Smaller upholstery pieces like a chair cushion make good beginner's projects.
Think twice before you carry that old piece of furniture down to the the curb. You can save your back and bring new life to your home decor by reupholstering the old piece. From chairs and couches to benches and ottomans, a little work and loving care can bring back most furniture. With the proper technique and materials you can upholster pieces on your own, saving the cost of buying new furniture or paying for professional upholstery services. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Remove any piping disguising seams where the upholstery fabric attaches to the furniture with a pry bar.
2. Pry up any removable parts of the furniture piece. Begin prying where the cushions meet the frame of the furniture. Take care not to tear the existing fabric, even if it already has tears.
3. Lift away any removable parts of the piece you have pried loose, such as the seat cushion or back.
4. Flip over the removed parts of the furniture and remove the nails attaching the fabric to the part with a pry bar. Remove any tack strips securing the upholstery to the parts.
5. Pry up any nails securing fabric to non-removable parts of the furniture.
6. Set the original upholstery fabric aside and leave any padding in place.
7. Lay the removed pieces of upholstery fabric over your chosen replacement fabric.
8. Trace the shape of the old pieces against the new upholstery fabric with fabric chalk.
9. Cut out the traced shapes from the new upholstery fabric with shears. Keep the original fabric in case you damage the replacement fabric during the upholstery process and need to cut a new piece.
10. Place a new piece of fabric over its corresponding part removed from the furniture piece.
11. Staple an edge of the piece in place on the reverse side of the part with a staple gun. Pull the opposite edge of the fabric tight against the padding and staple it in place on the same side. Continue this process of pulling an edge taut, stapling it down, then doing the same action on the opposite side until you have stapled down the entire edge of the fabric. This technique produces a professional look and may require practice to produce good results.
12. Place the reupholstered parts back in place on the furniture and nail them in place around their edges using a brad nailer.
13. Glue piping around the edges of the fabric with a hot glue gun to disguise the seams where the fabric meets the furniture.
Tags: upholstery fabric, fabric with, parts furniture, edge fabric, fabric over, furniture piece