DIY Upholstering and Painting Chair Makeover

In the summer, we often pass houses where you'll spot good and useful items that the owners don't need out by the end of the driveway with a Free sign on them. Driving by a farm recently, I spotted a nice looking desk and matching chair and thought , with a bit of work, it could be perfect for my sons room. It only took a minute to pop it into the back of my pickup truck.

I gathered up all the materials I was going to need. This DIY project would be done in a quick 2 or 3 steps. Luckily I had two days of fine weather, so I did everything outside in our backyard. 

First step: Unscrew the wooden-bottomed upholstered cushion seat. Then give the entire chair a good soapy bath.

Next,  I needed to prep the surface of the wooden chair for painting by lightly sanding it all over, with a fine grained piece of sandpaper.

I had chosen a plain white linen fabric to cover the cushion of the chair with. It was something I had picked up at a fabric sale awhile back to make some window covers, and had leftover material. I put on 2 layers, then I covered that with a pretty aqua colored linen fabric as the top layer. I simply stapled these pieces of fabric, each individually, by pulling very tightly, and stapling quickly.

The total cost of this easy, three-hour project was $25, for the small amount of paint I used, the sandpaper and a couple of yards of the aqua linen fabric. A fraction of the price one would pay for a custom-fabric upholstered chair. It looks beautiful in my sons room, pulled up to his desk. 

--Monica Forrestall