Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Dining Room: Re-upholstery

Ok so I know it's been awhile since my last post. I was sick for all of March and most of April thanks to "all day sickness" Morning sickness is hardly the word to explain it. Anywho I started working on my dining room in February and have just now gotten around to finishing up the furniture I currently have for it.


First off I started with a dining room table that I had gotten off of Craigslist for $75 (seats 8). I forgot to take the before picture :( but it was white and the table top was a very light tan that needed desperate sanding. My dining room is pretty large and I needed something to fill the space. I decided to paint it a light grey with antique touches (sanded edges) and stained the top an antique walnut. The 6 chairs I bought came with another table (used as my craft table) and I sanded them and painted them to match this one. I got the chairs and table set for $75 as well off of Craigslist.


For the chairs I started by lightly sanding over the white (didn't need a lot) then painted 3 coats of grey on each chair.


Next I sanded the edges to give it an antique feel, the same as I did with the dining room table.


Next I sprayed a sealant on all of the chairs to protect the paint from chipping. It was a spray paint sealant that you can buy from Home Depot for a couple of bucks. MUCH easier than painting on a coat of it.



Now it's time for re-upholstery. The seat cushions were old and torn and really needed to be replaced. 


You start by removing the old fabric; typically removing staples. These chairs also had a backing that needed to be removed. I used a flat head screw driver and a pair of pliars to remove the staples.


Next find a fabric that you like. Some upholstery fabrics can be pretty expensive, I found this one in the $5.99/yard bin. That's pretty much the reason I bought it. I ended up finding another fabric I liked better from Ikea for $8.99/yard...so I re-did the seats all over again. Be careful of re-upholster's remoarse! = waisted time. A good place to find affordable fabrics is Hancock Fabrics. You can find locations online.



This is basically a look at the seats after the fabric has been removed and the tools you'll need to re-upholster them. I bought a staple gun from Home Depot for a reasonable price, you'll need the correct staples that go with the gun, scissors and if you want you can use a yard stick (I didn't use one). Instead of measuring out the fabric I just used the old fabric that I took off the seat as a template and cut around it.



Ok so once you have your fabric cut out you start stapling it to the wood board under the cushion of the seat. I couldn't get all of the staples out of the seat so I ended up just cutting the old fabric out with a utility knife, hence the reason you still see a strip of it with staples. After doing several of the seats I learned it's best to staple the corners last. REMEMBER to pull the fabric really tight as well. Otherwise you will have wrinkles.



After the fabric has been stapled you add the backing over it by stapling it as well.



Done!



Finished chairs and table.



But as I stated before I ended up finding a fabric that I liked better.......


So I re-upholstered the chairs all over again.


Tada! FINALLY finished with the table and chairs.



And decorated! The blue bins behind the table are filled with dishes that need a china cabinet home! SO next stop is finding a china cabinet as well as a buffet to add to the dining room. Hopefully I'll have the energy!


Curtains are hung too! Also from Ikea for $9.99 and comes with TWO panels...crazy cheap for curtains. Looks like P.S. the cute little dog at the bottom is my bulldog Sammy.



Finished! For now atleast...