Accent Chair Makeover: From Threadbare to Thrilling!

(Dramatic movie voiceover) In a world where cats reign…

Furniture horrors await!

Yep, this freebie chair was headed to the landfill thanks to its owner’s cat. That’s where I came in.

Scene 1: The Axe Murderer

Every horror movie has some gore, and removing the fabric provided plenty for me. After unscrewing the front legs, I detached the seat from the back to get to the guts. There lurked dagger-like staples galore. Many bandaids later…

Scene 2: Enter the Hero

Our hero is just hiding at the bottom of the photo — my Surebonder® pneumatic staple gun. Once the old fabric was off, it was time to attach new brighter fabric. I stapled up the backside, stretching the fabric across the front of the chair as I went.

Scene 3: The Setback

A good horror tale has an obstacle for the hero to overcome. Cue the curled top of this chair (seen here mid-wrestling match). Oh my goodness… it took forever to wrap the fabric over the curl and work each pleat neatly into the curve for my stapler to tackle.

Scene 4: Covering Tracks

Now to hide the evidence. After the curl was vanquished and fabric was next stretched in place across the back, it was time to hide the staples. I made custom double-welt trim and hot glued it in place along the staple line.

Scene 5: The Jump Scare

It can’t be a horror movie without a shock. To be fair, this caused more of a groan than a shriek. When I started wrapping trim fabric around the flat craft board on the sides, the board started crumbling. So I had to scramble and repurposed some cardboard not unlike what the factory had used. I stapled it in place, wrapped the fabric over it, and attached the fabric below the seat.

It worked. Crisis averted!