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! 

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!

DIY Refinishing Vintage Bedside Tables

When I was still under my parents' roof, I painted my bathroom's boring laminate grey vanity in a sky blue colour and changed out the ugly plastic knobs to brushed nickel ones from Umbra.  Quality of the paint job?  Questionable.  Changed for the better?  Absolutely.  It was a joy for my young self to walk into my bathroom with a cheerfully coloured vanity. I had it in me back then to beautify dull dinginess, and I've grown to love discovering potentials in pieces even more.  That was how I discovered these vintage night tables in the Henry Link Bali Hai collection, and the Mr. breathed new life into them. (I've now passed on the dirty work (-;)

Source list at the bottom of the post.

The Mr. did some basic prepping a while ago, as mentioned in this previous post. He removed the backing and unscrewed the top, since we planned on replacing it.

Removing the drawer pulls made it easier for cleaning. Make sure you give the piece of furniture a thorough cleaning on all surfaces if you're planning to repaint it. The primer and paint need to stick to the surface, not on dirt!

We chose to go with two knobs on each drawer.  We first eyeballed the approximate positions for the two knobs, and the Mr. measured the distance from one side and replicated that on the other side.  

He then filled out the holes left from the original hardwares and sanded them.  For a smoother finish, the holes were re-filled and re-sanded a second time.  

The Mr. preferred to use a roller when applying the primer and painting the tables, and a brush for touching up the details.  The tables were in decent vintage condition, so he only applied one coat of the Zinsser primer.  His review on the primer was that it went on very well, and the paint adhered to the primer smoothly.

He noticed brush strokes on the finished white table, which was most likely painted with a brush.  He had to lightly sand the surface before it could be re-painted.  

We chose a light grey colour in a glossy finish for a contemporary look. Two coats of paint were applied on the tables to get the evenly layered glossy look.  

After the paint had cured (best to wait a day for the paint to fully dry), it was time to re-attach the backing of the bedside tables.  He also painted them with the same grey paint before re-attaching.  This project was a good excuse for the Mr. to get the one tool that he's been missing - a cordless staple gun.  

Next was adding some jewels to the tables.  We love the style of this glass knob; it gives a vintage vibe, while the chrome backing gives it a bit of modern touch.  

Last but not least was the crowning of the bedside table with our beloved marble top.  Its lines and edge profile were fabricated from the original table top.  We love how the marble top adds sophistication to the simple elegance of the night tables.

And with that, here's the completed look of the refinished bedside table!  I can't wait to move into our new house, so that we can finally install our mirror headboard and see how our "new" bedside tables match up against it!

Thanks to the Mr.'s elbow grease, the tables turned out exactly how I envisioned them!  They now look all grown up from their previous ugly duckling selves when I first laid eyes on them.

I had initially wanted to install new brass pulls to mimic the original feel of the tables, but I'm glad the Mr. convinced me to use two glass knobs on either side of the drawers instead. They made the pieces look more elegant.

The grey paint on the tables is a nice neutral colour that helps to accentuate the grey veining in the statuario marble top. 

I'm so glad the Mr. agreed to refinish this set of vintage bedside tables.  They turned out gorgeous!  We finally have the storage we've always wanted in the night tables, and the marble top gives it all the more reason to clear off the surface to enjoy its natural beauty, 

Another DIY project in the queue done and done!  Stay tuned for the next one in queue!

Source List

• Henry Link Bali Hai collection bedside tables - Chatelet Home

• Wood filler

• Zinsser primer

• Paint colour - Behr's Silver Bullet

• Cordless staple gun

• Glass knobs

• Statuario marble source and fabrication - York Fabrica