Home decor is kind of a love/hate relationship, isn't it? For awhile we love the choices we made, the colors and style we chose. But after awhile, we can start to regret those choices or color or style and wish we'd made different ones! For some of us, our homes are dated and do need an update. For others though, we just get tired of what we have and want all new stuff! We see what others are decorating with and we want what they have.

Recovering my dining chairs started with a feeling of discontent.

For most of us, the truth is that discontent in our homes is a state that we're always in! Like anything else in life, it's easy to fall into the trap of coveting what others have or wishing we could change everything about our homes with just the snap of a finger. The reality is that most of that is just being human and wanting what we don't have!

We can get mad and hate everything we own, but do nothing about it. We can spend thousands of dollars and go into debit buying new things that we'll like for a short time until we start to hate our stuff again. Or, we can spend some time thinking about what we truly want in our spaces, and try to work with what we have to achieve that...and only thoughtfully purchase items that fit with our goals.

After mulling it over for awhile, I decided to keep what I owned and make some do-able modifications to lighten the space. The story behind how we acquired our dining set is unique and funny and part of our story now, which is another reason to keep it and work with it instead of replacing it. You can read that story here.

When I made the decision to work with what I have, I also needed to stop looking for something new and different. To stop scrolling Marketplace and even take a little break from social media. My discontent didn't go away until I embraced what I already had and got excited about the changes I'm going to make to our existing dining set! Use that discontent as a motivation to do something that is within budget and time constraints. 

Here's what I'm thinking for this room. The hutch is a beast (and I'm not 30 anymore!) so it will stay black. But I think I want to either paint the chairs white (or at least the two end chairs), paint the table apron and legs white, and do something to lighten the top of the table. Refinishing the huge table was a major project several years ago (you can read about that here), and I know I'm not up to completely refinishing it again. But I'm going to experiment with my Restoration Hardware technique using just paint and wax on one of the table leaves and see how I like it. I don't want it to look like a painted tabletop, I want it to look more like light, raw wood.

All these plans to lighten and brighten led to changing the fabric on the dining chairs. The blue toile fabric I used is actually a tablecloth but it was enough fabric to recover all six of my dining room chair seats. I love the farm scene with the sheep, horses, trees and dogs. I knew it would be so pretty in my dining room. I love collecting and displaying white ironstone and blue transferware dishes in this room, so the blue toile felt like a natural fit. It's got a bit of a vintage, old world vibe.

Recovering dining seat cushions in blue toile

Today's post is a little refresher on recovering dining seats. 

Removing fabric from seat cushions is not a difficult process, just a little time consuming. There were a lot of staples holding all those fabric layers in place! A LOT of staples! I used a flat head screwdriver to get under the staples and loosen them and then pulled the staples out with pliers. Interestingly, you can see a faint outline of the black chevron on the batting even after the fabric was removed!

I threw away the chevron fabric because it was stained, but saved the houndstooth in case I ever want to use it on the seats again. The pieces are already cut to size so it would be easy to staple them back on.

Here is how the seats looked before I covered them in the blue toile fabric with my staple gun.

I had just enough fabric to cover all six chairs in the blue toile. I already love the lighter feel that these cushions give our dining room and dining chairs.

Before reattaching the seats to the chairs, I set them up outside and sprayed them with stain guard to protect them from stains/spills and make them easier to clean should one happen.

Let's face it, there are bound to be spills, and I'm sure these seat covers will get dirty eventually. It's so easy to recover the chairs that I'm not worried about it, and in a couple years I'll probably be ready for a change anyway! I love how affordable it is to recover dining seat cushions.

I'm curious to know what you think of my plans for the table and chairs? Any suggestions to lighten my tabletop?

And more importantly, how do you deal with discontent in your home?

Most of the time, all you really need to move from discontent to contentment in your home is to make a few changes to start enjoying your home again! Start small... paint a room, recover your chairs, hang something you love on the wall, start a collection. You get the idea!

1. Do you need to wash the fabric first? The answer is, it depends. If I'm using an upholstery fabric, which is thicker and denser than regular fabrics, then no. Upholstery fabrics are generally not machine washable anyway. If the fabric I use is canvas drop cloth or another washable fabric, then I would prewash the fabric.
2. How do you remove the seats from chairs to recover them? It's very easy. Flip the chair over and you'll see a screw in each corner holding the seat in place. Use a drill or screwdriver to remove the screws and the seat will pop right off.
3. How do you keep the fabric seats clean? Before I reattach the seats to the chairs, I protect them from stains by spraying with 2-3 coats of stain guard. The stain guard repels stains and makes it easy to blot a stain clean if one should occur.
4. How often should you recover dining chair cushions? It really depends on personal preference. If the seats look dirty or I'm just tired of the fabric and ready for a change, I'll recover them. Generally in my home, it's been about every 2 years. But if the fabric is holding up well, there's no need to recover them.
5. How much does it cost to recover dining chairs? That depends on how many chairs you have and what fabric you choose. I choose fabrics that are on sale, and have been able to recover all six of my dining chairs for around $20 each time.
6. How much fabric does it take to recover dining chairs? Again it depends on how many chairs you have and how big the seats are but generally, I would plan to purchase 2-4 yards of fabric to cover the seats. It's always nice to have a little more than you need so you have extra if one seat gets dirty.