Saturday 5 November 2011

Saving $700.00

That is my goal this weekend :)

Our dining table is the hub of our home.  We eat at it 3 times per day oh yes, but also, it's our school desk, our craft and art table and generally where all things good happen in our home.  Consequently, the chairs are worn to threads....  



How many people have sat upon them I'll never know.  These chairs are the true workhorses in our home, faithfully seating us and our guests for 8 years...  They look terrible don't they - especially the two arm/end chairs (pictured) as we all favour those chairs.

In the Spring, I called the company where we bought the furniture and the quote to re-upholster the 10 chairs was $800.00 plus tax.   That money could be put to much better use around the homestead, so I abandoned my fantasy of having them done professionally, covered the worst chair seats with towels and put off the recovering job until fall when time would be on my side for a project such as this...


Well, Fall is here and the time has come - no more procrastinating, lol.   I found some upholstery fabric that I liked this week and I bought .6 of a metre to bring it home and try it before committing to buying the yardage I needed for all 10 chairs.  It's looks great and when I test sewed a few seams, it sewed up beautifully and didn't fray - all systems go!  The fabric shop agreed to hold the bolt for me until today when a huge sale starts so I'll be able to get the fabric very inexpensively.  I also need to replace the foam on the 2 arm chairs, and buy new batting, but even with those purchases, I'm confident that I'll be saving $700.00 by the time it's all said and done :)

Wish me luck - I'll keep you posted!

7 comments:

  1. It is so easy to recover chairs. You can do it with some fabric and a stapler and it will last years and years. Don't worry about being perfect, if you really inspect stuff you have now, they are never perfect.
    I would have never thought there even was a place that reupholsters chairs and certainly would not spend $800 to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is something I've never done but I'm sure you'll be able to get them to look so much better! And saving money is always great! Enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well done. I look forward to seeing them done. Even one at a time. Great idea to just buy a bit of fabric and try it and fancy the fabric going on sale. A real win for you. xxoo

    ReplyDelete
  4. The wood in your chairs is lovely Sherri. they are going to look great when you are done. That's awesome that you are taking on such a job, I don't have the skills (yet!) so shall watch with interest.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Becky is right. It's a pretty easy job if you have a staple gun and some strong hands to pull the fabric taut while you staple it.

    Several years ago friends were in a similar situation. Their dining chair seats had seen better days but they didn't want to spend a lot of money as they were moving soon and were not taking the dining set.

    She and I went shopping for fabric and in about an hour we stripped off the old fabric and I cut the new fabric to size while she started to remove all the old staples. Her husband and I stapled the new fabric on and put the seats back onto the chairs. 8 chairs done in an hour for a fraction of the cost probably of having one professionally done.

    I got a very nice dinner out of that.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the encouragement everyone :) I really needed it! Rose, the wood is nice, isn't it? We love it, too. We purchased the set from a local craftsman about 8 years ago and it is all 100% solid cherry. No pressboard or laminated wood - handmade with great skill. With a busy family, we knew we needed a good quality, sturdy table that would look better over time. We have not had so much as one squeaky or loose chair in all that time! Amazing. The fabric is totally falling apart, but it owes us nothing and I've steam cleaned it so many times I can't even tell you how many!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've recovered chairs. I think I followed directions from Martha Stewart, but it was pretty easy. A staple gun makes it easier, for sure.

    Good luck! Its worth doing, for sure.

    ReplyDelete