DIY Red Dining Room Chairs (House on the Way)

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~Red Gloss Finish~

*The gorgeous fabric for these chairs was given to me by Online Fabric Store, but all the opinions are 100% mine…

A couple of weeks ago, I asked my son to help me take the garbage to the curb. Normally we have the one large can, which makes it a one person job. That particular week, I had a few empty boxes and extra trash that needed to be taken away. As we were passing each other, walking to and from the house, he asked, “want me to get those green chairs?”

NO! “I’m getting ready to re-do those.”

Did they look like they belonged in the trash?…maybe…but they’d been sitting in the garage for the last 6 months. If I’d intended to throw them out, I would have done it a long time ago…but, it gave the motivation to get them finished!

What took me so long?! I’m totally in love with these chairs.

But to fully appreciate them, you need to see the before…

It all started at a local thrift store. I was walking through and spotted this dining room set that included these 4 green chairs. At first glance…not so great. But, as I started to really look at them, I saw the potential…the design of these chairs remind me of an Oriental design with good, clean lines. I really liked the detail on the chair backs. Immediately I realized they would be beautiful in a glossy finish.

And since we all know my love of red…

With the new red paint and the gorgeous fabric from my friends at Online Fabric Store, a whole new look was formed.

The process was so easy. After I removed the seats and relieved them of the old fabric, I realized that I could actually reuse the existing foam and padding.

The fabric I chose from the Online Fabric Store is the Premier Prints Willow Black Fabric. It’s 100% cotton duck cloth and was fabulous to work with. I love the design. I was so excited to use the faux bois design. I chose it because it’s unique and really makes a statement!

To cover the seats, I began by cutting the fabric to fit the seat and allow enough fabric to wrap around the back to staple it. I also made sure the design was lined up and level with the front of the seat.

My personal preference for covering the seats is to put one staple in the center on all 4 sides. This keeps the fabric in place and secure while you work on the corners.

For the corners, I always start with pulling the fabric in from the center…

Then I fold over one side of the corner…and then the other…

After all four corners have been stapled, I continue to work my way around the entire seat, pulling and stapling the fabric to the bottom of the seat. You end up with a beautifully covered chair seat.

When it came to painting the chairs, my first step was to do some sanding. I actually HATE sanding anything, but there were enough chips in the existing paint that they had to be sanded.

Once I had a smooth finish, I gave each chair two coats of paint. One key thing to remember when spray painting is to do light coats. If you apply the spray paint too thick, too fast, then it can run. Just go light and even with the paint.

After the paint was dry, I re-attached the seats, which was simply a matter of screwing the seats to the frames.

This type of DIY is such an easy project. It’s amazing what some great paint and beautiful fabric can do…

This area is an extension of our basement family room. We love having the table and chairs in the space. You can have a snack while watching a movie and the kids love to sit at the table and play board games. It’s also a good place to do homework.

Who says you can only have a table in the kitchen or dining room?!

If you have a similar project to do or are in the need of some fabric, check out the Online Fabric Store. They have a great choice of fabric, in every style or color you can imagine!

Have you shopped at the Online Fabric Store? What fabric did you choose?

*I received fabric from the Online Fabric Store but all opinions are 100% mine.