DIY Office Chair Makeover

Hello and welcome to a new week! Today I'm sharing here my latest DIY project: an office chair makeover. 

I've had this chair for over twenty years (yes, I know I'm frugal that way) and it's not actually its first makeover. When I first got it, it was covered in gray fabric. Then, when it was promoted from my computer desk to my sewing/craft room, I recovered it in a soft yellow fabric (which matched the decor at the time). 

But by now the fabric was faded and stained. And since we've just installed a new desk in my daughter's room and she needed a chair, I decided I was time for another makeover. 

Here's the before: 

You can see how the seat was stained: 

These chairs are actually very easy to recover. Usually all you need to do is to remove the screws that hold the seat and the back in place, separate the fabric covered parts from their plastic or metal backing and you can get down to work. 

First thing is to remove the staples that are securing the fabric in place: 

I used a screwdriver and a pair of pliers for this, but sometimes the staples are very hard to remove. If this is the case, just cut the fabric around them and leave them in place. You can see below the remnants of the old staples with bits of the original gray fabric still attached. 

Use the old fabric as a model to cut the new fabric and place it over whichever part of the chair you are covering first (I started with the seat), and staple the new fabric in place, making sure it's stretched tight. 

If you don't have an appropriate stapler for this, you can use glue instead (just make sure each side is secured in place before pulling on the fabric to glue the other sides - the process will take longer than stapling, but it still works). 

Trim any excess fabric and screw the parts of the chair back in place. This is my chair with the seat part completed: 

And this is the finished look: 

My daughter chose the fabric because it matches the soft lilac of her room walls and it looks just perfect there:

Have a wonderful week!

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