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So recently, I got to thinking that I wanted to cozy up my sewing room a little.

I made a list of projects that would be fun to do.  On that list was the rolling office chair that I use as my sewing chair.

I wanted my gray office chair to be a bit more welcoming and let’s just say it:  pretty!

I needed a quick and easy project and this proved to be perfect!

I love this chair!  I have had it for at least 20 years, and it really shows its age!

It was the typical black rolling chair with dark grayish/blackish fabric cushions.  (not really pretty) (Sorry, I didn’t get any before pictures… oops! I was just so excited to give it a makeover that I forgot to stop and take some pictures!)

I wanted to recover it with a fun and warm fabric, so I found some fabric on sale at JoAnn’s.

I read a few tutorials about how to recover office chairs.

The Hardest Part

I think the hardest part is taking it apart and putting it back together.  I’m not ambitious enough to want to paint my chair, the black is just fine for me, but the cushion really needed an update with a color that would more closely match the colors I am trying to use in my sewing room.

Does it have a Keyhole design holding it together?

One of the tutorials said to just pull apart the back from the front, but it seemed like it was going to break mine, so I finally figured out that it had a keyhole design with two “set screws” that didn’t move.

Once, I figured that out and slid it apart, it was a pretty easy project.

Make sure you figure out what configuration yours is before you start to take it apart.

I Don’t Like Long Projects…

Now, I will have to admit a couple of things.

First off is that I don’t like my projects to take very long.  If they take very long, they will most likely become a UFO.  (That’s short for an unfinished object.)

Also, I may or may not be a little on the lazy creative side, so I like to sometimes find a faster or a better way for me to actually get it done quick….. so that means I may or may not take it all apart like you are supposed to do! 🙂

Yes, I like an easy and fast project!!  (must be my short attention span! or it could be the short time I have to create something while my little ones are busy!!!)

The Process

So with that in mind, let me explain the process:

1. Gather supplies
2. Disassemble
3. Cut out fabric to approximate shape needed
4. Stretch and pull the fabric while stapling
5. Reassemble
6. ENJOY!!!

Gather Supplies

• staple gun and lots of staples
• screwdrivers
• hammer
• scissors
• fabric
• measuring tape

Disassemble

• Take off the chair back from the base
• Pull the sleeve off if it has one
• Now slide the back plastic part off of the front cushion
• Take the bottom apart with tools (okay, I totally cheated on this part because of my laziness lack of time, however for a professional finish, I would suggest doing it the right way.)
• Now, this is probably where you would take off the old fabric, but I decided to leave mine on and just staple over it.  Probably not the professional thing to do, but it was the right choice for me in the time I had! 🙂  (If you take it off, it would give you an exact pattern to cut out the fabric with and a better finish in some cases.)

Cut out Fabric

• I feel like I should mention that a heavier upholstery fabric is practically a must here so that you get a good finish.
• I wrapped the fabric around the edges to get an approximate measurement and then just cut it out.  It will all get stapled, so I wasn’t too worried about my cutting.
• Because I wanted to be able to roll the edge for a more finished look, I cut out a little extra to do this.

Stretch and Staple

• Stretching the fabric is important to avoid any puckers and ill-fitting fabric, it helps a lot with a nice firm finish
• Staple enough to keep it in place
• I would tack down one side, then another and then go back and staple between.
• This became a little tricky for me because I didn’t take the old fabric off, so I had to staple a little more and in different spots to make it work.

Reassemble

• When I reassembled everything, I figured out why not taking the bottom completely apart might have been a bad idea…. after I caught my finger with a staple!!  😕  Oh, well, almost done!

Enjoy!!

• I love how my sewing room is slowly but surely coming together and becoming a sanctuary for me to retreat to when I need a break.  (Which has been a lot lately with sick kids!:)
• This was such an easy project to do!  It makes me happy every time I walk in the sewing room!!!  It’s like eye candy!!!  Love it!  It only took about an hour to recover my office chair and as I said before, the hardest part was taking it apart and putting it back together, which wasn’t bad at all, once I figured out how to do it! 🙂

Happy Crafting!

Amy

Here is another fast project that gave my sewing room a little love.