How to Reupholster a Stripped Down Chair

Remove the seat if it is not already removed. Flip over the chair and unscrew the seat from the chair frame.

Pull out the staples holding in the current upholstery using either a flat-head screwdriver, a staple remover or needle-nose pliers. Remove all of the staples and discard them.

Lay out your new fabric facedown on your work surface. Spread out the seat's old upholstery on top of the new fabric to provide a pattern for the size and shape to cut.

Cut the same pattern from your new material.

Check the batting that was inside of the padded seat. If it is old, worn out or no longer comfortable to sit on, replace it with polyester quilt batting approximately 1-inch thick.

Set your seat on top of your new fabric. The pattern on the fabric and the top of the seat -- where you put the new batting -- should both be facedown.

Press down firmly on the center of the seat to prevent it from sliding and pull the fabric up and around to the bottom of the seat. Use a staple gun to staple the fabric to the bottom of the seat in the middle of the first side.

Pull the fabric on the opposite side up and around in the same fashion, stapling it once in the center to the back of the seat. Do the same for the other two sides.

Staple the perimeter of the seat cushion, placing one staple per inch, pulling the fabric tightly before every staple to make sure that the fabric fits the seat snugly.

Fold the fabric in the corners over and under itself in a triangular shape, exactly as if you are wrapping a present. With it folded over neatly to prevent wrinkles and folds, staple it in place with at least two staples.

Re-attach the seat to your chair's frame.