Sweetwater Style: How to Upholster an Old Office Chair

Monday, July 17, 2017

How to Upholster an Old Office Chair

Yup.....we all have at least one office chair.
An office or task chair is one of those necessities that you really can't do without.
Even new ones usually lack any kind of decor charm.
The one in my sewing room IS NOT new.....and it certainly has no charm!

I learned to "upscale" an office chair a couple of years ago to make an eyesore part of the decor.

I could not believe how easy it is to do.
Well....it is easy to do if you have the right KIND of chair.
Notice that the cushions on this chair are inserted in a plastic frame.
All it takes for this project is:

Some really pretty fabric!

AND.....a couple of really basic tools.

It is just a matter of cutting two pieces of fabric the size of the cushion with about 2 inches of overlap.

Most decorator fabric is 54-60 inches wide.
You only need about a yard of fabric to do both the back and seat cushion.
But of course you will need to measure to be sure!

Cut the fabric to size.
Round the corners off to reduce the amount of fabric as you go around the frame.

It is a simple matter to just push the fabric in between the plastic frame and the cushion.

The putty knife usually works well.
Sometimes the screw driver helps to pull the frame out a bit to get the fabric started.

Make sure to pull and stretch the fabric tight.

One suggestion is to do part of the top, then part of the bottom, and part of each side. This helps you get a tight fit.
Finish by going all the way around.

There is plenty of give in the plastic to get the fabric in there.

For about $10 and an hour of work time...the ugly utilitarian necessity....now looks like part of the decor!

When I walked by the framed poster that was hanging in a different room....I said "AHA!"
The colors couldn't be a better match.

Here are a couple of posts I did a few years ago that give even more details.