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.

, Protecting Your Dining Table Chairs, Joyful Homemaking
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.
, Protecting Your Dining Table Chairs, Joyful Homemaking
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.
, Protecting Your Dining Table Chairs, Joyful Homemaking
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.
, Protecting Your Dining Table Chairs, Joyful Homemaking
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.
, Protecting Your Dining Table Chairs, Joyful Homemaking
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,
, Protecting Your Dining Table Chairs, Joyful Homemaking

7 Comments

  1. Great idea! I imagine it’s thinner than what I’m used to thinking of as plastic over fabric.

  2. Awesome! Mine got cranberry sauce on them at Thanksgiving, so this is going to be a project for us. Just pinned!

  3. 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!

  4. 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

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