The Great Reveal

A little over a month ago I posted this cry for help for my dining room chairs that had suffered the horrific fate of 3 little kids eating on them day in and day out.

Well, you guys came through and were full of advice and encouragement. You may not have noticed but towards the end of all the comments I thanked everyone for their help and made a commitment to get it done in one month's time.

This past Wednesday was the one month deadline, so in my typical procrastinator fashion. I headed to the fabric store last Tuesday morning.

I knew I needed about 5 years of strong fabric that would not show stains, maybe even upholstery fabric, but it was expensive. The upholstery fabric was discounted to 50% off, but even then it was $10-15 per yard. I was afraid of spending a bunch of money and then messing up the project and it going to waste!

I made my way over to the deeply discounted bin. And I found some upholstery fabric that was really okay looking, darker colors and a pattern to hide stains, and even a kinda shiny finish that seemed like it might wipe off well. I took it to be measured and it was just under 4 yards. I wasn't sure it would be enough, but was willing to risk it if the price was right. I wasn't sure of the price since it was in the discount bin, so I asked.

It was reduced to 50 cents per yard!!!! So I got nearly 4 yards for less than $2.00! The man who rang me up said, "I didn't even know we had any fabric that cheap!"

It was the deal of a lifetime, y'all!!!

And I was so excited because now, if I completely messed it up cutting or stapling, I would only be out $2.00!

I called my husband at work to forewarn him that tonight was the night. We were tackling the chairs!

As soon as the kids were in bed we started. We unscrewed seat cushions, cut the new fabric, wrapped it over, stabled it on, and reattached the seats. It was a little awkward getting the corners folded, but once we did one seat, the other 5 went quickly. We were done in a couple hours.

Here is the before (the cream-colored seat that showed every stain):


And the after:



I even got some clear plastic covers that I stapled on top of the fabric on the kid chairs for extra protection. And I Scotch-Guarded all the chairs.

I am really happy with the results and so excited that we achieved this for less than $2.00 with even left-over fabric in case a chair does get messed up in the future!

I was never brave enough to try this before (due to my uncraftiness) and I am grateful for you, Awesome Blog Readers, for empowering me!

Find more Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers, What I Learned this Week at Musings of a Housewife, Tackle It Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom, and Talk About Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer.