My design style is traditional, blending contemporary and vintage pieces and a few quirky accessories thrown. This diverse mixture of design components can create a fashionable home with a fun, classy vibe. While I’m always on the search for accessories, fabrics and furniture to bulge my home’s design quotient, more often I look for gems at thrift shops instead of big-box chains.
Thrifting permits me to find attractively crafted things at a fraction of the cost. Just take this midcentury seat. It, along with three of its own friends, was a recent thrift store score; I bought four chairs for $20. Yes, $20 total. Their clean lines and sleek frame and their solid wood construction made them an ideal addition to our property. One special chair, originally intended for our breakfast nook, today adorns our bedroom.
Meg Padgett
Not only was that the frame in great condition, but the chair’s seat was nearly perfect: not a nick, scratch or tear into talk of. As close to perfection as it had been, I felt that a quick update with a bold black and white graphic print would take this chair from simple to stunning.
Meg Padgett
To reupholster a chair cushion, you’ll need:
Upholstery or home decoration fabricSmall pry barPliersScrewdriverStaple gun
Meg Padgett
Remove the seat from the chair’s frame by flipping the chair upside down and removing the screws from the base.
Meg Padgett
Take off the first cover by using the pry bar to remove the principles. Pliers come in handy for pulling those hard-to-remove principles.
Meg Padgett
With the first cover check the seat’s foam cushioning is in good condition. If replacement is required, remove the foam. Then pick an appropriate attic of foam for the seat, cut it to size with the seat for a template and paste the foam into place with spray adhesive.
Place the seat, with cushioned padding attached, on the wrong side of your upholstery fabric. Reduce the fabric, creating a large enough square that leaves ample room to fold the cloth over the edge.
Hint: Remember to check out the remnant cloth department at your regional craft or thrift store. I picked up a lawn of the Waverly Modern Essentials cloth in Licorice, with Fun Floret blueprint, for 99 cents.
Meg Padgett
Fold the cloth over the edge of the seat and pull the fabric tight. Staple it to the perimeter of the seat’s base together with the basic gun.
Meg Padgett
For clean corners, then pull the cloth tight towards the other side of the seat and fold the rest of the cloth diagonally on the top. Staple into place and continue along the perimeter.
With the cloth firmly attached round the seat, cut off the excess cloth toward the inside of the seat’s center, leaving approximately 1/2 inch. Then reattach the seat to the seat’s frame.
If you’d like to finish the underside, staple a panel of cambric liner into the bottom of the chair pad. See how here
Meg Padgett
This chair with its vintage frame and contemporary seat adds to the diverse yet classy vibe of the room.