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There’s a little bit of history woven into vintage furniture. If one can imagine the
lifestyle of a bygone era, you will be able to picture period costumes and a leisurely
way of life. Click here for a few more visual ideas of what you can create if you set you mind to it.

Old, but sturdy furniture

Furniture in those days was delicately handcrafted and made to last generations.
Compared to the present day furniture, the wood used were from centuries old
trees that underwent a long process of curing. Those master craftsmen used labor
intensive techniques that are now long forgotten. Upholstery too was the work of art.
Vintage furniture will never go out of style. There are many furniture restorers who
have adapted the art of restoration of these timeless pieces. Do not discard even a
badly damaged piece of furniture – it can be brought back to its former glory with a
little patience and some tender loving care.

Giving a new lease of life to old pieces

Upholstered chairs that have seen better days will get a new phase if reupholstered
with matching fabric or leather. Undertaking such a job will not pose too much of
a problem if you are a DIY person. All you will need is some new fabric, cotton or
polyester batting and a staple gun.

Start by removing the seat. Examine how this is connected to the chair frame. See
if there are screws or bolts or nails used to fix it to the frame. Removing screws or
bolts is easy but, be careful when removing nails. Try not to damage the wood in
extracting the nails.

The material used in the old upholstery will tell you whether the seat was
reupholstered beforehand. It will help you to decide if you want to remove the old
upholstery or leave it as it is, and add the new upholstery over the old. You may want
to strip it off altogether if the seat appears to be lumpy and is not holding its shape.

It must be remembered at this point that a combination of straw, horsehair and
sawdust consisted of the stuffing for the chair seats in those days. Removing the old
upholstery can become rather messy.

Next, measure the length and width, and placing the seat on paper, draw around
it. Check the shape and see if it corresponds with the measurements. Add a 5” – 6”
margin round the drawn shape of the chair seat and cut out the pattern. It forms the
pattern template.

Pinning and fixing the new cover on

Place the template over the batting and pin it in place. Cut out a piece of the batting
for each chair according to the pattern. Unpin the template from the batting and pin
it onto the right side of the material that is going to be used to upholster each chair.
Cut out a piece of the material for each chair.

Working on a flat surface, place the batting over the seat and pin it in place. Turn the
seat over and staple the batting in place under the seat, making sure it is pulled taut
while being stapled. Leave a margin of not more than 1 1⁄2” from staples, and trim off
the excess.

Turn the seat over and repeat the same process with the material. After pinning
the material over the batting, turn the seat over and neatly staple the batting to the
underside, making sure the material is pulled over, but not too taut. Trim off the
excesses leaving no more than a 1 1⁄2” margin from the staples.

Turn the seat over and re-fix to the frame of the chair. It is better to use brass screws
for this. Protect the new fabric by covering it with an old towel before turning the
chair seat over to staple, and when fixing it to the frame.

Emily

Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.

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