Lyre chair makeover

Good morning...Hope you all are enjoying a lovely week!


I think I may have set a personal record on how long it took to complete this particular project. I'm up to the better part of a year....nine months, to be exact. So, here goes....


I acquired these chairs last summer, via Craigslist. A lady a few towns over was cleaning out an old barn and she wanted to unload these chairs.

I was quite pleased, since they were in fairly good shape. I met her at the local Wal-Mart and I expected to pay about $25 for one. She gave me both of them for $30 since she didn't want to cart the other one home. Score!


I removed the cushions....after who knows how many years in the barn, they were desperately in need of removal. This is one of the first times buying something on CL that I've been completely skeeved out by the ratty looking fabric and padding. Although I hope it doesn't take you as long for this project should you take it on, I have a few words of advice....save your hardware!! It will make your life easier later on.

Paint job up next.

I tightened them up as best as I could. The painting and tightening took place last fall, by the way.

Here is the first one, ready for reupholstery.

This is where I hit a wall. For months. I was looking for the perfect patterned fabric...and I had a really hard time finding something I liked in the right color. For the right price, of course.


Also...lately, I've acquired stuff for projects.....and then had a hard time following through. I think any crafter/sew-er is guilty of this to an extent. I just happen to be one of the bad ones. So, one of my unofficial challenges for the year is to do projects using materials I have on hand....before going out to get stuff for new projects. : )


Since I couldn't find any fabric I liked--and I had my challenge upon me--I decided to use some off-white cotton duck fabric my mom gave me. I used a level/ruler to attach paint tape and spray painted diagonal stripes. Which turned out to be super easy to do. I don't think I'd recommend this method for a chair that you would use daily, but this is a chair that won't get a ton of use each day. There she be.

I already had the foam and my mom gave me some batting she had on hand. I laid out the fabric, batting, foam and wood board, then trimmed around the edges.

If you're new to upholstery, this is one of the simplest projects for starting out. I do a staple on each side in the center, pulling tightly on each side.

Then...I work my way out to the corners, pulling tightly.

To do the corners, you can fold it a bit like wrapping a gift. I keep track of what I've done, so I do all of the corners the same and they all look alike. Pull tightly!

Once finished, I do a once-over to see if I need to pull out any staples and re-staple more tightly. I also trim the inside edges.

As I was attaching the padded seat to the chair, I noticed that some of the unpainted chair was showing. So, I had to take it off and touch up with some white paint.

After a little touch-up, I reattached the cushion and there ya go.

Not too bad of an upholstery job using stuff I had already. Costing nada! No more than $15 for the chair. : ) My piano room is looking up.


Next project up soon...!

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