Reupholstered Plycraft/Eames (Herman Miller) Chair

Purchased for $20 off of Craigslist

Revamped using crocodile vinyl uphostery

This chair is a reproduction of the Herman Miller Eames chair from the early 1970s

Here is an original one: http://www.hermanmiller.com/Products/Eames-Lounge-Chair-and-Ottoman

New ones sell for ~$5500

Materials:

• Danish oil (medium walnut) - Lowe's
• Screwdriver
• Staple gun
• 1/2 inch staples
• Scissors
•  2 yards of upholstery crocodile vinyl (Hancock Fabrics: $11.99/yd after 40% coupon)

Step 1: Disassemble chair - super easy

Step 2: Sand wood and apply Danish oil (medium walnut)

Step 3: Reassemble chair

Step 4: Remove original upholstery leather & use as guide to cut your new pieces

Step 5: Using original foam & inner plywood - cover with vinyl & staple in place

Step 6: Cording - fold vinyl over original cording & use regular paper stapler to hold in place

Step 7: Staple Cording in place

Step 8: Place all cushions in their position (Note: head piece may require a few screws to hold in place

Note: I didn't make this a tufted chair (ie. I didn't use any buttons) b/c I was unable to get the vinyl around the buttons without professional help

Banner

Happy Birthday Banner made from a drapery sample book purchased for $1 at the Idea Store.

(thanks to Julia for playing Vanna White for the photo op)

Materials:

Glue - any type

Stapler

String - any type

Scissors

Fabric - I used fabric from a discarded curtain sample book (Idea Store $1)

Step1: Cut all pieces the same size and lay out in the order you want them to be on the string
Step 2: Staple squares onto string
Step 3: Draw out letters on contrasting colors, cut out & glue on

Reupholstered Chair

I got this chair for FREE from a Freecycle.org posting. It had seen much better days but I saw potential

Materials:

Cheetah pattern upholstery scrap - just a little <3 yds - $12.99 on eBay

Potato sack material 2 yds - $1.99 Joann Fabrics

Batting - $3 - acquired by posting under the want ads on Craigslist

Foam - used memory foam mattress topper that was FREE on Craigslist

Plain Cotton Broadcloth - 2 yds - $1.99 Joann Fabrics

Black semi-gloss paint - had from previous project

Staple Gun - Craftsman + 3/4 inch staples - Sears

Hammer

Flat head screw driver to strip off all old material

Step 1: Strip chair of old material & sand down arms & legs then paint them semi-gloss black.

For the rest of the chair steps I can not take any credit other than finding the materials.

My friend, Amy, who is gracious enough to let me use her garage as a work space

decided she wanted to give it a shot. This was her 1st project.

Step 2: Fill in around the springs with batting then cover entire seat and back with potato sack material.

Step 3:  Cut foam pieces to cover seat and back then cover with any kind of material.

Then use staple gun to secure in place.

The foam that was used was from a memory foam mattress topper that was FREE on Craigslist.

The foam was doubled to make the chair nice and cushy.

Step 4:  Place material how you want it and staple it down

I saved the material when I stripped the chair and used it to make pattern on newspaper.

Step 5:  Using the straight edge from a cardboard box I cut strips which

Amy used along the top ridge to get a nice clean line across.

After stapling in place, she flipped the material over the cardboard to hide the staples.

Step 6:  After manipulating the material around the egdes, Amy stapled them in place.

 Step 7: Flip chair upside down and cover the bottom with any type of material.

I was excited to find this "shopping bag" material in a matching pattern

Step 8:  Using the decorative tacks that were on the chair previously,

the tacks were placed in areas most needed to hold fabric in place.

Chair Completed!

Great Job Amy!

....and most importantly, it was pug approved!

Total Cost for this project was less than $20!