I’ve been hankering (is that still a word?) to learn how to reupholster furniture. I went home to Missouri a couple weeks ago and found the perfect piece of furniture to start with.

We have had this little stool for years. I think I bought it at an antique shop while I was in high school. Currently, my littlest two sisters use it when they play school. So, I decided to give this a shot. It turned out okay. I’ll be on the look out for more old stuff to redo when garage sale season FINALLY rolls around.

Step-by-Step

First, I flipped the stool over and unscrewed the top cushion from the base. Very easy. All I needed was a screw driver.

I was nervously thinking – so far, so good.

Then, I started pulling the little nails out from the edge of the fabric so I could take the old fabric off and replace it. I’m pretty sure these nails were older than my parents. On second thought, older than my grandparents. The nails were 80+ years old. Just guessing.

After getting all the nails out, I found an even older layer of fabric. As it turned out, this little guy had already been re-done once in it’s lifetime.

I had to move out to the garage to get the second layer off. It was starting to fall apart and make a big mess on the carpet (don’t tell).

Once I got all the nails out from the second layer I was left with this square board. I did not need many fancy tools, just a pair of pliers and screw driver. This was a good thing, cause I’m not really a tools kinda gal. Unless it is fencing pliers. Thanks to my Dad, I’m pretty handy with those.

I went to our sewing/craft/dance/tv room and found some leftover foam. I think I swiped it from my another one of my sisters. Don’t worry sis, it went to a good cause. I nailed this down hoping that way it wouldn’t slide around.

To cover the rest of the edges, I doubled up some left over quilt batting and nailed that down too. I wrapped the batting around the edges, so the corners of the wood were not sharp anymore.

(Apologies for the blurry photo below. I was excited to get finished & in a hurry!) Next, I laid the newly cushioned piece out on the fabric and then cut around it. I left plenty of extra to pull to the backside and nail down.

Since I had taken the thing apart, I kinda-sorta knew how to put it back together. Amazing how that worked out! I simply nailed the fabric back in around the edges, right where I took the old stuff off. The corners were the toughest part. We just did them the way you would wrapping a present.

I needed a second pair of hands while putting the fabric back on. So R. held the fabric tight while I nailed around the 3rd and 4th sides so it was stretched out nicely and didn’t end up baggy when we were done.

Then, we used the four original screws to re-attach it to the base. I obviously got a little help with this part, too!

Now, my little sissy’s can enjoy this cute little stool in a more modern fabric! I have to say, this was a really rewarding (easy) first project. Normally, I hate trying new crafts because it requires so much initial cost in tools. This wasn’t bad though, let me know if you try any reupholstering! Or, if you know of any good resources for the real way to do this. We were kinda wingin’ it!

Thanks for reading! Sierra Shea