How to Re-cover Office Chairs

Heavy-duty, padded office chairs can be expensive. Instead of purchasing a new one, why not search for an old chair and re-cover it? Look in thrift shops, at garage sales or even in the trash. That old office chair may have worn and ripped fabric that's dingy and stained, but re-covering the pads can give it a new look for very little money. You can even add a patterned fabric for added interest to make the office chair unique. Re-covering the pads of an office chair is a simple project that's great for beginners. Use a heavy-duty upholstery fabric for re-covering because it is durable and will wear the best. This project will take a couple of hours and require few tools and little upholstery experience.

Office chair
Fabric to re-cover
Roll of batting
Screwdriver
Zipper seal bag
Measuring tape
Scissors
Staple gun
Heavy-duty upholstery staples

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the screws where the back rest chair pad is fastened to the rolling chair frame. Place the screws in a plastic zipper bag for safekeeping and set the bag aside.
- 2
  Turn the office chair upside down and remove the screws that attach the seat pad to the chair's frame. Place the screws in the same zipper bag. If the screws are not all the same, use a piece of masking tape to stick one set of screws together. Fold the tape onto itself with the screws on the inside and label.
- 3
  Measure the seat pads removed from the office chair. Add an extra 6 to 8 inches to the length and width measurements for each chair pad so you will have enough fabric to fold over the chair pad base and fasten with staples.
- 4
  Transfer the measurements for the chair pads onto the fabric. Cut the fabric with scissors to these dimensions. Unroll the batting and cut to the same measurements as the fabric. You should have two pieces of fabric (one to cover the back pad and one for the seat pad) and two pieces of batting. Batting is used for new or extra padding, helping to smooth the edges. This helps the fabric lie nicely over any damaged areas and gives the reupholstered piece a more finished look.
- 5
  Place the piece of batting over the back-rest pad of the office chair, then center the fabric on top of the batting and the pad.
- 6
  Fold the fabric over the edges of the back-rest pad and turn over the cushion. Starting at each corner, pull the fabric tightly around the edge. Add pressure and staple the fabric to the base of the back-rest pad.
- 7
  Continue stapling the fabric and batting from one corner to the other, pulling the fabric and batting tightly so it does not bulge.
- 8
  Trim off the excess batting and fabric after the fabric and batting are completely stapled all the way around the cushion. If the back-rest pad is visible on both sides of the cushion, you may need to use a piece of cardboard to make a template of the rear side of the back-rest pad. This can be easily done by tracing the shape of the back-rest pad onto the cardboard and cutting it out.
- 9
  Measure and cut a piece of fabric to cover the cardboard, leaving about 1 or 2 inches to fold over the edge. Fold the fabric over the edge of the cardboard back piece and use all-purpose glue to adhere the edges that have been folded over. Once this is dry, you may glue or staple the piece you have made onto the back of the back-rest pad, where the other fabric and staples used to cover the front are exposed. This will give the chair a more finished look.
- 10
  Center the fabric and batting onto the seat cushion of the office chair. Turn the cushion over and, once again, pull tightly and staple at the corners.
- 11
  Continue pulling the fabric and batting firmly over the edge of the cushion and stapling around the entire perimeter of the cushion.
- 12
  Trim the excess batting and fabric from the seat pad of the chair.
- 13
  Remove the screws from the zipper bag and use the screwdriver to reattach the back-rest pad and seat cushion to the frame of the chair.

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