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Friday, May 27, 2011

How to have Decent Furniture with a House Full of Boys

This is our breakfast table. From a distance it looks pretty good.
 But the closer you get, the easier it is to tell that a house full of boys use this table and it's {unfortunately} cream colored chairs on a daily basis.
 Now don't get me wrong, these chair started out a beautiful cream color and they stayed that way for a few years in my {rarely used except for crafting} dining room. When we finally outgrew our 4 seater table, the logical thing to do was to move this bigger table into the breakfast nook for everyday use....the only problem was those beautiful cream colored chairs. We tried being careful, we tried cleaners, we tried scrubbing...nothing was going to keep those chairs clean! The only solution was to recover....using something a little more durable than cream colored fabric!

I considered using a vinyl type fabric so that spills would clean up easy, but who wants to eat dinner on a chair that squeaks like Marie Barone's couch:) That is where this bolt of fabric comes in. I picked it up at Hancock Fabric on clearance for $6 a yard...and it is outdoor material! I figured outdoor material would repel stains and clean up easier than normal fabric, plus it was so cheap that I got a few extra yards so I can recover them again if we have any major oops!
To recover your chairs, simply remove the seat from your chair. Cut out a piece of fabric big enough to cover the front of the seat and wrap around the sides.
Use a staple gun to attach the fabric to the underside of the seat and then cut away any extra fabric.
Covering up those stained cream cushions made our chairs seem like they were brand new...now we are just waiting for our first spill to test out our newly recovered chairs!


And just for fun here is a before and after....though I almost considered labelling them the opposite because the first one is "after kids have been here" and the second one is "before kids have been here":)

So how can you have decent furniture with a house full of boys....cover up their stains and have an extra stash of fabric just in case they when they inevitable make more!
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30 comments:

CM said...

Our kitchen table and chairs look just like that! I like what you did with the fabric, awesome!

BTW, my hubby and I have pretty much decided we aren't buying any nice furniture until the boys go off to college...LOL!

Lisa Davis said...

yeah, my kids have pretty much ruined anything nice. I gave up a while ago on having anything really nice. I was tired of my disgusting sofa so I did buy a leather sofa. Although not as comfy as a cloth sofa I can just wipe up the messes!!! :)

Unknown said...

You know I love this idea ;). They turned out awesome. I love the fabric you used.

Laura @ Come Together Kids

Kmama said...

Cute, cute, cute! Our table also looks good from far away. It's dark(er) wood, so the legs of the table and chairs are beat to hell from matchbox cars ramming into them, etc. Our chairs have black fabric, so while most of the stains are hidden, not all of them are. I'd prefer no fabric on my chairs, but you can't find those kinds of chairs anymore...at least I couldn't.

~Shari said...

I love the make over pattern fabric. I know how kids can make a mess of anything! :P

I recently just recovered an old stool doing what you did here. I love my stool!!

Julia said...

These are great!!!!

Gina @ MoneywiseMoms said...

Oh, great idea! I've been needing to recover my nasty-looking chairs. I even Scotchguarded them last time, but they're still gross. I have some beautiful outdoor fabric in my stash that would be perfect. Thanks for the push :)

Jolene said...

Nice Job! I plan on doing something very similar to ours. It's on my to do list for next month.

Jessica said...

hi!! thanks for stopping by my blog! i LOVE the idea of outdoor fabric. it's funny you say that thing about marie barone's couch because i wanted to convert a bench i have from indoor to outdoor and i thought of using a vinyl type cover.. then i remembered everybody loves raymond and her awful sofa! haha that's so funny.. the chairs look beautiful! i hope they will wipe off easy for you. stains are just a sign of a big happy family, that's what i say : )

Dee said...

Very refreshing! :) THAT is why we don't have cloth seats for our "everyday" table! :)

Kari said...

These look great!

Foursons said...

I have cream cushions on my kitchen chairs too. Unfortunately all my chairs are broken because the older boys leaned back in them and broke the legs. Aargh.

Sugarplum Creations Blog said...

We recovered our chairs two and a half years ago, for the same reason. Cream colored seats in the dining room {WHAT?!} Ours have held up fairly well, but I think they're almost ready for a re-do ;)

I LOVE the fabric you chose, by the way.

Big D and Me said...

I just used outdoor fabric on our kitchen bench and it has worked brillantly. As hard as my kids have tried to ruin it, so far, so good.

http://www.bigdandme.com/2011/05/kitchen-bench/

Jennifer
www.bigdandme.com

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

LOVE the new fabric, Kelli!! You'll have to let us know how they hold up with the kids. Honestly, girls are not much easier on the furniture. You wouldn't believe the amount of crumbs I find under Michaela Byrd's booster seat (we have the same one as you!).

Angie said...

I love the new recovered chairs...they are so cute. I just wish there was a way to get the grime off my table and chairs...haha! No matter how much I clean it, nothing helps!

Tanya said...

Brilliant! I should slipcover my couch in that stuff!

Unknown said...

you make that look so easy they look great!

Chandra Chinnis said...

Cute chairs!! I love the fabric choice.

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

Big hugs to you for linking this up, and for linking back. I wish I could give everyone who does that a high five. ;) How are the *new* chairs holding up?? :)

THEBUZYBUG said...

WOW Kelli, we have the same problem. I am actually in the process of doing my kitchen chairs and guess what, our chairs are the same as yours!! I love the way they turned out! Come on over to my blog and check it out!! TFS.

The Fall Creek Chicken Coop said...

Your title cracked me up!!! I can so relate! It gets better! I have two boys and since one is out of the house and the other is 17 I finally feel like I have "my" touch in the house. You can tell that someone besides boys live here!

Ches said...

Wow, great transformation, your chairs look wonderful and I am sure you will love the durability of outdoor fabric.

More Than Words said...

Wow!! Those look great!! And I bet it adds so much more to the room with that color!!!!

Rachel said...

LOVE THIS! Couldn't be more perfect timing... as I just bought the material and was waiting for the courage to cut it and pull the chairs apart! Thanks for the instructions! :)

Rachel @ Finding Joy said...

Great idea!

My husband and I joke that we really shouldn't get any new furniture until the kids are grown because it would just get destroyed anyways. ha ha ha

I think I am going to have to try this. I've got some chairs that need recovering.

Have a great Monday!

He & Me + 3 said...

I had that same problem. So glad my mom knows how to cover chairs. I went with much darker fabric the second time around.

Emma said...

Hello from your newest follower :O)
Funny, I have just recovered my dinning chairs and photographed them this evening. My 'before' were embarrassingly MUCH worse than yours!

Myya said...

What a great idea to use outdoor fabric! Now if only there was a way to recover the stains on my carpet. Ugggghhh!

Ladybird Ln said...

I just love the new fabric, and at $6 a yard that is a steal!

Carlee
www.ladybirdln.com

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