A few years ago when we were looking to buy a new dining table (our family had expanded from two to five, since we had purchased our last one), I had a few requirements: budget friendly, rectangular in shape, able to seat at least six, dark wood and no fabric on the chairs.
Evidently in our price range, it was too hard to find something that met all my requirements, so after weeks and weeks of looking, I gave in and bought a dining set that had all my requirements, except that the chairs had a fabric covering on the seats. With a family of five, and two who were really little at the time, I bought a can of Scotchguard and hoped for the best.
Then while having dinner at someone's home, I saw that their fabric covered chair seats had a plastic type overlay on them which I though was brilliant (you may think it's reminiscent of the 70's, but I promise you my couches aren't covered in plastic). After talking to the hostess about her chairs and how she did them, I purchased some plastic type sheeting that comes on rolls from Jo-Ann Fabrics.
It comes in different thicknesses, and I purchased a medium thickness that was a little flexible so it would go around my chair seats without tearing.
Then I just cut squares larger than my chair seat so I would have room to fold it over and staple it to the bottom.
Most fabric seats are screwed on to the wood frame of the chair, so I just unscrewed the seats, covered them with plastic, and used a staple gun underneath to secure the plastic tightly, and replaced them back on the chair frames.
They have held up well for about two years, but I did buy some more plastic recently to replace it on a couple of seats that have gotten ripped. This was a great and easy solution for us, and has saved the fabric repeatedly from getting stained!
Blessings,
Debbie says
Who'd a thunk it? Great idea and your chair seats look great.
Thanks for such a cool tip.
Have a great weekend.
Debbie
Manuela@A Cultivated Nest says
Great idea! I imagine it's thinner than what I'm used to thinking of as plastic over fabric.
Debi @ Adorned From Above says
This is a great idea. I would love to have you share this with this weeks Wednesday's Adorned From Above Blog Hop. The link to the party is
http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/11/washi-tape-idea-book-and-wednesdays.html#
I hope to see you there.
Have a great week.
Debi @ Adorned From Above
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
Awesome! Mine got cranberry sauce on them at Thanksgiving, so this is going to be a project for us. Just pinned!
Danielle says
As kids we always sat on a tea towel. We sat w/the chair all the way in. Can't say we ever got anything on the towel.
Kathy Gossen says
I so need to do this to my chairs. Let's just say toddlers and cloth chairs...they don't mix very well. 😉 Thanks for linking up to T2T. Hope to see you again this week!
Rebecca says
Dear Margo,
I am the mom behind the SmartSeat Chair Protector. I came across your post about covering your chairs in plastic while doing some internet research and wanted to let you know about my product because it was designed just for you!
I too have lovely (but messy) children. When we purchased our new dining room set with upholstered chairs, I created the SmartSeat to discreetly protect the fabric from my little one's stains and spills. The SmartSeat is waterproof and machine washable, making it easy to care for. It also is easy to put on (it has velcro straps) and securely fits across the chair seat, so it is safe to use with young children.
I would love to have you visit our site or contact me if you'd be interested in trying it out or would like more information.
Thank you. Best, Becky