Impress Your Friends with Your Not-So-New Dining Set

Tools & Materials:

• Staple gun and staples
• Scissors
• Material of your choice (I bought 4 yards and had quite a bit left)
• Screwdriver

I recently moved into an apartment downtown Indianapolis with my best friend Ross. Most of our money goes to rent and the local soccer pub so we are always looking for inexpensive ways to add a little flair to our home. My aunt gave me an ordinary-looking, wood dining table and chairs that I decided to update.

I sanded, primed and painted the table a sleek black. That made a world of difference from the original dated oak finish. Please visit my post “Facelift: Repainting Furniture” for more details on painting furniture.

Now that the table and chairs are a clean black color, it’s time to add a little personality.  I purchased some chevron pattern fabric (that V-pattern print that’s popping up everywhere) to add some texture and dimension to the set. Obviously, since I live with a guy, floral wasn’t an option. I didn’t think his suggestion of using Miami Dolphin or Star Wars print was the right choice either. So Chevron was a good compromise.

I began by removing the seat from the chair and laying it onto the new fabric. I cut the fabric, leaving between 3-4 inches on every side.

After cutting the fabric, I folded the fabric around the underside of the seat and used a staple gun about every inch or so to secure it to the seat. Make sure you apply enough pressure to the staple gun so the staples go all the way in the seat.

*Safety check: when your not using the staple gun, turn the safety lock on so you don’t set it down and accidentally send staples flying.

When I found a corner, I had some extra fabric. If you’ve ever gift wrapped, this should be easy. I just creased both sides and pulled the fabric from the corner towards the middle of the seat. I applied 2-3 staples to secure the extra fabric.

After I finished re-covering my seats, I just re-fastened them to the chair with a screwdriver and set them under my beautiful wine glass chandelier!