Giving New Life to Old Furniture

I love to search for and buy vintage or gently used furniture, and one of my daughter's Christmas gifts this year is no exception.

We happened upon this great table and chairs for $35 at a local resale shop and scooped it up immediately.

It wasn't in too bad of shape. A good cleaning, some tightening of screws, a light sanding (with steel wool), two coats of poly and we are starting to get somewhere.

The chair seats were covered in white damask, an interesting choice, but I try not to judge.

I removed the seat, picked up some red ticking stripe fabric, got out my staple gun and got to work!

If you've never done this before, it's super easy, here's how:

Start by cutting your fabric about two inches bigger around than the seat. Lay the front of the seat to the back of the fabric.

Turn the fabric up and over the seat pad; holding the fabric as tight as possible,

staple the fabric in the center of each side of the seat.

Finish stapling around each side of the seat, my staples are about an inch to two inches apart. Then turn to the corners and treat them as you would wrap a present or make hospital corners on a bed.

Fold back and secure.

Trim off any extra fabric.

Also, be sure to leave room for the screw holes used to attach the seat.

Done and looking a lot better!

The finished set.

All decked out for an early family Christmas on Sunday.

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