So our kitchen chairs have been making me want to puke for a while now. Today I decided to do something about it. Here's an easy how-to if you're looking to do the same.
You will need:
- nasty chairs to recover
- fabric to cover chairs (7/8 of a yard covered 2 chairs for me)
- screwdriver or electric drill
- stapler
- scissors
I decided to recover the nasty tan-velour-track-suit fabric on chairs with this yellow and grey print. I got the end of the bolt at Joann's and got 50% for the 'scrap' price. Holla!
Step 1:
Use your drill or screwdriver to remove the seat from the chair.
This is probably easier than you think. I pretty much took out every screw I could find when I only had to take out 3 to get the seat off. Yes, I went to college.
Step 2:
Lay out your fabric on a flat surface and put the seat on the fabric face down.
I would also recommend ironing the fabric. I skipped that step because I am lazy. You should get most wrinkles out by pulling tightly but it wouldn't hurt to iron before hand.
Step 3: Pull fabric edges around the seat, pulling tightly. Start stapling!
I would start with one straight side and work your way around. Corners can be tricky, especially if your fabric is thicker. Do your best. Mine looks pretty crappy underneath but no one can see that. Just pull as tight as you can around the corners and staple as much as you need to. Don't be shy. Staples are cheap! And you can always pull them up if you mess up.
Step 4: Staple everything else.
One tip I would give is to leave more room than I have in the picture below. You want to make sure the fabric stretches enough to be covered by the chair when you put the seat back on. This edge was cutting it close.
Step 5: Screw the seat back on. Bask in your awesomeness.
Okay, so maybe these aren't the best to "print out" or "actually use" but this is 2013! Oscar party-watching of the future. Invite your 8 rich friends over, have them bring their iPads, and pull these bad boys up on screen! Then you can use some sort of gummy snack (g-bears, peach rings, etc.) as game pieces, because they'll stick real good to the screen. See? Problem-solver. 
