Reupholstered Kitchen Chairs

I've been wanting to reupholster my kitchen chairs for a long time. Ever since we got the table and set of four chairs all for $200 about four years ago, I'd always thought, "They'll work because I know they're temporary." Welp, like I said, four years later, they are still very much present. And I'm a little attached to them. They were one of the first furniture purchases my husband and I made as a newly married couple. I like them enough - they're not my dream set by any means, but I do like the clean, simple lines. So, they're a part of the family for as long as we continue our moving-every-year lifestyle. 

Here's the chair with the ugly cushion (and some beefy little toddler hands). (Sorry, I can't get some of these pictures to stay upright. Go ahead, turn your head sideways.)

And here's the scoop on what I did to cover up the ugliness. A tip on The Nate Berkus show enabled me to move forward with this long overdue reupholster project. The fabric I really wanted to use would have been a grey trellis Kelly Wearstler print, probably $14 a yard I'm guessing, though I was never brave enough to check it out. But on Nate's show, they covered a lady's chair cushions using one shower curtain! Hello, brilliant! Be sure to get a cotton/polyester blend, they said. Off to Target! This curtain I got was 100% polyester (I'm guessing polyester's easier to clean). It feels and looks like cotton, though. No plasticy-ness here. Shower curtain: $15.

I used the chair cushions as a guide to cut out four squares (after I unscrewed them from the chair part).

Then I cut them down even more once I got going. If you're more careful about making the fabric the right size at first, you can have plenty of leftover fabric for pillows or something else if you want. I was a little haphazard and ended up with a lot of scraps.

I pulled the fabric taut and stapled all around, in no particular fashion. Just get that stuff on tight and straight, and no one will ever care what the bottom looks like!

Here's the top of the cushion after it's covered.

Here are my tools: scissors for cutting fabric, screwdriver for removing and replacing chair cushions, staple gun for securing fabric to the wood in the seat cushion, and a hammer for nailing in the staple if it doesn't go in all the way flush.

Once the cushions were back on the chairs, I sprayed them with two coats of Scotch Guard to further guard against stains. 

Sorry, sideways head.

Here is the finished product!

A mere 15 dolla later and I have a much happier kitchen.