Reupholstering Rattan Chairs

I should start by stating that I’m using the word “reupholster” very liberally in this post. No sewing machines were used in this project, so if you’re like me and don’t know how to sew, you can totally do this!! If you do know how to sew, please don’t get offended by my use of the word. Today I am showing you how easy reupholstering rattan chairs can be!

This dining set belonged to my aunt in the 80’s and she gave it to my parents when they bought their house in 1991. It was used as our kitchen table for many many years. When they bought a new table, this set moved to our basement where it lived until my parents offered it to me after moving into my first solo apartment. The table looked like this when my parents first gave it to me:

My mom had chosen the fabric at the height of the country kitchen craze. It’s super cute, but doesn’t work with the chair style. I chose to go with more of a boho look for the chairs when they were given to me in 2016. Here’s the dining set in my Chicago apartment:

Gosh that apartment was cute. It was so hard to move out! Anyways, while the red boho fabric worked in that kitchen, it wasn’t a good fit in my current kitchen. I also find myself moving away from overly “boho” decor. So it was time to pick something new! My friend Susie suggested fabric row in Philadelphia. If you’re local, this area has 3rd generation fabric merchants with a really beautiful selection. Unfortunately I jumped the gun before learning about this spot and bought my fabric at JoAnn. I chose this HGTV print. It is super pretty and was also on super sale for $12 a yard. A win in my book! Just a note, this fabric is currently not on sale for that price, but JoAnn is always running big sales so keep checking back!

In addition to fabric, you will need a staple gun, staples, scissors, and possibly pliers for this project. I used almost 2 yards of fabric to redo 4 chair cushions.

To begin this project, the old fabric had to be removed. This was a simple task. Most of the staples pulled away from the cushion easily. I used pliers to pull out any staples that were stuck in the wood.

Next, I measured the cushion and cut out 4 pieces of the new fabric to fit. I added 2 inches for the depth of the cushion and 2 inches for the underside.
All together, it was an extra 4 inches on each side of the cushion. I’m sure someone more experienced could get away with using less fabric, but I wanted to give myself a lot of room for error. At this point, I put the cushion in the middle of the newly cut square and pulled out any creases in the fabric. I then picked one side to start with and pulled the edge of the fabric over the side, made a fold on the underside of the cushion, and stapled the fabric to the wood.

Now you can continue along that side folding and stapling the fabric to the cushion. When you get to the edges, pull the fabric tight and make sure it isn’t gaping along the sides of the cushion. It’s pretty easy to create a nice fold.

You can see the tiny corner folds that were needed to make it pretty! When you get to your last side, make sure to pull super tight before stapling. This will give you a nice clean finished product. This whole project took about 1 hour to complete. And the new fabric really makes the table set pop!

Before:

After:

Hooray for new projects! What DIY projects are you tackling this Spring? Let me know in the comments or show me your pictures using the contact link. You can also post pictures on my new facebook page. I’d love to see your ideas!!