Did I use a shower curtain to reupholster a chair? Yes, yes I did.
Life is one big series of problem-solving adventures. My problem was the built-in desk in the guest room. Kinda awkward to have a desk with no chair. After many fruitless and frustrating hunting expeditions to various and sundry thrift stores, this little guy turned up.
I had re-upholstered a few chairs in my day, but never one that was put together like this one. There’s only one thing to do when you encounter an unfamiliar upholstery situation: jump in and start deconstructing. I painstakingly removed all of the fabric from the back and seat, as well as the foam from the back.
Then I used the original fabric as a template. The new fabric, btw, was left over from the shower curtain I altered for our master bathroom.
Then the cat decided my project looked like her new favorite lounging spot.
Now that we’ve taken a moment to enjoy that, let’s carry on. Once I had the fabric cut out, I stapled the fabric for the back rest onto the front of the frame, with the pattern facing out, like so.
Next, the foam went back on. Super not exciting, but still part of the process.
And finally, I stapled the fabric for the front of the back rest (was that confusing enough?) on top of the foam.
Wait, did I say “finally” in that last step? Just kidding! Even though I breathed an enormous sigh of relief after completing that part (a happy dance or two may have also ensued), I still had to cut out and staple fabric to the seat and glue trim on the back rest and seat to hide the staples.
And there he is, all snug in his little desk nook and providing a much needed pop of pattern.
If you’re feeling like this space could still use a little something, you’re totally right. In time, I zjooshed the items in the shelves, added contact paper behind them, and painted the walls, but more on that later.