How do you recover a chair?

Recover a chair by removing the seat, removing the old fabric, stapling a lining tightly in place over the cushion, and stapling a piece of upholstery fabric over the lining. Reattach the seat with the original hardware.

1. Remove the seat from the chair

   Unscrew the screws holding the seat in place. Remove the seat from the chair frame.

2. Remove the old fabric

   Loosen, and remove the staples or tacks holding the fabric in place with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Pull the fabric off the cushion, and discard.

3. Cut a lining

   Lay the seat cushion-side-down on the lining fabric. Trace around the seat leaving a 3-inch overhang. Cut on the line.

4. Attach the lining

   Pull the lining tightly over the cushion, and attach to the seat back with one staple in the center of each side. Working from each staple out toward a corner, pull the lining tight, and staple it in place. Cut off any excess lining fabric.

5. Cut the fabric

   Placed the seat cushion-side-down on the upholstery fabric. Mark around the seat leaving a 3-inch margin. Cut out the fabric along the line.

6. Attach the fabric

   Attach the fabric with one staple in the center of each side of the chair seat. Pull the fabric tight, and staple from each center staple to the corner. Make sure the corner fabric is pulled smoothly on the front side of the cushion, and staple excess fabric in the corner area down on the back side.

7. Reattach the seat

   Screw the seat back into place on the chair frame.