The Weathered Door

How to: upholstering a [french] chair

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I shared this french cane back chair yesterday, and now I am sharing details of how I went about upholstering it. As I mentioned in the last post, my mom and I are in no way experts, and this was the first real upholstering job we tackled. Here is a quick before and after of the chair.

To begin with, the nailhead trim got removed, then the arm and seat fabric. Once the fabric was off we used a staple remover to get out all of the staples (this tool was very helpful, it’s the one at the top in the picture below). That is also the staple gun that we used and the pliers to yank out the staple once they were loosened by the staple remover tool.
The reason we ripped off the fabric first, then took out the staple was because the staples were in really tight against the fabric. Be sure to keep the fabric you take off to use as a template for the new fabric. Once all the fabric was off, I took off the foam from the seat (ours was just on there, not stapled on or anything) and lightly sanded the frame of the chair so the paint would stick. I did a wash on the chair using an oops sample pot of Martha Stewart paint in a light grey. I had the sample pot of paint and a small jar of water and would dip my brush is water (you barely need any) when needed.
After the first coat I liked the look, but in spots the wood showed up more of a red-ish tone, so I did another coat which made the color more opaque than I had wanted, but it still looks great and I like he way it turned out. To seal it I waxed it with Annie Sloan Clear Wax and buffet it out.
For the fabric I used a neutral tan-cream colored fabric I got at a garage sale for $1 and there is a ton of it. We laid out the old fabric and cut around it leaving a good amount of extra (1-2 inches). Sorry for the dark garage photos.
Once it was cut out, we put it on the chair and started stapling. The arms were really hard for us and took longer (almost 3 hours) than the seat of the chair. In different spots on the arms and the seat we had to do some small pleats because of the curves. We just made sure that they were the same on both side and tried to keep the pleats as small as possible. Hopefully the next piece we do we will get better and have no pleats! As we stapled around, we kept pulling it tight, which is very important to a good looking chair. We would start in the middle of each side (each side was separated by an arm or the back portions of the chair) and worked out way toward each corner. We pulled down and toward the corner. The corners going around the wood were a little tricky, by it is just figuring out how to fold the fabric so it looks nice. Once everything was stapled, I trimmed closely to the staples. You have to trim enough so that the staple and the edge of the fabric are hidden by the trim.
Once all the excess fabric was cut off, it was time to add the trim, which really finished off the chair. I bought the type we used at JoAnn’s and the color that matched best came pre-cut and packaged so it had a self adhesive strip on the back. I was not just going to trust that so I also bought some fabric adhesive called Unique Stitch, and used some fray check (old stuff) my mom had on the edges of the trim so it would not fray.
We just stuck the trim on and held it for a minute or to. The arms were curvier, so we glued a little at a time so we could hold it down to make sure it adhered all the way. Also, the trim seams meet on the inside, under part of the arms because that was the place the was most hidden.
The trim finished it off and gave it a more professional look even though it is not a professional job 😉 I love the way it turned out!
Budget Breakdown:
  • Cane back chair (from goodwill, 50% off): $12.99
  • Paint (oops saample pot by Martha Stewart): $0.50
  • Fabric (from a garage sale): $1
  • Trim (from JoAnn’s Fabric): $9
  • Unique Strich Fabric Adhesive (JoAnn’s): $5
  • Fray check: $0 (already owned)
  • Tools (staple gun, pliers, staple remover, etc): $0 (already owned)
  • Total Spent: $28.49
This was a very inexpensive project since the chair and fabric were both great scores! I know the next chair I upholster will not cost the same 😉

Filed Under: DIY, how to, Tips and Tutorials, Upholstery

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Comments

  1. You did an amazing job! I would have been too afraid to do this. I just like the types of chairs that I can just take the seat off and recover.

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  3. It looks beautiful! I'm really loving these cane back chairs right now – and just actually picked up a set of 5 the other day for a dining set I'm re-doing. This gives great inspiration!

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  4. It looks gorgeous! You did an amazing job! I have a very similar chair I just got that needs to be re-upholstered. It has a cushion and caning on the seat as well, that is broken. I'm wondering if I could made a new wooden seat, attach it to the frame and then re-upholster it like that – I am not good at sewing and do not want to make a cushion!! Yours is just gorgeous! Oh and I have that same white deer head in the background – I LOVE IT! Pinning! Would love it if you would link this up to Give Me The Goods Monday: 1 Party, 4 Blogs! http://www.rainonatinroof.com/2013/06/give-me-goods-monday-link-party-13.html
    Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof

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  11. I think making a new wooden seat would work, and you could probably upholster it before attaching it! I love that deer, even if it were a Christmas item… I use it year round. I'll go link up, thanks for stopping by!

    Reply

  24. Wow! What a great transformation! I love it! Something I've always wanted to do, but have been intimidated! You give me hope! New follower!

    Reply

  31. Gorgeous transformation! I just picked up two really sad looking caned back chairs and am so excited to start working on them. They have great lines and lots of potential to be beautiful again.

    Reply

  32. Ok. I think I can do this now. I have been searching high and low for good tutorials with GREAT pictures to help me with a chair that is similar. Your tutorial is just what I needed. What a great job you did!

    Reply

  34. Thanks for sharing the details on this redo. I am pinning it with hopes to one day reupholster six French dining chairs I've acquired but haven't quite gotten the nerve to tackle! 🙂
    Robin

    Reply

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