I always spend so long looking at all the beautiful craft rooms and home offices on other blogs and on Pinterest that I thought it was time to get stuck in and make a start.
What better way to start than with a project that I have been wanting to do for a long time?
‘To Pimp My Office Chair!’
The chair I had was super ugly with burgundy upholstery and a badly scratched base that was covered in paint.
(oops I got carried away and resprayed it before taking any photos to show how bad the base was – but I am sure you get the picture)
I love recycling / up-cycling and since it was free (someone gave it to me) I figured ‘you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth!’
I used a lovely soft fur material to cover the office chair.
I looked at a few other great tutorials online where they had totally re-upholstered – removing old material, adding new padding, and recovering the chair. Lots of inspiration.
But … as usual, me being me (Mrs super lazy), thought I could get away with just pushing the material in the crack between the seat pad and the plastic. And guess what – it worked!
Here’s how I did it
1. Respray (if needed)
Since the base and plastic bits of the chair were already black this was really simple to do, it only took a couple of light layers to make it look good as new (except for a few deep scratches on the arms of the chair).
I left the chair in the shed overnight to make sure the paint was completely dry before beginning with the re-covering.
2. Measure and cut out pieces of material
I measured out and cut 2 pieces of material that covered the seat pad and backrest pad, plus allowed an additional 10cm (to tuck in).
3. Start fitting material on the seat and back pads
Next, I prised the cushion pad slightly away from the plastic backing using a couple of flat-headed screwdrivers then pushed the material in the gap using a dinner knife (I have all the best equipment;o) ).
4. Use staples to secure (this is optional)
I also used an upholstery staple gun to put a few staples in strategic places to make it extra secure (this step can be omitted if you don’t have an upholstery stapler – the material sits pretty snug when the plastic is pushed back in place).
Do this whilst the pad is still slightly pulled out with the screwdrivers, this ensures that you don’t see the staples when the pad is pushed back flush with the plastic backing.
5. Pimp the armrests (also optional)
At this point, I was already loving the chair but wanted to fix the problem of the scratches on the arms.
I cut 2 pieces of material to fit the arms of the chair allowing approximately 1cm seam allowance on both ends.
(doing this stops the raw edges from showing)
Next, I wrapped the material around the arm and sewed it together so it sat very snug on the arm.
Now your lovely chic new DIY Office Chair is ready to use!
I think in all this took me about an hour and a half to complete from start to finish (including intermittently seeing to the kids).
And here it is
I simply love this chair now – I can’t stop stroking it (not very productive – I know!)
Did you like this tutorial? Why not pin for later?
Have you also ‘pimped’ your office chair (or about to and have questions)? I’d love to hear about it.
Congrats on a job well done! I have done a couple of these and can't believe the difference it makes. Once I discovered it was just a matter of stuffing the fabric into the frame….it went so fast! Here are links to my chairs so you can see! http://sweetwaterstyle.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-did-it-recovered-ugly-office-chair.html
http://sweetwaterstyle.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-recovered-another-office-chair.html
Have a great day!
That's so much better than the original chair. Very modern!
Thanks Mary, I too was going to use a fairly plain fabric I had left over from another project but there wasn't quite enough so then I started looking through my material stash 'et voilà' my furry baby was born.
I think the first chair is very fitting for a gent and your second one is very pretty, perfect for your sewing room (it looks a lot neater than my craft room / office at the moment – but that is work in progress).
And thanks for sharing your pics, it's so great to see everyone else's projects. I have added your pics above.
Thanks Krystle, As I said to Mary it wasn't planned, I just had a little rummage around in my stash. It actually turned out better than I expected. on Office Chair Makeover – the quick (& easy) way!
I love this redo Sam! You did a lovely job! Any time you can recreated something and keep it from the trash when it is still functional is a great project in my book. Thanks for linking this up the Bewitchin' Projects Block Party this week. You are one of my Featured Picks this Sunday over at Recreated Designs 🙂 Hugs, Lisa
Thanks Lisa,
I’m glad you liked it, I was really pleased with the end results, I wasn’t expecting to look as good as it did, my daughter keeps begging me to let her have it in her own room.
I hate throwing functional things away, If there is a way of revamping something I always give it a try (people know where to off load their stuff – lol). Wow I’m really chuffed (is that too English? I mean stoked, happy, made-up) that you have chosen this as one of your featured picks. It gives me a lot of encouragement that I am going in the right direction.
See you at the party! ;o) P.S. You have a great blog! I really love the Queen Anne dresser
I love it! Your description of your process was hysterical- I love how you tell how you REALLY did it without being overly fussy- that gets in done in my world! Love it~
Glad you liked it! ;o)
With me I want to do everything (so many projects but so little time) and time is always of an essence, so if there is a fast and easy way I'm all for it.
This is great! Love your office chair!
Enjoy your weekend!
Hugs and love from Portugal,
Ana Love Craft
http://www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com
Great idea! Never would've thought of recovering one of those spinny office chairs but yours looks great.
Ana, DazzleWhileFrazzled thanks so much for dropping by.
I have popped over to check out what you ladies have been up to – you both have some lovely projects!
x
I love redoing something old and making it fun and beautiful again and you've done both of those things, Sam! Thanks for sharing the "how-tos" as well. 🙂
Thanks Bev. When I bought the material I had no idea what I was actually going to use it for, I just thought it was fun and liked the look of it.
I love this! It’s much nicer than that burgundy colour- great work!
Thanks – yes the burgundy was horrible, not my taste at all.
Love this – I can't seem to go past animal print and faux fur – love the look and feel of it. Your chair looks amazing, what a vast improvement. Good to have the tutorial too. Well no chair makeovers for me but my latest post was about a bench makeover I did so you might like to have a peek. I'm at http://www.waterintowineblog.com Found your lovely post at Inspire ME Monday Linky Party.
Tracey your bench looks great! A real pop of colour in the garden (I see you have a bit of fur hiding in the background of the photo ;o) ).
This makeover is so much nicer than the bland burgundy! I am sure you're having "fun" sitting in it now (as much that you can have at work!) Thank you for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop & Link Party!
Yes it's lovely and super comfy to sit on but the only problem now is that the desk is looking a bit sorry for itself lol – See you next week at the blog hop!
I never thought about just shoving the fabric in between the pad and the plastic. I have an office chair that is so not comfortable but I couldn't figure out how to recover the back portion due to the plastic. I think I'll look for some fabric (and some foam for the seat) and try this! (visiting from This is How We Roll)
If I'm honest I first looked at getting the back completely off but after a few tugs it seemed like too much hard work. This way was so easy. If you are buying new material I would say not to buy anything that is too stiff or thick. This fur material was actually pretty thin and easy to work with.
This looks fantastic! How fun and funky! You did a great job! I am looking for white faux fur right now to do a similar project! I hope you have a fantastic weekend!
Smiles!
Terry
Thanks Terry! Feel free to share your project here when it is finished – I'd love to see it!
you rocked this makeover!! Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. Watch for your feature tomorrow xo
Thanks Katherine! Really? Fantastic! See you there! x
Beautiful job and how comfy is that fur! I just may be a bit more productive sitting in a chair like this one. We appreciate you sharing this at Celebrate Your Story link party.
Ha ha, I wish it increased my productivity – that would be an added bonus! ;o)
Thanks for stopping by.
LOL you should see the office chair I'm sitting on right now. The fabric started to peel and my kids have picked the heck out of it — so there's exposed foam/cushion. It's not a pretty sight!
You've inspired me here – the chair looks great.
Thanks for sharing (and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop).
Wishing you a lovely day.
xoxo
I know what you mean about the kids! We'll see just how long this makeover stays looking pretty – my daughters have already taken a shine to it!
You should give it a try – the great thing about this is it was so quick and cheap to do it really doesn't matter if the kids wreck it.
Office chairs are so boring… this is a super fun makeover! Thanks for sharing at the Celebrate Your Story Link Up Party!
Yes you spend a lot of time using them so the least you can do is make it a little bit more fun!
Great makeover! I've wanted to try this with my own. Thanks for the how-to 🙂 Tweeted and Pinned to share! Thanks for linking up with us at Brag About It!
~Laurie
Thanks so much Laurie x
I can't believe it only took you an hour and a half to create this super cool (and soft) office chair. You could go into business; your chair is much prettier than any office chair I've ever seen before. Congrats, you're featured this week on the #ThisIsHOwWeRoll Link Party on Organized 31.
Super! Thank you so much Susan!
I've never thought of doing it as a business but at a certain point my home will be over flowing as a result of my furniture makeover addiction, so that is maybe something I should consider.
In love with the result !
Glad you like it Tana 🙂
Do you know approx how much material you used? I have the same chair and the fake leather is falling apart and looks terrible, from little fingers pulling loose pieces off.I was going to put it out by the curb, but maybe I'll try what you did, thanks for the idea and pictures!
I already had a big piece of the faux fur material so I just laid it on top of the chair and allowed roughly 10 cm extra on top of the chair pad size (I literally just cut it whilst holding it above the chair pad – not very professional 😉 I know!). I think depending on the pattern you shouldn't need any more that 1 to 1.5 meters. I would suggest that you use a material that is not to thick or stiff – that will make it easier to push in. The faux fur material I used also had a bit of stretch in it so it was very easy to work with. Good luck! I'd love to see it if you do go ahead and do it.
Great job on the chair. I love the fabric you picked!
your co host of The Pinterest Game