Works for Me Wednesday: Dining Room Chairs

When my great-grandmother passes away five years ago, I asked to be able to keep her kitchen table and china cabinet. She loved the formal feel that they had, and even though her house was way to small for them, she found room. If anyone wanted to get up from the table, the had to suck in, but she loved it.

I love my Mamaw, so I wanted to keep something that meant so much to her. I didn't have a home yet, so my mother let me store it in her basement. While the seats looked old fashioned, the rest of the table was in good shape.






I had decided that it was time to let the table go. I didn't foresee myself having a formal dining room and I had other things that belonged to her to keep for cherished memories.

Only I was wrong - Mr. Right and I found "the one" when we were house shopping and it had a formal dining room table! The only problem was making those 1970s chair more modern.

Thankfully, my father is crafty when it comes to things like that. He told me to purchase fabric that I liked and that he would recover them. In my kitchen, I have one red accent wall. Its the main wall in the kitchen and the vaulted ceiling makes it even more gorgeous.

One thing my Mamaw and I shared was the love of the color red. Her entire bedroom was decorated in red: bed spread, satin sheets, chair, vases, lamps. The last formal pictures she had made (when she was in her 70s) was in her favorite red dress. When I found my red fabric that matched the wall in the kitchen, I knew it was perfect. It would make the chairs look nice, and she would have loved them!






I can't tell you all the steps to covering them. But from what I understand its as simple as unscrewing the seat from the chair, folding the fabric around the base and securing it with a staple gun, and then screwing the seat back onto the chair. In this case, he left the old covering on and just covered over it, to give the chair a little more cushion.






Hand-me-downs, family memories, and arts & crafts projects for my dad all work for me!

Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more great tips and tricks.