Reupholstering Dining Room Chairs When They're Caned

Cut away the bulk of the old upholstery material with a pair of scissors. Pick the remaining material off the chair using a craft knife, but be careful not to scratch any of the cane where marks would be visible. If any of the strands of cane are broken, cut them with the craft knife and pull the remnants out of the chair.

Thread fresh cane into the chair through the holes where the old cane sat. The strands should enter so they thread under the cane already in the chair, then exit via a hole on the other side and loop around and re-enter the chair through a neighboring hole, then cross over the chair, over the top of the existing threads, to re-emerge from a hole on the original side.

Push caning pegs into the holes to hold the cane in place. Place the strip of cardboard on top of the cane seat. Draw an outline of the seat onto the cardboard with a pencil. Cut away the cardboard outside the outline using the scissors. Place the cardboard back on the seat. Trim away any excess cardboard until you have a cardboard outline of exactly the same size and shape as the seat.

Coat one side of the cardboard in glue. Press the cardboard onto the piece of furniture foam. Cut away any foam that sticks out around the outside of the cardboard outline, using scissors or the craft knife. Place the upholstery fabric over the foam and pull it tight. Staple the upholstery fabric to the cardboard outline using the staple gun to make a new upholstered seat cushion.

Place the new seat cushion on the cane seat so the cardboard outline fully covers the cane. Hold the upholstered seat cushion firmly in place on the cane seat. Turn the chair onto its side so you can access the underside of the seat more easily. Using the staple gun, staple the upholstered cushion to the cane seat through the underside of the seat.