The fabric on kitchen and dining room chairs can become worn and dirty over time, especially if you have messy eaters in your house. Or, you may just want to update the look of your chairs if they’ve become outdated.
Structurally sound kitchen and dining room chairs that are in otherwise good shape are an excellent choice for reupholstering. You can update the look of your kitchen or dining room with new fabric for your chairs. Typically, this is an easy project that requires little measurement and may not even require sewing, depending on the design of your chair.
Measurements are simple with chairs that only have fabric on the seat, but some kitchen and dining room chairs have fabric everywhere except the legs, and that can be more difficult. It’s important to make sure you have enough fabric to fully cover your chairs. With the right measurements, recovering the chairs in your kitchen or dining room can be a simple project.
How much fabric you need to reupholster a kitchen or dining room chair depends on the type of chair you have. Chairs that only have fabric on the seat will need less than a yard to cover two chairs, about three quarters of a yard. Chairs with fabric covering the back support will need two to three yards each. However, as every chair has its own shape and size, you’ll need to measure to be sure. You should also keep in mind that you may want to turn your fabric one way or another for appropriate patterns.
With a seat only kitchen or dining room chair, your work here is easy. All you’ll need to do is remove the seat from the chair and measure the height and length at the largest point for each. Make sure you’re leaving at least two to three inches extra on each side so you’ll have room to securely attach the fabric to the chair.
With a kitchen or dining room chair that’s more completely covered in fabric, you’ll need to take additional measurements.
If you prefer to measure the chair, you’ll take measurements of each section of the chair while the old fabric is still on. If you’d like to, you can keep the old fabric in place and simply recover over it, but chairs generally look better if you completely remove the old fabric.
If you plan to remove the old fabric before reupholstering and you’d rather not measure the chair itself, you can use the old fabric pieces instead, using them as a pattern. You won’t need to measure at all, unless you’re not sure of how much fabric to order.
Once you’ve prepared your fabric, it’s time to reupholster. Follow these steps to get a new look for your kitchen and dining room chairs.
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