Poor Carlee. This chair was in a sad state. It's home is a 1st grade classroom where 7 year-olds are always climbing on it. Now, there are no rips, its so cute and all the other teachers are jealous.
I thought this would only take 4-5 hours to re-cover. Uh, no! Way longer. I bet there were about 400 staples holding all that old fabric and batting on there. And those staples were buggers to remove, let me tell you. Like, 3/4 inch staples jabbed in to some hard wood. By the time I got her all stripped down I had multiple hot spots on my hands from the pliers and screwdrivers. Not complaining though. Just sayin'! If you wonder why professional re-upholsterers charge upwards from $300 to redo a chair like this one, that's why. It's labor-intensive! But oh, so worth it to have an updated, sturdy chair with fabric on it that you love!
It's kind of my first one that I've done... I learned a ton by just taking the old materials off of it. That's the key: if you want to attempt it yourself, when you're tearing it down pay attention to what order the different parts of the chair were originally covered in and observe the upholstery techniques that were used. If you notice those details, and have some willpower, you can do it too!
Before
After
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