A DIY guide to repurposing kitchen chairs

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Replacing any piece of furniture in your home can really cut into that vacation or new car budget. It’s easy to keep more money in your pocket with this simple guide to repurposing kitchen chairs.

Story time!

When I was still in college, like every other kid, I was flat broke. Two roommates and I shared a rather nice apartment right outside campus. Rent was cheaper than most, it was outside of the party zone, and it was quiet. We really lucked out with this one.

On the other hand – everything in our apartment fell under the category of “at least it functions” (y’all know exactly what I’m talking about).

But lo and behold, one day I saw two MATCHING kitchen chairs out on the sidewalk by our house. What an improvement over the two mismatched stools that were currently there!
So I snatched those babies up! Right out from under the nose of the car passing by that was also staring them down. These were mine! Paws off.

One chair had a rip in the vinyl on the seat but I’m a rather handy person and I figured I could easily recover them. So next time I was home visiting my mom, she was kind enough to give me some extra fabric she had and matching spray paint to paint the tops of the chairs.

Well, that was circa 2014. Almost ten years later, those chairs were looking a little rough. I wasn’t about to spend $80 PER CHAIR, so what was option B? Option B was to do exactly what I did after I rescued them from the sidewalk, but maybe with a little more skill this time. In all honesty, these were really heavy duty chairs – I wouldn’t have the heart to just throw them out anyway.

So when I first recovered these chairs back in 2014, I did them on the cheap (notice I said cheap, not frugal – there’s a difference). I used what was available to me, which was cheap cotton fabric and spray paint that was probably as old as I was. They looked nice when they were first done, but since then, the appeal has been lacking.

So I rolled up my sleeves and made them beautiful again! Let me show you how.

Step 1 – Gather your supplies

What you’ll need:

• Fabric – for recovering chairs that get a lot of use, you want a relatively thick fabric. Vinyl is extremely popular because of the fact that its durable and easy to clean. I chose a nice outdoor fabric because of the pretty sunflowers/daisies/whatever flowers.
• Fabric scissors – Your fabric will come from the store in a rectangle. You’ll need fabric scissors in order to cut it down to size.
• Spray paint – If there are any parts of the chair that need painted. Spray paint was the easiest option for this project.
• Various tools – There are other tools that would make this process a lot easier and I’ll go over those later.

In true #FrugalDreamer fashion, I have to break down the cost of this project as well.

• Fabric – This fabric wasn’t cheap. It was $25 a yard (!) from Hobby Lobby but rule #1 about Hobby Lobby – never pay full price for anything. If it’s not on sale, it will be the next week since their sales rotate every other week. I got it at 30% off and paid $18 for the yard and one yard was enough to cover both of my chairs.
• Fabric scissors – I’ve had these fabric scissors for years so they didn’t cost me anything. But if you don’t have fabric scissors, there other options. A set of really sharp scissors will also work or I guarantee you know someone who would be happy to loan you their set of fabric scissors. Check with your grandma or your crafty friend – they definitely have some. But give them back in good condition! Crafters are rather attached to their craft supplies.
• Spray paint – A can of spray paint is around $6 these days. Get a good brand like Rustoleom or Krylon since you’ll be touching it pretty consistently and you don’t want it to start chipping right away. I work part-time at the local ACE so I was able to get my spray paint with my employee discount. #winning

Step 2 – Dismantle the chairs

In order to recover the seats, they have to come off. Mine were held in with screws that I removed using a regular Phillips head screwdriver and then also some bolts that came out using a hex key.

The tops of the chair that needed repainted were also held on by screws that could be removed with a Phillips head screwdriver.

Dismantling these chairs was a lot simpler than you would think it was – I promise.

Step 3 – Remove the old fabric

I had two chairs so I removed the fabric from each in two different ways.

• Chair #1 – I cut a line around the old fabric and just ripped that sucker right off. Then I went back to remove the staples.
• Chair #2 – I removed the staples first in order to maintain the shape of the fabric that came off. I then used the old piece of fabric as a template to cut the new piece.

Removing the old staples is quite important and only requires a few tools and a little elbow grease.

Use a thin, flat head screwdriver and line it up with the staple, then use the hammer to drive the screwdriver under the staple just enough to get it elevated, then go back in with your channel locks to remove the staple.

Pro tip – USE THE CHANNEL LOCKS. Grab hold of the staple and then using the shape of the channel locks, roll them back towards yourself to remove the staple with ease. I wish I had recorded a video of myself doing this because my dad taught me that and it changed everything.

Step 3 – Put on the new fabric

Using the intact piece of the old fabric, I laid it on top of my new fabric and cut out the exact same size. This may vary depending on your fabric. Since the old fabric was vinyl and the new fabric was stretchy, I definitely had more room for error.

I then used a staple gun and a good amount of patience to pleat and staple the new fabric around the foam to the wooden base.

For a video on recovering a seat, check out this video from FaceLifeInteriors.

A few touch ups were required here and there, which required removing a few staples and trying again but we eventually got there. Like I said, a good amount of patience.

Pro tip – The four large holes in the middle of the wooden base are for air to escape from the foam of the seat when you sit on it. Do not cover those with fabric!

Step 4 – Spray paint

I also removed the top part of these chairs in order to spray paint them. I just laid them out on a piece of newspaper in the grass outside and got to work.

Pro tip – When working with spray paint, it is much better to do 72 light coats than it is to do 3 heavy coats. Whenever I’m spray painting, I usually put a coat on and then walk away for 10-15 minutes to go occupy myself with something else and then I come back to apply another coat. Depending on the color and the coverage, this will take 5-10 repetitions to accomplish a full coverage look. You want the paint to dry in between coats or else you’ll get runs and then you have to start over.
Save yourself that trouble and just be patient from the beginning.

Step 5 – Reassemble the chairs

For the last step, we do the exact reverse of step 2 and reassemble the chairs using the same screwdriver and hex key combination.

And Voila! A set of brand new looking chairs that I only had to spend $25 on, instead of $160.

DIY is your friend

After looking at the tan kitchen chairs for so long, seeing these definitely took some getting used to. But as we got acquainted, I love how the chairs turned out.

It is amazing what a “fresh coat of paint” can do to something, whether it’s a room, a piece of furniture, or a set of kitchen chairs. With a few supplies, some time, and a little elbow grease – you can bring something back to life as well.

Happy DIY-ing everyone!