How to Reupholster a Chair Seat

Quick tips video for re-covering dining chair, stool or accent chair cushions to give your favorite furniture pieces a fresh new look. It's a DIY project that everyone can tackle with a few simple tools and this easy step-by-step guide.

What You Need For Recovering Chair Seats

Chair with a removable upholstered seat
Electric or manual staple gun and staples

Fabric for your seat cover
(plan for 1/2 yard per chair seat)
Scissors & Screwdriver

Choose The Right Fabric

Pick durable fabrics for dining chairs

For dining chairs where food and wine spills are always on the menu, we highly recommend a stain-resistant, washable fabric like Sunbrella Performance®. These amazing fabrics are incredibly durable and just as stylish as they are practical.

Use stylish fabrics for accent chairs

For accent chairs and stools that will see occasional use, go with a fabric high on style and everyday durability. All of our upholstery fabrics are designed to handle family life and to stay looking beautiful doing it.

Measure Top Of Chair Seat

For most chairs, 1/2 yard of fabric will be a great fit. Measure your chair cushion and allow for 4" of extra fabric at the cushion's widest part. For example, if your chair seat is 20" wide and 20" deep, you'll want a 28" square to provide a 4" allowance all the way around.

Measure, Cut & Position Your Fabric

Cut your upholstery fabric based on measuring tips above.
Unscrew your removable chair seat cushion.
Lay your cut fabric face down on your work surface.
Center your cushion face down on your fabric.

Begin Stapling

Pull the fabric taut on each side of the cushion back, stapling it down at the center.
Envelope each corner with fabric like the folds on the underside of a ballet slipper, and staple the sides down. (Shapes will vary based your chair, but the goal is to make your corners tight and crisp.)
Cut away any extra corner fabric.
After all four corners are stapled and trimmed, finish stapling the cushion sides every 1" or so, pulling the fabric taut before each staple.