Plan: Purchase oil cloth (because it's wipe and go ready!) and recover the chairs. Yellow seemed like a good pick because it's my favorite color and is found in almost every room of the house. (Plus, the yellow cushion option is a far cheaper alternative to fulfilling my yellow silk curtain dream...)
Dilemma: I tried recovering one of the chair cushions and I'm finding that oil cloth is not nearly as forgiving as fabric when it comes to amateur upholstering. It doesn't stretch as well thus making it tough to get taut around the edges and especially the corners...
Problem: This is a lot of work! 1 toddler naptime = 1 chair done. No instant decorating satisfaction here. I'm having to remove two layers of old fabric (and all 200 staples in the bottom of each chair) because the pattern shows through the oil cloth...so I can't recover six chairs, determine if I like it, then simply take off the oil cloth and return to the ikat.
Help me! What do you think I should do??
Please do give me your thoughts, recommendations, etc. Unfortunately, none of my dream chairs are in the budget...
Any chair price times 6 is A LOT of dough, even at IKEA...
Crud, I wish I could remember the name of the other fabric that's like oil cloth, but not shiny......grrrrrr. Go to the site, Oil Cloth Addict and you'll find it. It's supposed to have the same wear, but feel more like regular fabric. I want some for our dining room chairs, too.
ReplyDeleteI have used outdoor canvas before to cover mine, and it definitely holds up better than regular fabric in the kid department, but it's not completely indestructible.
How about compromising and getting a thickly woven fabric with a shine (like some kind of polyester)? You could also spray your fabric after it's done with the stuff you use for coats/shoes so they reject rain and snow (don't know what it's called)
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed that you managed to remake a chair in that short amount of time. I have 3 chairs to paint and upholster - it's been 6 years and I'm still not done, lol.