DIY: Reupholstered Desk Chair

In lieu of dropping a hundred bucks on a brand new desk chair, I decided to give a little attention to the oft neglected middle child of the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" trinity and gave reupholstering a whirl this weekend.


With an old Ikea desk chair and my dreams in hand, I got to work. 


*By dreams, I mean that for years I had watched "Trading Spaces" on TLC and imagined that one day I could build my own sofa/couch/bookcase...if I wanted to.


Now. Was. My. Time! 
(Well, kind of)


Here's the before:

Let's just say it's been well loved, as you can tell by the smooshed seat.

I picked a green, vintage-esque fabric that would go great with the dark wood desk providing that lovely pop of color.  

I googled "how to reupholster a desk chair" and found out I needed a Heavy Duty Stapler, which Robert loaned me. All in all, I spent a total of $19 on two yards of fabric, a box of heavy duty staples and a new foam pad. I began the tedious job of staple removing. 

That was probably the hardest part. The factory staples were in this groove that made it difficult to reach. Well, that and I was using an old little pocket knife to take them out because I left my screwdriver at my office. I had a couple scary moments when the knife slipped and I nicked my finger in what ended up being a glorified paper cut. What can I say, I live on the edge. 

 I even covered all the staples with a little homemade piping Not an official term, just literally sewed together a 'pipe' out of the extra fabric and used a hot glue gun to hold in place.

And, now for the after...

(If you scroll slowly, it builds the suspense)

While there are a few spots that are a little 'off', I decided not to be obsessed with perfection. I told myself that I'm going to spend most my time sitting in it, not staring at it. 


So, with that...there's my DIY for the weekend. 


I'm now ready for Monday!