your fabric came with care instructions be sure to read them first.

[If you are replacing chair foam, do that part now.] Visit this tutorial to learn how to cut upholstery foam to size.

Step 2: Lay out your batting

Lay your batting out and place your seat upside down on top of it (you are looking at the underside). Give yourself enough room around the edges to be able to wrap the batting and secure it to the wood frame, but not so much that you’re wasting a bunch. Cut your batting from the roll and set the roll aside. It doesn’t need to be perfectly precise.

Step 3: Lay out your fabric

Lay your fabric on a smooth, flat surface with the right side (printed side) down. Be sure the fabric pattern is oriented the correct way. Pick up your seat and batting (still loose) and place them on top of the fabric. Try to get it as straight as possible (don’t worry, we’ll check in a minute!).

Leave enough room around the edges that you can wrap the fabric up to the wood frame, but not so much that you’re wasting a lot of fabric. If you have a particular part of the fabric that you want centered on your seat, you may want to lay the seat right side up and place your fabric on top before turning everything over. That way you can get a better feel for pattern placement. Cut the amount of fabric you need and set the remainder aside.

Once you have everything as straight as possible, pull the fabric over the frame both at the top and bottom of your seat and place two pushpins through the fabric into the wood to temporarily hold the fabric in place.

Flip your seat over to the front side to check for placement and straightness. Make adjustments as needed.

Step 4: Prep the stapler

Make sure your staples are loaded correctly in your stapler. If you are using a pneumatic stapler, be sure to check the recommended PSI (pounds per square inch) of your stapler and set your compressor accordingly. My pneumatic stapler requires a minimum PSI of 60 (needs at least that amount to function) with a maximum PSI of 100. I typically set my compressor around 70.

If this is your first time using your stapler, you may want to practice a few times in a piece of scrap wood just to get a feel for the trigger.

Step 5: Attach your fabric and batting

When stapling you want to work from the middle of the frame outward. For this tutorial the “top” of your chair will be the part furthest away from you and the “bottom” will be the part closest to you. We are working on the underside of the seat (the part you don’t see when it’s attached).

Working at the top middle of your seat, pull the fabric taught over the wood frame. You want it to be tight but don’t pull it so tight it skews the pattern. Place one staple in the middle of the wood to secure.

Go to the bottom of your frame and do the same, securing with one staple. I like to pause here and flip the seat over just to make sure everything looks right before I continue.

Note: As you are stapling, be sure not to cover up the screw holes used to attach your seat. If this happens, you can always trim out a little notch for them. No big deal, but better to avoid.

Continue pulling the fabric taught over the frame and securing with staples across both the top and bottom of your frame. Stop before you get to the corners.

Turn your seat 90 degrees and repeat the process, beginning in the top middle with one staple, then the bottom middle with one staple. Work all the way across but stop before you get to the corners.

Step 6: Securing the corners

Note: There are many ways to “do” corners. This is just one way, but I personally find it the easiest.

If your chair is all squared off on the corners and has no weird posts or notches, lucky you!

To secure the corner, trim off any excess bulky batting that may be in the way on the underside of the chair. If there is too much bulk, the chair won’t sit flat on the chair frame. Don’t trim it so short that it won’t cover the corner though! You still want it to have a nice smooth edge.

Pull the corner of the fabric straight in. This will be at a 45 degree angle to the sides of your chair. Hold it taught (or secure with one staple or a push pin).

Next fold the fabric on the side straight up as if you were continuing to secure it like you did a minute ago. Secure it with a staple.

You will next be folding the adjoining side’s fabric upward but take a moment to trim any bulky excess fabric that may be in the way. Now fold the adjoining side upward and secure with a staple or two.

Secure everything with a few more staples. Trim off any excess fabric from the underside of your dining chair. Don’t trim too close to the staples. I like to leave an inch or two.

Step 7: Weird corners and notches

Oh why must there be weird corners, right? I try to think of notched cutouts like several littler corners just back to back. I still pull the fabric up into the notch at a 45 degree angle, fold it upward at the sides, and secure, but I have to do that twice. It’s easier to see in the YouTube video above. I couldn’t possibly address every type of corner and chair situation in this tutorial, but quite honestly sometimes you just have to play around with folds until it looks right. Do be cautious making any cuts or slits to your fabric, as you don’t want them to show when your chair is reattached!

Step 8: Reattach your seat to the chair frame

Use your screwdriver and screws to reattach your seat to the frame. If you can’t access the holes due to fabric being in the way, you can carefully cut little notches to expose the screw holes.

Yay! How exciting! You just reupholstered a dining chair seat!

Reupholstering a Dining Chair Without Removing Old Fabric

It is entirely possible to just skip the part about removing the old fabric and batting and to put new fabric right on top. This may be a good option for you if:

• The existing foam and batting is in good condition.
• Your new fabric is thick enough that the old will not show through.
• You want to save time and money.

Here are some occasions on which this would NOT work:

• The old fabric is filthy and smelly (it will eventually come through the new fabric).
• The old fabric and batting are very thick. Adding new fabric on top will make the seat too thick to sit properly on the chair frame.
• The old fabric will show through the new fabric.

I once reupholstered a pair of dining chairs that had FIVE layers of fabric on them! Yes, five! I could literally see the decades going by as I peeled away each layer – the 2000s, the 90s, 80s, 60s, and most likely the 40s! It was fascinating to say the least.

Attaching new fabric over existing fabric is exactly what I did for my vintage desk chair (which is actually a dining chair). I explain my decision in the video.

I hope this has been a useful and informative tutorial and that you now feel confident to reupholster a dining chair!

If you have any questions on how to reupholster a dining chair, please feel free to drop a comment below or message me on social media and I will do my best to answer it for you.

If you found this tutorial helpful, please be sure to save it for later or send it to a friend who would enjoy it!

Sharing is caring!

Thanks for reading!

Blessings,
Melissa

This post contains affiliate links for which I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Please click here for more details. I truly appreciate your support!

Our final video in this Chair Project series addresses:

• Making a no-sew upholstered cushion with piping

Note: This is an upholstered cushion, not a removable cushion cover. It is semi-permanent (could pull it off if you want to change the fabric someday), but is a great no-sew option for normal, moderate use. Not recommended for high-traffic and heavy duty use (kids, pets, etc.).

I recommend watching this full screen, due to the vertical nature of the video. To watch full screen, click the “Youtube” button in the box below.

You can find my supplies linked here, in my Amazon Storefront.

And here is a link to the fabric I’m using – Covington Musee Toile Blue.

I’m happy to help if I can – please feel free to email me with any questions you might have!

Watch Previous Steps:

Part 1: Deconstruction
Part 2: Choosing Materials
Part 3: Upholstering
Part 4: Piping
(You’re on part 5)

This post contains affiliate links – click here for details.

Our next video in this Chair Project series addresses:

• Making and attaching decorative piping.

I recommend watching this full screen, due to the vertical nature of the video. To watch full screen, click the “Youtube” button in the box below.

You can find most of my supplies linked here, in my Amazon Storefront.

And here is a link to the fabric I’m using – Covington Musee Toile Blue.

I’m happy to help if I can – please feel free to email me with any questions you might have!

Continue Watching:

Part 1: Deconstruction
Part 2: Choosing Materials
Part 3: Upholstering
(You’re on part 4)
Part 5: Cushion

This post contains affiliate links – click here for details.

Our next video in this Chair Project series addresses:

• Attaching the batting and fabric with upholstery staples.
• Cutting foam for a chair cushion.

I recommend watching this full screen, due to the vertical nature of the video. To watch full screen, click the “Youtube” button in the box below.

You can find most of my supplies linked here, in my Amazon Storefront.

And here is a link to the fabric I’m using – Covington Musee Toile Blue.

I’m happy to help if I can – please feel free to email me with any questions you might have!

Continue Watching:

Part 1: Deconstruction
Part 2: Choosing Materials
(You’re on part 3)
Part 4: Piping
Part 5: Cushion

This post contains affiliate links – click here for details.

Our next video in this Chair Project series addresses:

• What to consider when choosing a fabric for your project.
• Determining how much fabric and other supplies are needed.

I recommend watching this full screen, due to the vertical nature of the video. To watch full screen, click the “Youtube” button in the box below.

You can find most of my supplies linked here, in my Amazon Storefront.

And here is a link to the fabric I’m using – Covington Musee Toile Blue.

I’m happy to help if I can – please feel free to email me with any questions you might have!

Continue Watching:

Part 1: Deconstruction
(You’re on part 2)
Part 3: Upholstering
Part 4: Piping
Part 5: Cushion

This post contains affiliate links – click here for details.

It was one of those love at first finds and I rapidly hit the “Is this still available?” message button, expecting it to already be gone. Lo and behold, it was still available and the sweet lady was even willing to deliver it to my house because it wouldn’t fit in my car, plus I have two small children. (I did give her some gas money.) It was so special to hear how the chair had been used for reading stories before bed every night with her children. I feel honored to be giving such a cherished and well-loved piece a second chance at life.

It had beautiful bones, but was certainly in need of some TLC. (You can see the original fabric in the video below.) I purchased it for my “creative corner” in the basement – a work still in progress – with plans to reupholster it.

It’s been slow-going, working here and there whenever I get the chance. Having two toddlers around makes projects go a bit more slowly (but that’s okay).

I thought you might like to come along for the ride. So without further ado…

Chair Reupholstery Project: Part 1: Deconstruction

I thought it would be much, much easier to share this in video form rather than try to type it all out. So here we go! Apologies for the poor video quality – I recorded it on my phone for Instagram stories before I thought about needing to upload it to the blog!

I recommend watching this full screen due to the vertical nature of the video. To watch full screen, click the “Youtube” button in the box below.

This is just the first step! Next comes cleaning, figuring out how much fabric and supplies are needed, and finally putting it all together. I’ll be sharing more videos in the coming days/weeks so stay tuned!

You can find a list of my upholstery supplies here, in my Amazon Storefront (affiliate link).

Continue Watching:

Part 2: Choosing Materials & Supplies
Part 3: Upholstering
Part 4: Piping
Part 5: Cushion

One of my son’s favorite books right now is “The Little Engine That Could.” Having read this story a number of times (okay, a lot), it was the first thing that popped into my head when trying to figure out how to describe the transformation of this dining set.

You see, this is actually the dining set my husband’s family used as he was growing up. It dates from the mid 80’s and has (as far as I know) been used every. single. day. since then. It’s worked hard, put in its time, been well loved and well worn, and was pretty much at the end of its life.

And that’s when we got it.

When my husband and I first got married and bought our house, we had no dining table. We were using the little 2-person Ikea table that had been in my husband’s apartment. While that was okay [temporarily] for us, we had nothing large enough for when friends and family came over. Conveniently, my in-laws decided it was time for them to get a new set and offered this one to us.

Hey, you can’t beat free, right? And having a table is better than no table…

And so we used it for several years…

…until I couldn’t stand looking at it anymore. We had finally renovated our kitchen and I was finally beginning to decorate (yay!), and that orange 80’s table with the busted out cane chairs just looked so sad.

(Please excuse my messy basement!)

Now don’t get me wrong – I was very grateful to have a table and extra grateful we didn’t even have to pay anything for it – but as you can probably imagine, it didn’t really fit with my “vision” for the room.

I brought up the subject of getting a new table and chairs – even an inexpensive set – that would fit with our decor. My husband was not keen on the idea, since we have very young children and the table will probably see a lot of messes, projects, and “love” [read: abuse] over the next few years. He wasn’t ready to buy our “forever” table only to have it torn up, and he didn’t want to waste money on “something cheap.” I saw his point, and mostly agreed, but was still majorly disappointed. I was so sick of looking at the broken chairs and orangey finish!

Since we weren’t going to replace the set, I was at least going to spruce up this one!

All that said, this is probably not our “forever table.”

(I’m not even sure exactly what our “forever table” will look like, but probably something rectangular and rustic…)

However… I am pretty pleased with the transformation that has taken place! That orangey 80’s dining table with the busted-out cane chairs has come a long way, and for not a whole lot of money! I managed to learn some new skills in the process, plus we have the satisfaction of having done it ourselves! Win!

Well, let me disclose to you that the whole process took months, because…life happened. Just the daily life stuff with little kids + only working on upholstering and painting during nap time, etc. The chairs alone took me *cough* 5 months to complete.

Two of the four backs on the chairs were broken. I could have ripped out the cane and just upholstered them, but I was afraid that with such long backs the chairs would begin to look “heavy.” I like the airiness that comes with a caned back. So I rolled up my sleeves and learned how to cane!

I’m not going to give you a tutorial on caning because I am not a pro in the slightest. I followed this tutorial on youtube, and it was SO helpful. If you ever want to give caning a try – which I recommend because you totally CAN do it – use that tutorial (and feel free to ask me questions).

After I roughed up the shiny finish on all the chairs and re-caned the 2 broken ones, I glued on these wood flower appliqués with some wood glue. (The photo below is of one of the chairs that wasn’t broken, that’s why the cane looks darker.)

I then gave them all two coats of Fusion Mineral Paint in Lamp White. You can paint cane with a brush, but you have to go super light with it and make absolutely sure that you don’t have drips coming out the other side! Working in a circular motion helps. To add depth to the flower appliqué, I brushed on some watered-down Martha Stewart Vintage Decor Paint in Charcoal. I wiped off the excess and touched up bad spots with white.

Whenever I got a spare moment, or while I was waiting for a coat of paint to dry, I stripped the old upholstery off the seats, and then worked on reupholstering them with this gray and white buffalo check fabric. It is super sturdy and I have no doubt that it will hold up with daily use. I plan to write up a chair-reupholstering tutorial in the coming weeks.

(The way I’m writing this would give the impression that this all went very quickly, but it definitely took several months!)

Dining chairs get knocked around all the time, so to add extra durability, I sprayed the chair frames with a coat of Rustoleum Satin Clear Enamel (before I reattached the seats, of course!). As an aside, I know that Fusion Mineral makes a “tough coat,” but since it seemed to yield mixed reviews, I decided to skip it. The Rustoleum clear enamel did not yellow the white paint at all, but this may vary depending on what type of wood you are dealing with. Always test in an inconspicuous spot first!

Also before I reattached the seats, I gave all the new upholstery two coats of Scotchgard Fabric & Upholstery Protector, because life happens! Always test this sort of spray first to make sure it’s not going to mess up all your hard work! I tested it on some leftover scraps of fabric before spraying my precious seats!

Over the course of the 5 months it took me to redo the chairs, we continued using the table and sat on our old Ikea chairs. Then we switched and started using the new chairs at the little Ikea table! It was really quite comical.

The table got dragged down to the basement where it underwent many experiments and tests (bwa ha ha!). No, really, it did.

The top is a veneer and it seemed like no matter what we did, we could not get it dark enough. We thought we had it finished at one point, but after using two coats of stain it was all uneven and splotchy, so my husband ended up resanding the whole thing and we tried again. It never did get as dark as we wanted, but we finally said “good enough!” It received one coat of Minwax Gel Stain in Coffee, followed by a coat of polyurethane.

I then painted the legs and the apron of the table with two coats of the Fusion Mineral Lamp White. Hubby rigged up a system so I could paint all sides of the legs at once. He’s a keeper. The legs got two coats of the Rustoleum clear enamel before being reattached to the tabletop. We decided not to worry about top-coating the apron. You cannot tell any difference just by looking.

And it is finally DONE DONE DONE! Woohoo!

I don’t have an exact total for this project, but it ended up being somewhere in the $150 – $175 range to completely revamp this table and chairs. The most expensive part was the fabric – heavy duty upholstery fabric isn’t cheap! But you want it to hold up, so it’s worth the investment.

Glad we could breathe some life back into this little dining set that was on its way out the door. It’s cool that it has so many special memories for my husband and now it gets to add a whole new chapter in its story with our kids! That may be worth even more than having a brand-spanking-new table.

Shh…can you hear it?

“I thought I could…I thought I could…I thought I could…“

This post contains affiliate links for which I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. Please click here for more details. I truly appreciate your support!