Revive An Old Computer Chair



Tools
  • Old Computer Chair
  • Material (about 3yds. will be sufficient)
  • Heavy Duty Stapler
  • Screwdriver
  • Scissors
  • Thread
  • Spray Paint (optional)
  • Buttons
Instructions
  • Furniture Makeover Gather the supplies above.
  • Cover Computer Chair Unscrew the bottom and the arms.
  • Cover Chair Put your screws in a safe place! You don’t want to lose them. :) A ziplock baggy or any old container you have lying around will be good. I just used an old candle holder that was sitting there.
  • Make A Chair Slipcover Now you should have two arm pieces, the base with the wheels, and the chair itself. I also removed the arm pads to cover those as well.
  • Furniture Makeover Clean down everything to prep for painting.
  • Cover Computer Chair Unscrew/detach the back from the seat.
  • Cover Chair Now you have a seperate seat and back of the chair to work with.
  • Make A Chair Slipcover Cut a piece of fabric large enough to cover the seat and lay the seat on it with the wrong side against it and the right side on the work surface.
  • Furniture Makeover Using your stapler, staple all the way around the seat, and be sure to pull it tight.
  • Furniture Makeover When you’re done it should look something like this. Be sure not to cover up any screw holes you’ll need to get to in order to put the chair back together.
  • Cover Computer Chair Cut off as much excess material as possible.
  • Cover Computer Chair Done with the seat! Lookin’ good. :)
  • Make A Chair Slipcover Lay out the arm pads in the same way as the seat, with a piece of material under each one large enough to cover.
  • Furniture Makeover Staple all around in the same way as you did the seat.
  • Cover Computer Chair The back will be a little trickier because you can’t just staple it on the back. So we’re going to have to make a cover for it. First lay the material down with the back of the chair on top. Cut around the material the general shape of the back of the chair. Be sure to leave extra room for seam allowances.
  • Cover Chair When you have one piece cut, cut out another with the same shape, but slightly large for the back piece.
  • Make A Chair Slipcover Fold the larger piece in half to find the center.
  • Make A Chair Slipcover Cut into two pieces right down the middle, long ways.
  • Cover Chair Hem the straight edge of both of these pieces.
  • Furniture Makeover Mark where you want your button holes. There will be buttons down the back of the chair to enable putting it over the chair.
  • Cover Computer Chair Make your button hole using the button hole settings on your sewing machine. If you’re doing it by hand, then good luck! A sewing machine is so worth it just for this. :)
  • Cover Chair Cut open the center of the button hole with a seam ripper.
  • Make A Chair Slipcover Lay the button hole side right over the other side where the actual buttons will be. Using a temporary fabric pencil make a clear dot by putting it through the button hole to get the exact spot for the button.
  • Cover Chair Sew on all of your buttons by hand. You could also probably do a lacing thing here if you wanted to instead.
  • Cover Chair Using two large triangles I am going to attach them to the front and back to account for the thickness of the chair. So lay one triangle down against the front material piece, right sides together.
  • Make A Chair Slipcover Do the same with the other side as well.
  • Furniture Makeover Then cut off the triangle to the curve of the front of the chair.
  • Cover Computer Chair Do not sew all the way down and all the way up. Sew it just enough so that you can flip it right side out and lay fairly flat.
  • Make A Chair Slipcover Attach the triangle part to the back of the chair material. Don’t worry if it doesn’t completely line up laying flat, just match up all the edges, pin, and sew.
  • Furniture Makeover After you have the sides sewn in, sew the top of each side together.
  • Cover Computer Chair Leave the bottom open, don’t sew this part.
  • Cover Chair Hem the bottom. It won’t be hanging however, you will be tucking it in the back of the chair so it’ll be nice and clean. But we need this open in order for it to get over the chair. You could also probably use elastic.
  • Make A Chair Slipcover I also spray painted all the plastic/metal parts for a little bit fresher look. This is completely optional though. I think it looks nice. :)
  • Furniture Makeover Finally we’re done, and the chair has an entirely new life!
~ Sarah

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Comments (6)

6 Comments | Leave a comment

  • #1
    Love the computer chari. I've been afraid to reupholster myself these danish modern dining chairs I have but your step by step instructions have been the clearest I've found online so I'm going to try first with my office chair and then step up my game. Really nice work.
    lola  |  April 28, 2009, 2:42 pm
  • #2
    I was just going to chuck out my old cat-torn computer chair and buy something new. Thanks to your easy to follow plans I'll recover it this weekend. Thanks for the awesome tutorial!
    alex  |  April 28, 2009, 6:48 pm
  • #3
    The task chairs are one of the simplest reupholstery jobs. If you would like more upholstery tutorials, see modhomeecteacher at www.curbly.com and www.apartmenttherapy.com chicago/Shelly. ModHomeEcTeacher’s latest blog post: How To Make a Button Pillow
    ModHomeEcTeacher  |  May 7, 2009, 5:26 pm
  • #4
    [...] to update the room but keep a perfectly functional (key word!) chair, I found a nifty online tutorial from Queen of DIY giving step-by-step instructions on how to reupholster a dingy old office/computer [...]
    How To De-Uglify an Office Chair « Itchy April  |  August 12, 2009, 8:25 pm
  • #5
    When my faithful companion the computer chair's legs broke I was surely disappointed. Even the local repairing agents advised me it was of no use now and I had no other option but to get a new one. I tried a search and it led me here. Following the tips as mentioned here I fixed the problem and its back to normal now. What more I feel great that I repaired it myself. Jacksonville landscaping
    Marlina  |  August 21, 2009, 3:57 am
  • #6
    [...] Furniture Makeover – Cover Computer Chair – I somehow think my Ikea desk chair would not turn out nearly as well as this, but I’d love to give it a try! [...]
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