Reupholstering French Louis Chairs

This summer seemed to have been a blur, as does every summer.  It went by too fast and now it's a wrap with the little man back to school.  The Mr. also wrapped up the reupholstering of the chairs, meeting his deadline goal of finishing them before we move into our new house. 

Today, I'm sharing the Mr.'s approach to his first attempt at reupholstering. Note that these are not professional instructions, but they were what worked for him.

Gather your tools

1. Remove original upholstered material (trim, fabric, foam, padding, and webbing) 

Remove the finishing trims around the seat and back.  Beware of staples coming out of the trims:

Check the condition of the foam or filling under the fabric.  You may replace it if you want everything new.  For us, we chose to re-use the original foam as it was in decent condition.  If you choose to re-use the foam, take care in removing the staples around it.  

Set aside foam to be re-used.

Continue to remove the staples until you've gutted the chair down to the bones.  The Mr. found the upholstery staple remover very helpful in saving his wrist.

Remove the original webbing.  This step is optional, but the Mr. opted to install new ones so that the chairs have a new and sturdier support.

TA DA!  All 4 chairs stripped to the bones!  This was by far the most time-consuming and back breaking part of the job.

2. Prime and paint chair frames (optional)

This step is optional, depending on whether or not you plan on giving the chairs a new look.  We're not big fans of this cherry wood colour, and decided on another colour instead.  Since the original chairs were not painted, sanding down wasn't necessary.  The Mr. applied a good coat of his favourite primer before painting with an angled brush. 

Primed chairs.

An angled brush helps getting into the grooves.

3. Reupholstering back of the chair

I bought enough fabric to account for a safe margin and mishaps.  Now, turns out we have more for throw pillow covers :-)

Using the fabric removed from the back of the chair, the Mr. created a template so that we can easily see and adjust the pattern that would be used.  Make sure to note your pattern repeat dimensions.  If your pattern is linear, lineup so that the lines are straight.  For beginners, I think a pattern that's not linear would be more forgiving.

Apply template on fabric to determine best placement

After you have determined where it is best to place your template, either mark it with fabric marker, or take a photo of it.  Cut enough fabric all around so that you have enough to grab onto when pulling it taut to staple.

Iron out any creases in the fabric.

The Mr. loved his new Ryobi Airstrike cordless nailgun for this upholstery project.  I, on the other hand, loved not having to live through the noise of a compressor of corded nailguns...  win/ win for both of us with his new toy.

Check where your fabric should show in the back of the frame.  Once you've determined the correct area, staple the fabric to the top middle frame.   

Line up the pattern again and check at the back of the frame.  Hold down on one side and staple along the frame, until the middle of the back.

Again, ensure pattern at the back is lined up, pulling taut on the other side and staple down to the middle of the frame.

Once the top half of the back is in place, staple the bottom middle while pulling the fabric taut.

Continue along both sides, similar to the top half.  The Mr. would staple the fabric around the frame at around 1/2" apart. 

Trim excess fabric around the frame with fabric sheers.

Upholstered backs of chairs

Add webbing to back of chair

Tip:  Always start webbing the back of the chair first.  For the first chair, the Mr. webbed the seat first, and then realized how the webbing would get in his way as he worked on the back of the seat.

The original back of the chair had no webbing, with the only support as fabric and foam.  We preferred the chair to have a tighter back and firm support, so the Mr. attached burlap to the back.  Burlap should be readily available at fabric or craft stores.

1. Start from the middle of the back, staple burlap webbing onto the edge with 2 rows of staples. 

2-6. Using the webbing stretcher, pull the webbing taut against the other end of the back.  Hold the stretcher tool downward (which helps pull the webbing taut) and staple that end into place.  Trim excess webbing burlap with sheers.

Repeat the above steps according to your preferred back support preference.  The Mr. used 3 vertical pieces of webbing for a stronger back support.

TIP:  The Mr. noticed the burlap is usually straight on one side, and ruffled on the other.  (Could be due to how it was spooled?!) He found it easier to line up the subsequent piece of webbing against the stapled one using the straighter side.

Here is how we like ours with a tighter back support:

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Add fabric and padding to back of chair

1. The Mr. found it easier to lie the top down on a flat surface. Starting from the middle...

2. Staple along one side and the other.

3. Once the fabric has been stapled in place about 3/4 of the way, pull the bottom fabric taut and staple in the middle.

4. Continue to staple around and close up the bottom.

Once the back is all stapled, remove excess fabric as close to the edge as possible with sheers.

4. Reupholstering seat of the chair

Similar to the back of the chair...

Add webbing to seat of chair

1-5. We start by attaching the webbing to the middle of the seat with 2 rows of staples.  Double up the burlap for a more secure attachment.

6-8.  The seat webbing is woven according to your personal preference.  We went for a tight support by weaving the webbing right next to each other.  The more space between the woven webbing, the softer the support.

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Add fabric and padding to seat of chair

1-2. We reused the original foam on the chairs.  Staple the bottom edge of the foam to the seat frame.

3-4. Lay fabric and padding on the foam and staple the middle to the frame.

Cut out the back corner with sheers.  Tuck in the edges as such:

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1. For the front corners, staple the fabric down on one side.

2. Fold a straight seam down the front.

3. Staple into place. Repeat for the other corner.

4. Continue to staple around to the back legs.

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1. and 2. Staple and close up the back corners.

3. and 4. Trim excess fabric as close to the edge as possible with sheers.

5. Add finishing trim

To cover up all those staples along the frame, some options include sewn welting/ piping, lace trims, or nail tacks.  We decided to use the nailhead trim as the finishing touch on these chairs.  

1-3. Hammer nails into the holes of the trim, covering as much fabric edge as possible.

4-6. Finish the edge by snipping off trim.  Gauge how much to cut and finish off, so that the last tack is nailed in.

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Here again was how I first laid eyes on these chairs...

I saw their potentials to become beauties.  So glad the Mr. hopped on my crazy bandwagon and did his magic on them :-)  

Not only did they turn out beautifully, but they're comfy on my tush and slouchy back.  I'm glad we went with different front and back fabrics for that custom look.  I love, love, love them!! And the Mr., of course!!!

There're still several things to be done before we can really call this project "complete".  The paint needs to be touched up, then a coat of min wax to protect the paint from chipping.  The Mr. still has to put on the dust cover fabric, which goes underside of the chair to hide the webbing.  I would also like to spray a protective coat on the fabric as a precaution. 

There's not enough time for all these right now, as we're gearing up for our upcoming move.  Really looking forward to set up these chairs in the basement for our game/ snack/ craft table!

It's a lengthy post, I know. If you're still here, you're a champ! If you see a good deal on vintage chairs, grab them!  I hope we've inspired you to take on a reupholstering project that you've been thinking about too! 

Basement Family Room Inspirations

The Mr. has been working endlessly on reupholstering the French chairs, but he joked that I pulled out my DIY whip at him after we came back from our vacation.  That was so not the case!  Being the eager beaver himself, perhaps he felt elated that he had worked out the kinks on the first chair, and just couldn't wait to get his hands on the other 3.  

I have to give kudos to the Mr. for his first attempt at reupholstering.  The chairs are turning out nicely, matching the overall decor scheme of our basement family room.

Our basement family room came about as we decided to have our builder finish the basement for our media/ lounge area.  It's not a huge space, but will be a cozy area comprising of these on our wish list:

Cozy Lounging Area

Basements don't need to feel like a dungeon.  We want the family room to be a style extension of our main floor's transitional decor, and a welcoming spot where we can comfortably put up our legs.   This photo below has all the right elements, down to the blue and white decor that we love.  An oversized ottoman as a coffee table is as inviting as it gets to putting up your legs.  This elegant and serene space is just the decorating style we're after.

Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc.

Media Centre with Multiple Storage Duties

One can never have enough storage in their lives.   Since we're not planning to have a home office this time around, items that resided there at the old house need to go somewhere.  Where else would be a better place to park these items than a large media centre?  We need our media centre to handle multiple storage duties beyond media hardware and accessories.

We originally wanted one end of the family room to house full height storage, similar to our office built-in at the old house.  However, at our pre-dry wall appointment, we noticed the ceiling is partially dropped where we intended to have the built-in unit.  Instead of having full height built-in storage, having some low storage would suit our space better. I'm loving this series of low storage:

Sophie Paterson Interiors

Another view of the same room:

Sophie Paterson Interiors

Low storage doesn't take up the wall space above the unit, making that space more airy.  I also love how the lights installed close to the edge of the wall reinforces that roomier feel as the light bounces off the walls.  

Rather than filling up full-height shelves with knick-knacks, we can still style the top of the low storage unit with some statement pieces.  We won't have a fireplace as the focal point for our family room, instead that would be where our TV sits, and we would have the low storage continue across the length of the wall. 

Game/ Craft/ Eating Table

Now that little man has taken on an interest in board games, we occasionally spread out his monopoly set on the floor here at the rental.  We can technically play on the dining table, but half of it is in a constant state of disarray as the dumpster of miscellaneous items.  I'm not a huge fan of sitting on the floor for long, back issues and all.  And this is when the idea of having a separate table in the family room came up.  It'll also be a great spot for wrapping presents, building models (one of The Mr.'s favourite past time when he had no DIY projects), and other family crafts (my wish).  I also imagine us using the table as a pizza servery for our movie nights!  

Whatever the purpose may be, I think I found a table that fits our style and space.  This one from IKEA is a bang-for-the-buck choice!  Even better yet, it's extendible, which is excellent for those rare occasions when we may need a larger table.

IKEA

And then come the chairs...  as mentioned in this post, we got these vintage French round back chairs at an awesome deal.  After lots of elbow grease, the Mr. has repainted and reupholstered them.  I think they'll pair perfectly with the IKEA table above.

Stylish Bar Area

The Mr. and I love to wind down the day with beer or some wine, and having a bar area in the family room would be a fitting addition.  Our basement isn't humongous, so we would only allocate a small space for this dry bar.  With a smallish space to work with, traditional kitchen upper cabinets would feel too stuffy, not to mention it's too predictable.  

These chic dry bar nooks below demonstrate that we don't need a large bar area to be functional.  Installing open shelves keep the bar essentials readily accessible, while the mirror back opens up the space by reflecting light.  An under-counter beverage centre keeps the drinks fresh and cool, completing the stylish nook.

Luxe Interiors + Design

Source Unknown

Brooks and Falotico

Powder Room

Don't we all dread the need for a bathroom break in the middle of an action-packed sequence?  Be it game night or movie night, to make that necessary yet annoying trip as short as possible, having at least a powder room in our basement is a must. Instead of a full bathroom, we opted to have a powder room so that we're not wasting valuable space for our basement family room.  We'd rather let our lifestyle dictate our use of space than wasting the bathroom space just to have a higher resale value down the road. 

Since it's a powder room, no doubt the builder would just drop in a white pedestal sink in there.  We would eventually like to swap that with a bathroom vanity with storage.  This powder room needs to have its own inventory of linens and tissue papers, because the last thing I want to do is to go up and down the stairs just to refill supply!  This vanity here has drawers storage that I love.  Those dresser legs lift it high off the ground, giving the small powder room a more spacious feel.

Venato Bath

Just a bit more than a month to go, and we'll be in our new house!  It can't come soon enough!  I think I will be overwhelmed with emotions when we finally get to use this basement family room for the first time.

Vacation Withdrawal and This-just-in

So I haven't been active in this blog space for a while. I can only blame it on my laziness caused by vacation withdrawal,  We had too much fun during our 1-week+ vacation and being thrown right back in the grind at work after coming back...  I was too brain fried to write anything interesting.  Instead, I bummed on the couch at night, reminiscing about the food and drinks we devoured during our trip, the beautiful architectural history in Barcelona, Pompeii, Rome, and Pisa, and the hot sand between my toes at the beaches in Cannes and Palma de Mallorca.  Life is a beach sometimes!

Seeing that the Mr. has eased himself back to his DIY projects gave me the motivation to start documenting our progress so far.  

Our builder notified us that our new house's closing date will be in the fourth week of September. We practically begged our builder's site supervisor to advance the closing day.  They budged, and we'll be moving-in the second week of September!  Woohoo!  *Happy Dance!!!!*  I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!!

As the Mr. wishes to finish the reupholstering of the 4 French chairs before moving in, he's turned up his turbo DIY engine on those.  The chairs are for a game/ eating/ craft table in our family room basement.  He had removed all previous upholstered material on the chairs down to the frame before we left on vacation.  We picked out the paint colour for the chairs after we came back.  To date, he has primed and painted the chairs in Behr's White Metal, which is a pale grey with a high gloss finish.  He has now started the first stage of the upholstering process - added webbing under the seat. 

With the Mr. revving up his turbo charged engine, I had to keep pace and have finally decided on (and purchased) the fabrics for upholstering these chairs.  We had always loved the Vintage Blossom in Dove by Dwell Studio, and it's great to finally be able to use it in a project. I love this colour combination and it'll work perfectly for our basement. 

Copenhagen, Sky and Vintage Blossom, Dove:  Tonic Living; White Metal:  Behr Paint

Have you noticed that we've been painting our vintage pieces of furniture in a variance of light grey tones (as in the night tables and these chairs)?  We're very into grey furniture ever since we chose it as the colour of our office built-in at the old house.  We prefer re-painting these vintage pieces in a light grey instead of white, as grey gives them a fresh new look without looking too plain in white.  The grey also brings out the details in the piece that would otherwise be underwhelmed in white.  Plus, a high gloss finish freshens up the piece and ups the glam factor.

I will post a complete tutorial on the reupholstering process from start to finish...  depending on when the Mr. can get it done.  For now, I need to get back to my couch potato position.  Before you know it, I'll need to start packing for our move again!  YEAH!  I'm happy about the packing, for real...  seriously!