When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.
And when your Mother-in-law gives you an old, beat-up chair, you recover it.
I think that’s how the saying goes. My in-laws had a chair that was on it’s last leg sitting in their body shop. Here’s how I took this eyesore and turned it into a showpiece – my no sew method to reupholstering a wingback chair.
I’m sure this wingback was a stunner 30 years ago, standing tall in it’s tuftedness wearing those brass nails with pride. And just as we all do, it succumbed to age and wear and tear. The cushion no longer cushed, and the smell that wafted from the ripped pleather was quite unique. But I jumped at the chance for a new project when my MIL asked us if we wanted this chair!
Let me be clear – this is not a tutorial post.
I referenced other bloggers to help me out and am including the links for you. Jessica from Four Generations One Roof has an awesome no-sew reupholstery tutorial that was a huge help for me – plus she has a video which is what made this whole thing tangible. And, this chart from Jenny from Little Green Notebook helped me know how much fabric and batting to purchase. I highly suggest you use their posts as references to help out your upholstery project.
No Sew Reupholstered Wingback Chair
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The Plan
Before I began, I mentally prepared my mind for reupholstering this chair since this was my first attempt ever at upholstery.
Honestly, all those buttons intimidated me.
I knew that if I tried to mimic the tufting, this project would be a beast to tackle, so I made it easy for myself and opted to forgo the 45 tufted buttons and just recover the chair.
According to Jenny’s chart, I purchased 6 1/2 yards of fabric and batting. Next, I gathered my tools and let me tell you, this was the smartest step. I purchased one of these tack and staple remover claws. Be prepared to remove hundreds of staples – HUNDREDS – and you will need the right tool for the job.
I also purchased a pneumatic staple gun to make the no-sew process easier on me. You just hook it up to an air compressor and it makes the stapling easy peasy. Plus I felt like a boss with each pop of the stapler!
The Process
The ProcessAs I started disassembling the chair, I made sure to document the steps to make it helpful to reassemble. I took pictures as I went along and kept track of the pieces.
I numbered each panel as it was removed and notated it so I knew which piece was which. You will want to save the old panels and use them as templates to cut out the new fabric panels, so don’t throw them away!
Another thing is to look out for are the upholstery ribs and tack strips.
Again, this is where taking photos saved this project. Seeing how the manufacturer placed them and mimicking their method made this project doable for me.
While removing the fabric, I noticed that the foam in the back and seat of the chair had holes where the buttons were.
To fix the holes in the foam, I came up with a neat idea. The manufacturer tied huge hunks of batting on the back side of the tufted buttons. I snipped the buttons free removing the batting.
Then I used those huge gobs of cotton to stuff the holes on the front side.
After disassembling the chair, I covered it with batting. It amazed me that it looked as if those holes were never there!
The last thing I did before referring to the tutorials was to add the cush back to the seat. We happened to have 3 inch foam on hand from sound proofing our recording studio, so I used those scraps to fix the saggy seat. I also spray painted the legs of the chair black.
Then I followed the steps in the tutorials to reassemble the chair, using my notes and photos as a reference, cutting the pieces from the saved fabric panels. The fabric I used is Waverly Celestial Sun Twill Nightfall.
The Reveal
I took this discarded, headed to the dump of a chair and turned it into a stunner!
I spray painted the old brass trim black and added it back to the chair.
One disappointment was the armrests. I tried to nail the the brass tacks back on the armrests, but they wouldn’t go in straight, no matter how I tried. After about four hours of failed attempts, and finally calling uncle to have Trent give it a try with no success, we abandoned the nail heads on the arms. It was just too frustrating, but even without the brass tacks, it still looks great!
I opted for black piping to give the chair a little pop. Plus it looks great with the black nail heads and black legs.
The other tricky problem was getting the patterned fabric to line up. That little detail made my head hurt as if I were solving an algebraic equation.
It may not be perfect, but I’m very pleased with the end result! It’s super cushy and comfy and I’m proud to know that I rescued a piece from the dump.
CLICK HERE to see the chair in it’s new space!
Looking for More Reupholstery Hacks?
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Pin this project for later!
What a beautiful makeover! I’d love to be able to take something like this on and will keep your post along with the others you recommend close at hand for when I do. Pinned!
I am so glad you took the time to comment and to learn that this inspired you! If you make over a chair – please send me a pic! I’d love to see your finished product!
I think its a fantastic makeover. So glad to know a project like this can be accomplished without sewing.
Thank you so much for stopping by, Nancy! I appreciate your comments and am glad this inspired you!
Can’t wait to try this and I actually do know how to do the tufting but it takes a LOT more fabric.
My wing chairs are recliners, so there are a few extra things for me to figure out.
Couldn’t figure out a couple things:
Is there a specific order for putting the fabric pieces back on or does it work to just put them on in the order they came off, or is it just obvious as you start doing it?
And, couldn’t quite figure how to secure the fabric pieces where they’re stuffed in that area between the back and the wing. Can you get the stapler in there?
Thanks!
Hi Kathleen! I’m so glad you reached out! I built my chair in reverse of how I took it apart. My chair had some metal teeth that held that fabric in place. I stapled the metal teeth to the chair and then crimped the fabric between them.
The other option I would suggest if your chair didn’t have that would be upholstery fabric adhesive. It’s heavy duty stuff and works great!
Hope that helps! Let me know if you need anything else. Good luck!
I would sew a little black rope cording to the edge of your arm rest inserted pieces. That would cover the edge and finish your chair nicely. GREAT job and it looks terrific!
I would glue a little black rope braid on the edge of your armrest inserts. It would finish off your arms. GREAT job!
I love it. It turned out beautiful. I have a chaise lounge type chair that needs recovered. It was given to me by an elderly neighbor and she has since passed away. You have given me encouragement and good tips. I think I’ll stick to a solid color though. I needed a tutor to get me through college algebra.
Don’t beat yourself up over some brass tacks. You don’t even need to mention it to anyone! The chair looks gorgeous and, personally, I like it better without the brass tack. Great job!
I think that you are way to hard on yourself…you did a beautiful job. I have been toying with the idea of re-covering my livingroom furniture…however, I think it’s just way to big of an undertaking. It’s really good furniture and should be re-covered by a professional. Once again, give yourself a pat on the back…the chair looks amazing. I have an idea for you on those nailhead..see if you can’t take the back off them and glue your strip on with hot glue…be careful though..I have gotten a burn with that stuff. Keep ice water right next to you. Beautiful job!!!
What a stunner! I especially love how nicely you centered the small medallions on the armrest…no one would ever even think there are missing tacks! You did a wonderful job .- it’s perfect in my book.
That chair is gorgeous you did a wonderful job.
WOW! Beautiful job, I want one. I am in awe of you and your talent. Would never even think of taking on a job like that. Fantastic job!
Thanks so much Rhonda!
Thanks Deborah!
Thank you for the sweet compliment! It means so much that you took the time to comment!
Linda – you are so kind to leave such nice words! I appreciate your suggestions!
Thank you so much for the vote of confidence and the sweet comments!
I agree about the solid color – I think that was my only mistake as a first timer. It was a bit of a headache figuring all that out!
What a great suggestion! Thanks for taking the time to comment – it means so much!
What a great suggestion! Thank you!
Beautiful job!
Stunning x
The link to the alleged air compressor takes me to and ad for contact lenses.
Thanks for the heads up Megan! Don’t know how that happened! I linked to some air compressors you can find on Amazon. I also share my favorite tools in this post. Hope that helps and I appreciate you letting me know!
I too had a family easy chair with all the smells. Had it reulpolstered in a blue plaid. I didn’t like the way she did the end caps so I removed them and inserted a piping that was like twisted rope. Then with a round needle sewed it back together. As my mother always said it is all in the details.
Hi Mary! Your mother is so right – I love your piping idea! I will have to save that tip and try it in the future! Thanks for taking the time to comment. It truly means so much to hear from my readers!
Hi, I am truly inspired by your chutzpah! This chair came out absolutely spectacular! You go girl!
I would like your help on a question I have. I have 2 “well loved” Queen Anne Chairs that I would love to do the same to. The only difference is that the seat cushion is removable. How would I go about covering the seat?
Thank you for sharing your creativity. God Bless.
Thank you for your kind words, Kay! And that’s a great question! Is the cushion covered in fabric? I would remove the cover, trying to keep the form in tact as much as possible. Unfortunately, it’s going to require a bit of sewing, but I did that for my drop cloth covered chair and it was really easy – and I am no seamstress at all!
The chair is beautiful ! I have helped my Cousin reupholster and it is not easy ! Big pat on the back for such a good job. Lovely fabric and you placed it just right. Applause to you !!
Whether or not you used other information from other blogs, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give yourself credit here too, as you are the one that did all the work and a beautiful job of it too! We all use help of some sort, a pattern, a map, etc. Upholstry is not an easy job, especially if you don’t mark everything ahead of time, so kudos to you for a job very well done!
Shirley – your sweet words are so encouraging! Thank you for all the kudos!
Thank you so much Frances! I appreciate your kind words!
I found your blog while looking for tips to reupholster my chair. It looks almost like yours, pre-makeover, The fabric I picked is very similar to yours and I plan on putting it in my bedroom also. I was dreading it but after reading your blog I can’t wait to start. Thanks for sharing.
Michelle! This is exactly why I blog! If I can do it, anyone can – which is why I share to encourage others to give it a try. Thank you for making my day with this comment. Be sure to send me a before and after pic! I’d love to see it!
I just had to comment on the fantastic job you did on your chair. Thank you for sharing your project with us and I will be following you. I’d be crazy not to!
Thank you for your sweet words, Cindy! You have made my day!
Why does the recovered chair have a crosspiece between the legs? Did you have to reinforce it for some reason?
It always had the crosspiece. It was an optical illusion in the angle of the picture. If you look at some of the before pictures, you can see the crosspiece there. Hope that helps!