Old Chair, New Look

About seven years ago, I bought a simple computer chair on clearance at Ikea (for just $6.99). Over the years, that chair has seen a lot of wear n' tear, but since it's fully functional and I haven't been able to find another swivel chair for that price, I haven't yet thrown it away. Instead, I decided to do a little, quick reupholstering. For just 1/2 hour of my time and $4.99, I was able to give an old chair a brand new look.

Materials

• Old computer chair (free)
• A foot of fabric (4.99/yard)
• Staple gun (free - already owned)
• A large gift box/poster board/piece of cardboard (free - already owned)

What To Do

Top Pad of Chair

1. Unscrew the back of the chair to separate the top of the chair from its frame.
2. Pry the padded part of the chair's top from its frame.
3. Measure and cut the fabric you'll need to cover the chair's top pad, leaving fabric to wrap a little around the back.
4. Place the chair's pad face down on the center of the fabric (the fabric should be facing down and the pad's underside should be facing you).
5. Take on end of the fabric, fold it over the back of the pad a little, and use your staple gun to staple it to the backboard of the pad.
6. On the opposite side of the pad, do the same, pulling the fabric taut. Do the same for the other two sides.
7. Once you have the four sides pinned down, go around the rest of the pad, pulling the fabric taut and stapling it in place.
8. Cut off any excess fabric blocking the holes for the screws.
9. Slide your top pad back into it's plastic frame and screw the chair's top back on.

Bottom Pad of Chair

1. Turn the chair upside down and unscrew the pad from the bottom of the frame. Rip off any warranty tags you don't need.
2. Follow the same instructions listed above to measure and pin your fabric in place.
3. Since the bottom pad does not go in a frame before being re-attached to the chair's metal frame, you have two choices: you can leave it rough looking and exposed (unless the chair is flipped over, no one will notice) or you can use a piece of cardboard to cover the rough fabric.
4. If you chose option two, you'll need a piece of cardboard or posterboard. Place the bottom pad of the chair, rough-side down, onto the cardboard. Using a pencil, trace the shape of the bottom pad onto the cardboad.
5. Remove the pad and cut out the shape using a scissors/X-acto knife/box cutter. Since the shape you've traced is probably a little too big to cover the bottom of the pad, cut about an 1/2 inch off around the board.
6. Since there are screws that need to be put into place when re-attaching the pad to the chair's frame, you'll need to mark off the hole-spots on the cardboard. The easiest way to do this is to place the screws halfway back into the exposed pad. Then press the cardboard over it and mark off where the screws pucker the paper. Once you do this, use a pin/pen or other sharp edge to bore a small hole in the cardboard.
7. The easiest way to make sure your cardboard is in the perfect position, is to place the cardboard on the pad and place the screws in their appropriate holes. Once you do this, then you can use the staple gun to pin the cardboard in place. Place staples ever 1/2 in or so at the border of your cardboard. When you're done, you can remove the screws again.
8. Now you can re-attach your bottom pad to the chair's frame.
9. Make sure all the screws are tight and test out the chair (to make sure you've put everything back in it's place).