A Mexican Chair Makeover

Last year we inherited a mid-century dining set from my man's gran. The dining set consists of a lovely drop-leaf table, which I adore, and four matching chairs. Sadly the chairs had been upholstered in a black PVC type material  which was in great condition but about as exciting as a wet weekend in dullsville.

After searching around a bit for the right oilcloth, I was directed to Viva La Frida by my lovely Twitter friend, Michelle. It was love at first sight when I saw their yellow hibiscus oilcloth fabric. Armed with the staple gun my mum bought me, I set to work.

Now, I should mention here that prior to this undertaking I was an upholstery virgin. I hadn't even held a staple gun let alone used one (although, I had always found the idea slightly thrilling).

First of all, I inspected the underside of the chairs to make sure the frame was going to come off easily. I was  pretty confident the foam underneath was intact and wouldn't have to be replaced. For a first time project, I didn't want to tackle anything too tricky.

The chairs are held together with four screws which I removed in order to detach the seat part.  The old covering was held on with some staples and enough industrial strength glue to hold a house together let alone a chair covering. After some brute force and a few swear words, I finally removed the covering and placed the seat base on the oilcloth to measure how much I would need. After cutting out as neatly as possible I started to carefully wrap the oilcloth around the seat as tightly as I could and staple it in place before screwing the seat back onto the frame.  It was really pretty simple and I felt like Wonder Woman after using my staple gun. I think the power may have gone to my head a little. I'm delighted with the result and my newly upholstered chairs make me smile whenever I look at them.