About a month ago, I embarked on a new project to recover an old office chair. It was very comfortable, but sadly very '70s. And it was not a fun and trendy '70s type. It was an ugly, green vinyl, brass studded type.
The first step in this project was to remove all the studs. Seems simple right? Well, not as easy as it looks. You need this special tool that looks kind of like a forked screw driver. (I do not know the technical name for it, but if you ask someone at Home Depot, they can find it for you.) You wedge the tool under the stu
d or upholstery tack, wiggle it, and pry it out of the wood. This particular chair had studs, tacks, and glue.....a real gem! Be sure to save whatever the old covering is, because you will use this to make your pattern. So, about 568 studs later, this is what I had.The next step was to add some extra batting. I wanted this chair to be extra cushy and luxurious. I picked the cheapest batting, but there a lot of choices these days. They even have batting that is made from recycled bottle and tires. I bought all my batting, material, and trim from Mary Jo's in Gastonia. If you have never been to Mary Jo's, plan to make a day of it. They have absolutely EVERYTHING!
I picked a beautiful Steele Grey Damask and a Steele Grey and Black trim. I opted to NOT utilize the decorative studs because they are just too labor intensive. I utilized the green vinyl to cut my pattern out of the damask. This is a picture at half way through:
If you have all your supplies, this is an easy weekend project. I did mine in phases and for only limited amounts of time, so a month had passed once it was complete. This is the final product. A gorgeous addition to my study.
