- Sat Apr 12, 2025 10:18 am
#22248
Hi all,
Many many years ago I inherited my grandparents' dining room table and 12 chairs (10 chairs + 2 carvers (with arms).
The set was purchased probably pre-WWII or thererabouts, and over the years has seen some use, some storage, and now with my recent divorce and my now living in a new flat, I find myself needing to either salvage the chairs, or bin them.
They're completely saggy, with no support, and are pretty much unusable without a firm cushion (plus the cloth material is beyond tired).
The wood is however pretty stable, a little movement in all of them but more than good enough to use without carpentry or work.
I only use 6 of them most of the time, they have some sentimental value, and I'd rather try and re-strap and cover them (over some weeks) rather than buy new ones.
I'm pretty good with my hands in terms of DIY, an enthusiastic amateur rather than any kind of pro, and I don't really want / can't spend what would probably be upwards of 2 or 3 £k (at the very least!) paying for a professional job for all 12.
Thus, I visited a local specialist shop and bought enough material to at least attempt a couple of them.
I also bought a set of nail/pin removal screw-driver type things to facilitate the job (screwdrivers with a V shape in the head).
I own a manual staple gun anyway (but not a pneumatic one - problematic?).
Thus I thought I'd start one Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago.
The chairs are probably horse-hair stuffed, with canvas straps, and as I say, built in the 1940s (ish) and by god they put some work into them!
I've so far removed all material, stuffing and straps etc from 1 chair, and I promise I'm not exaggerating when I say there must have been upwards of 1,200 pins and tacks for just the one chair. It took me over 3 hours.
There are two rows of aesthetic convex pins on the outer cloth covering of all 4 sides of each chair, and perhaps 3 other separate internal cloth linings (all ripped&dead), all with each linings' tacks/nails touching each other all the way round without a break.
Not exactly Ikea!
For the others chairs, I may just cut away all material, and re-strap and cover them without really removing all the pins and tacks etc.
Could some kind soul please give me some guidance as to how to start the process for the one chair I have pretty much ready to go?
I'll post pics below of the chair, an original for comparison, and all the materials I have - but I have questions!
- Should I cut the foam to exactly the same size as the base unit it will cover? Or slightly smaller?
- Should I try and taper or bevel the upper edges with a box-cutter? I'd rather not as it would be time-consuming etc....
- I have the lighter foam cover too (to smooth over the main foam support cushions -the white plastic bag in the pics) - should that go all the way under to the underwood of the bottom too?
- How do I go about doing corners with the new blue covering material?
- Any other thoughts / advice / sympathy / tips & tricks would be hugely appreciated!
As I got into the 3rd hour of the 1st chair, I began to realise I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but I think if I don't remove all the pins & tacks from the other chairs but simply cut away all material, and remove the main strap nails and start from there, it may be feasible.
Clearly I still have to remove the final remains of the strap fixings in the chair I've started, but apart from that, I'm ready to go, just seeking thoughts and advice!
To anyone who's got this far and feels like helping a newbie, many many thanks!
Will
Many many years ago I inherited my grandparents' dining room table and 12 chairs (10 chairs + 2 carvers (with arms).
The set was purchased probably pre-WWII or thererabouts, and over the years has seen some use, some storage, and now with my recent divorce and my now living in a new flat, I find myself needing to either salvage the chairs, or bin them.
They're completely saggy, with no support, and are pretty much unusable without a firm cushion (plus the cloth material is beyond tired).
The wood is however pretty stable, a little movement in all of them but more than good enough to use without carpentry or work.
I only use 6 of them most of the time, they have some sentimental value, and I'd rather try and re-strap and cover them (over some weeks) rather than buy new ones.
I'm pretty good with my hands in terms of DIY, an enthusiastic amateur rather than any kind of pro, and I don't really want / can't spend what would probably be upwards of 2 or 3 £k (at the very least!) paying for a professional job for all 12.
Thus, I visited a local specialist shop and bought enough material to at least attempt a couple of them.
I also bought a set of nail/pin removal screw-driver type things to facilitate the job (screwdrivers with a V shape in the head).
I own a manual staple gun anyway (but not a pneumatic one - problematic?).
Thus I thought I'd start one Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago.
The chairs are probably horse-hair stuffed, with canvas straps, and as I say, built in the 1940s (ish) and by god they put some work into them!
I've so far removed all material, stuffing and straps etc from 1 chair, and I promise I'm not exaggerating when I say there must have been upwards of 1,200 pins and tacks for just the one chair. It took me over 3 hours.
There are two rows of aesthetic convex pins on the outer cloth covering of all 4 sides of each chair, and perhaps 3 other separate internal cloth linings (all ripped&dead), all with each linings' tacks/nails touching each other all the way round without a break.
Not exactly Ikea!
For the others chairs, I may just cut away all material, and re-strap and cover them without really removing all the pins and tacks etc.
Could some kind soul please give me some guidance as to how to start the process for the one chair I have pretty much ready to go?
I'll post pics below of the chair, an original for comparison, and all the materials I have - but I have questions!
- Should I cut the foam to exactly the same size as the base unit it will cover? Or slightly smaller?
- Should I try and taper or bevel the upper edges with a box-cutter? I'd rather not as it would be time-consuming etc....
- I have the lighter foam cover too (to smooth over the main foam support cushions -the white plastic bag in the pics) - should that go all the way under to the underwood of the bottom too?
- How do I go about doing corners with the new blue covering material?
- Any other thoughts / advice / sympathy / tips & tricks would be hugely appreciated!
As I got into the 3rd hour of the 1st chair, I began to realise I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but I think if I don't remove all the pins & tacks from the other chairs but simply cut away all material, and remove the main strap nails and start from there, it may be feasible.
Clearly I still have to remove the final remains of the strap fixings in the chair I've started, but apart from that, I'm ready to go, just seeking thoughts and advice!
To anyone who's got this far and feels like helping a newbie, many many thanks!
Will
- By Adam12