Reupholstery Process from Spruce Home

My mom showed me this really neat video she found on her Etsy Storque app on her iPod Touch. Etsy Storque is Etsy's blog where they share more info about the artisans in their shop.

Mom and I were going gaga over this process. So much goes into it, it'd be a fun craft to learn.



Check out Spruce Home on Etsy where they sell some of their reupholstered beauties. Or, if you live in Austin, go check out their actual store!

Happy Friday! Hope you are doing something fun this weekend! I am headed to a baseball game today ... where I will freeze my bum off.

*Martha

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.

Reupholstered Settee

Christmas Craft Countdown Day 10: Reupholstered Settee Tutorial

*Today's guest blogger is my dear ol' roomie from college, Becca. She was the perfect first roommate to have, full of fun and enthusiasm! I wish we lived closer because she's always got some kind of creative project brewing. This settee is a gift to her daughter for Christmas and I'm already drooling over it. Read on and get inspired!*Martha

Okay, all. I am so excited. SO excited to be a guest blogger on InCircle Interiors. When I was approached about being featured during the DIY December I knew I wanted to do it. The problem was deciding what project to feature. Oh boy. Most of my Christmas decorations are homemade and old. I didn't know if I should talk about my wooden Santa, fabric pennants, wreath, card holder, embroidered wall hangings, painted wooden snowmen, or stuffed snowman family. The problem with all of those are they were made several years ago and kinda ho-hum. Then I remembered the SETTEE!

I scored this child-sized settee for $10 at a garage sale a few weeks ago.

My original plan was to repaint and reupholster it. But then with some persuasion from my husband and in-laws, I decided not to paint it. For a few reasons 

1. The finish makes it look fancy 

2. It matches some already existing furniture in my daughter's room. 

3. It was way less work to leave it as-is. 

So, recovering it was what I was going to do. The fabric looks okay in the before picture, but it was stained and stuff and I wanted to freshen it up a bit. I decided to use a more neutral fabric to increase its usability for years to come. 

Enough with the jibber-jabber. Let's get started.

Supplies:

-Fabric and trim

-Scissors

-Needle-nose pliers

-Staple gun and staples

-Hammer

-Hot glue gun

I do have to say, I am not a professional reupholsterer, I am barely an amateur. I just kinda do what I do and it works. I will do my best to describe what is happening in these pictures.

 Here's the before. I had removed the trim at this point but you get the idea.

The first thing to do is remove the old fabric. Just use your brute strength to rip off what you can.

 

Then use your needle-nose pliers to remove the staples. I actually used a small screw driver to get the staples pried away from the wood a little bit.

Here is a handy video about removing staples...

Then get to work stapling on the new fabric. First you want to line the fabric right side against the wood and upside down. This is on the front of the settee and you will be flipping this fabric over after you staple it on, thus hiding the staples. Comprender?

 

Use a hammer to secure the staples.

Smooth the fabric over the seat. Then using the nearest writing utensil, mark and trim the fabric to make it fit around the back and arms of the chair. Continue stapling the fabric on the chair. (On the sides and the back you don't have to worry about your staples being exposed because they will eventually be covered with trim.)

Once you have the fabric stapled on, cut off the excess fabric.

Now to prevent any fraying, use fray check on the unfinished edges.

Then, finish by hot gluing your trim around the edges.

And you're done!

 Thanks for joining me for my very first tutorial.

*Thanks, Becca! Readers, remember we're posting through the weekend to make sure we squeeze in all 25 days of Christmas crafting! See you tomorrow!*