How to Recover a Seat Cushion. Hint: It's SO easy - Pretty Real

How to Recover a Seat Cushion. Hint: It's SO easy

4:58 PM

This will barely be a tutorial because it's so easy.  But I recently recovered a seat cushion and it made all the difference so of course I had to share. Here's my version of how to recover a seat cushion:

But first, this  before.  I was beyond excited that my mom found a masculine rocker for Dax. The one thing I didn't love about his nursery is that everything was new. If you've followed for awhile you know I love to use thrifted finds and repurposed items. So this 'old' rocker was the perfect addition. And get this. It was only $8! Of course it had this hideous snowman fabric on it but that's an easy fix.

Materials needed to recover a seat cushion:
-Staple Gun
-Fabric (make sure to iron it first)
-Screwdriver
 That's it!

This chair was unique in that the seat doesn't screw in.  It just sits across a couple of bars.  But if your seat is screwed in, obviously you'll have to remove the seat and make sure to hang onto any hardware. Now you're ready to recover the seat cushion.

First, remove the old fabric.  This step is optional. I've done it both ways.  If the fabric isn't too gross or too bold I've left it on to avoid having to remove all those staples.  However if you're using a lighter fabric or if the old fabric is gross (smelly, stains, etc), you might want to remove it.  I typically just use a screwdriver for this step but you can get a tool to do it if you're fancy.

Secondly lie your cushion over your new fabric and cut your fabric in the shape of your cushion- leaving a margin to fold and staple.  How much you leave depends on the profile of your cushion. I suggest pulling the fabric up over the cushion to where you'd staple, make a mark and then add an extra 2 inches. I leave more than I need and then trim after I staple.

Third, pull the fabric taut over the edge and staple.  For any DIY always start at the most inconspicuous spot.  For a seat cushion that would be the back. So start in the back middle so you can pull and staple as you go.

Next, cover the corner.  This part is the trickiest but I've heard it said that if you can wrap a gift you can cover a seat cushion.  I typically staple on both sides toward the corner (images 1 and 2 i the direction of the arrows), then pull the part right at the corner up over and staple (images 3 and 4) then pinch, pull, and staple (images 5 and 6).  The nice thing is, if you mess up you can always take the staples out and re-do it so don't sweat it.
Repeat on all sides.  Voila! You're done! This is one of those projects that you just have to do to prove to yourself that you can. I love recovering seat cushions because it's the easiest and cheapest way to completely change the look of a chair.  Not to mention- children with gross sticky fingers. My children literally use seat covers as napkins.  It's pretty much the most annoying thing ever but I've come to accept that this is my life. Here's the before and after:

That's it! So easy and what a difference!

You can see the last time I recovered chairs here.

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