Monday, August 8, 2011

How to recover a boring office chair

I am so excited to share my
recovered office chair.

plain black office chair, recovered office chair




This post contains affiliate links. *
see full disclosure here.

I had the most boring, ugly office chair.
similar here*
It was comfy but very utilitarian.
Nothing pretty to look at!!

black faux leather office chair



I've had her for a long time and she is very comfy,
 but not very attractive.  
So I decided she was a diamond in the rough 
and just needed a little polish!


black screws to hold office chair together


There are 4 screws in the arm rest 
that hold the chair together.  
There are 2 for the back of the chair and 2 for the seat. 


office chair taken a part



They just unscrew and the chair comes apart.  
I was going to try to take the fake leather off, 
but it was sewn on, so I decided to put new fabric right over the top.
For the fabric, I wanted to use something very sturdy.
So I used a table cloth I picked up at Home Goods.
similar here*


office chair taken apart, recover cushion


Starting with the seat, 
I laid the fabric on the floor and pulled
the fabric tightly around the seat on all of the sides.


use stapler to attach fabric to office chair


Then stapled the fabric right to the chair bottom
using my handy dandy staple gun.
similar here*




I cut little holes through the fabric for the screws 
(that the armrest attaches to) to go through.



The top was a little trickier. 
I wasn't sure how I was going to attach the fabric or hide the staples.  
I was going to sew a slipcover, but then I discovered that the back of the chair is 
being supported by a piece of plywood.  
Perfect to attach to with staples.




So I carefully tucked and stapled 
all the way around the back of the chair.  
One can barely notice the staples at all.  
At some point I may go back and glue some trim over them, 
but for now, they are fine.


office chair, rolling office chair, damask fabric, recovered office chair


And there she is. 

recovered office chair before and after


So much better.  She is beautiful and comfy now!


 April 2017- 
Edited to add:  I use this chair every day and it 
looks just as good now as it did when I originally did it.  It has held up perfectly!  


Linking up to:  Today's Creative Blog,
  Organize and Decorate Everything, Newlyweds on a budget, 
Shabby Creek Cottage, Tatertots and Jello, 
Be Different Act Normal, Under the Table and Dreaming, 
Whipperberry
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55 comments:

  2. Nice job. I love your fabric choice. I have covered several of the cheap, armless office chairs to go with themes in my boys' rooms when they were younger. I did one with arms(a little tougher) and I am in the process of looking for light blue toile fabric for my craft room to do another one. It is nice to customize isn't it?

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  3. I have been wanting to do this to an ugly chair we have and thanks to you, now I know how. Great Post!

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  4. I think this turned out fantastic! What a great way to spruce up your office-and it's so easy! I would love it if you linked this up to my weekly link party Tutorial Tuesday

    Kari
    Newlyweds on a Budget

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  5. Love it. It turned out beautiful. I love the fabric. I just recovered my daughter's ugly desk chair.

    Ruth

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  7. Candice-

    Genius, simple genius.

    I have that identical office chair in my basement. It's such an eyesore, but now you have inspired me to start fabric hunting!

    Going to "pin" this to my to-do list file at Pinterest...

    If you have a moment today, please share this with my readers @Creative Juice Thursday Hope to see you there!

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  8. oh my gosh, how fun is that! we all have these sorts of chairs, and i'd never think to redo it. yours looks fabulous!

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  9. Now that's what I call...an super duper idea...love it!!! I’m having an awesome GIVEAWAY…hop over and enter…hurry it ends at midnight 8/14! Also would love to have you join me at my weekly NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAY PARTY.

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  10. Thank you for the inspiration. I have a chair that is crying out for attention - and posts like these help me muster up some courage. The chair looks beautiful.
    Saw you on the Sunday Showcase.

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  11. This turned out GREAT! I think I'm sitting in the same chair right now! lol. I'm following you on GFC also

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  12. I'm wanting to do this. Office chairs are so blah, but this is fun.

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  13. Love your chair! Love that fabric! You're braver than me, I've never had the guts to cover a chair, though I've often thought about it! (Found you over at Stephanie Lynn)

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  14. Hi I’m watching your blogs. Your blogs are very nice and thanks for sharing this. I am very impressed from your blogs. Anybody looking for Humanscale

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  15. I'm doing this to my office chair this weekend!

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  16. Hi dear its very nice blog and your post on blog is very informative I would like to visit on your blog again and again. It’s very effective and attractive your blog theme is according to your blog title.Chair Manufacturers in Delhi, Office Chair Manufacturers in Delhi

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  17. OOH, I did the same thing last month with mine. http://www.failuretonap.com/2011/08/radio-silence/

    I chose green though and I also spray painted the bottom white to brighten it up. For the back, I simple did a simple hem of a rectangle of fabric and hot glued it on to cover up the mess of staples. I might add nail trim later. We'll see.

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  18. Hi there. Nice blog. You have shared useful information. Keep up the good work! This blog is really interesting and gives good details. Office Chairs India, Office chair suppliers in Delhi.

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  19. Just know that buying a Aeron Chair will do more for you than you will ever know and I don’t just mean in the summer.
    Thanks for post.

    Aeron Chair

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  20. I have been wanting to do this to an ugly chair we have and thanks to you, now I know how. Great Post!

    Office Chairs

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  21. Thank you so much for your tutorial. I just finished my chair....all because of you!

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  22. Wondering how the fabric is holding up.

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  23. I have learned to place a layer of quilt batting over the furniture before you add your fabric. Pull it tight and staple. The fresh batting gives the furniture the extra plushness a new piece has.

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  25. Hey! I just recovered my office chair too! Yours looks like you had to use more talent than mine, nice work! I'm so excited to have found your blog, fellow TN blogger and LDS too! We MUST be friends!
    Stacia@http://feathersandsunshine.blogspot.com

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  26. I have an open concept living dining and kitchen and my husbands work space sits in a corner of my dining room . If that weren't bad enough I have to look at that awful black chair. Not anymore , you think he will go for a floral pattern or paisley .

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  27. Nice match to your chessboard flooring.


    Baby Cots

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  28. That's so beautiful. I wonder how I should change my office chair. I usually buy my chairs from here since they're so comfortable.

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  29. This just might be the final push for me to finally get my chair done too!

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  30. I just googled covering an office chair, read your tutorial, then saw you are going to Haven--me too! I'm trying to decide if I want to do a vinyl/pleather (like I have) or another fabric.

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  31. I ordere mine from ChairWear Fashion. It was under $30 and it slipped on easily like a pillow case. Best part? I can wash it whenever I want and I didn't have to take my chair apart at all. It was so easy and they have tons of patterns and colors. I ordered the leopard one. Now I want another one for my work office. You can google Chirt or office chair covers to find the site. I don't like posting links but it is on Facebook also called ChairWear.

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  33. Was just wondering how much fabric you used? Maybe a yard per piece? Thanks!

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  34. Your post is really very nice and beautiful. your post have nice furniture's Designs.

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  35. Die Nachricht haben schöne Möbel-Designs. Schöne schwarze Bürostuhl bieten auf dieser blog.Good Arbeit.

    Thanks
    Wilhelm-schuster.de

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  36. I had thought about covering our computer chair because some of the black vinyl like cover was beginning to come off. Your post gave me the ideas and courage and off I went to the fabric store and I now have a great looking computer chair. Thank you so much for your post!!

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  37. Would it be okay if I share the link to this tutorial on my blog? :)
    ZzzonkOwl.blogspot.com

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  40. It's beautiful! ;) Last week I thought about my boring black office chair and now I found great idea! Thanks ;)

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  41. That is the most gorgeous chair! It definitely adds style. Now I want one! Boss Eurotech

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  42. I'm thinking about doing this to a worn out fabric one but it needs new padding as well. WHat would you suggest?

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    Replies

    1. Hi Kayden. I would suggest using new foam cut down to the size of the chair and then cover that with new batting. Use a spray adhesive to keep it in place, then upholster the chair the same way I did in the post. Hopefully this helps. Good luck!

      Delete

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  46. this page title is from the Paul's Boutique album, right?

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  47. Great job, I like what you did with your chair. The fabric colour is so nice.

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  48. VIVA OFFICE Ergonomic Chair VIVA00881 from Bizarkdeal

    Awesome! It is the most comfortable office chair I bought. Absolutely top quality. It is worth the money. Assembly is very easy with the tool provided. Nice Packaging with inner and outer double boxes. I particularly like the lumbar support. It could be adjusted up and down a little bit. The back tilt can be locked in three positions. It fits my back quite well. Rolling is smooth on the floor.
    By the way, the service of VIVA OFFICE was quite nice. They answered all my questions.

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  53. It looks great. What I'm looking for is a pattern, maybe using elastic, so I can take the cover off and toss it in the wash. The chair you recovered looks like it's the same size, type, model, etc. of mine.

    Any ideas?

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