Reupholstering furniture is a fantastic way to give it an instant makeover; with the opportunity to swap out one pattern or material for a completely new one, reupholstery is a fantastic DIY for those who want a home refresh without buying completely new pieces.
However, reupholstery can be an intricate practice; or so we thought. Designer Drew Michael Scott, AKA, Lone Fox as he is known on Instagram, recently shared a DIY project in which he reupholsters a vintage stool, quickly, easily, and cheaply.
'Today I stopped by the thrift store and found this stool here, which had the coolest legs,' he explains in the clip. 'I love the shape of these and thought ‘Why not reupholster this.’ I’m not gonna lie, I normally have a professional reupholster things for me but we are doing this ourselves today.'
We've broken his instructions down into three easy steps.
1. Unscrew the legs and cut off the fabric
First, Drew says that the legs of a stool need to be removed before any reupholstery can begin.
'I unscrewed the legs and was very happy to cut off this candy cane-inspired fabric, but I am adding a stripe back on top,' he says in the video. 'I do love a stripe, I think it’s also nice to upholster with [this] upholstery because you can follow the line and make sure you’re stapling across the line.'
We are inclined to agree – the replacement fabric is plush and sophisticated, a definite upgrade from the faded fabric on the original stool, and it also makes the whole project far more fail-safe.
2. Staple the fabric
Next, Drew instructs us to carefully staple the new fabric onto the stool with a staple gun.
'On one side pull it tight, and on the other side, make sure you’re stapling that nice and straight along the line,' he explains. 'You’re going to have two of your sides upholstered and then for the corners, I just tuck one side of the fabric in. Then I’m going to staple this down on the frame where you essentially think this would be exposed, but you’re going to fold the fabric back up over top, staple it over top of those staples that are on the inside, and finish up your upholstery.'
The folded approach ensures that the fabric is secure and looks neat, without any creases or visible bunching.
3. Screw the legs back on
Finally, the legs can be put back onto the base, and the project is complete.
'It’s really simple, screw the legs back on and that is how I completed this stool,' Drew states.
Not only is this a great way to update furniture in our homes, but reupholstering can be an easy way to change up vintage or antique finds wherein you don't love the existing fabric. Either way, Drew has proven that the process is not as daunting as one might think.
