How to fix a wooden chair with a backrest. How to update an old chair: stylish new items instead of junk

The first article of our cozy blog about DIY restoration of an old chair. We had 4 old ones chairs, without soft back. We tried them restore so that they don’t wobble and match our color. We also recommend furniture for the hallway to order or in a ready-made version, very interesting price and with high quality manufacturing. Here's how we did it and what happened, step by step:

Since he was staggering so much that it was impossible to sit, the analysis did not take much effort. The chair was completely disassembled.

2. Then each part of the chair needs to be cleaned of the old coating. All I had at hand was a knife and some skin... 🙁

3. Cleaning with a knife is, of course, tough... But this is how it happened. Everything needs to be cleaned, the grooves where the parts are inserted must be cleaned. Then we assemble the chair, just as we disassembled it. Add glue to the grooves and insert). (we used universal quality liquid nails instead of glue, it’s hard to beat the hell out of it :) To assemble the chair evenly, we used a level.

4. We wanted a chair orange color with a soft back. I cut out a chipboard plate to fit the size of the backrest. Covered with Maple color stain. We waited 3 hours and applied one layer of varnish. The varnish used was Yacht.

6. Then they began to tighten the asshole). They placed foam rubber and covered it with parterre. (Certainly better fabric use gabilene or calico, but we had a parterre lying around 🙂) Fastened with a furniture stapler. To prevent the stalls from fraying, go over the ends with a lighter...

7. Then they placed three layers of foam rubber on the back and began to pull the stalls. Make the seam at the bottom; for decoration, you can also go through the bottom with decorative nails.

8. Here's how the back turned out. The decorative nails were different, but one horseradish is not visible from behind :). The seam goes along the bottom.

9. Well, the chair in front)

The other three chairs turned out better. Only the old coating was removed with a drill; there are special circles with sandpaper. In terms of time, the other three chairs came out faster than this first one) Costs for 4 chairs: 100 rubles. stain + 120 rub. varnish + 250 rub. parterre fabric TOTAL: 490 rub. for 4 chairs.

Sometimes there is no point in buying new chairs at an inflated price. Often, exquisite designer furniture is created from old pieces restored beyond recognition. Restoring chairs with your own hands will help you “breathe” second life into your apartment decoration with the help of the following instructions and tips experienced craftsmen. Ultimately, you will get a product that is durable and comfortable, knowing how to repair it. An updated Soviet chair will become a real asset to your home interior.

Even high-quality furniture elements are subject to mechanical breakdowns and surface abrasion. It is often our fault that our favorite items home furniture become unsuitable for further use. The legs and back suffer the most - other parts are more or less unharmed. Old chairs are often twisted and decorated into first-class poufs and armchairs. It costs a lot of money when ordering a service from a professional designer to restore a chair.

At home, you can restore wooden chairs with backs and stools without the help of a professional carpenter - it is not necessary to have extensive experience in decorative and applied works. It is enough to see at least once how to reupholster the soft part. What you see will help you figure out how long it will take to restore your chair.

The experience gained will help you experiment with more in the future. complex structures(hallway, sofa, wardrobe, table, bed, chest of drawers and other wooden attributes of the house). A completely unnecessary and aged item can be turned into a real one. functional element decor. All this can be done from an old chair in a new way.

Craftsmen know different ways to restore furniture - remaking a chair and restoring a stool depend on the degree of damage to the parts. The most common chair breakdowns:

damaged legs, loose back, loose seat, other defects in wooden parts;
worn out upholstery of old furniture;
severe abrasions paint coating.

The repair scheme should be selected depending on the presence of certain problem areas. In many cases, it is enough to fasten the parts with new fittings. The same renovation trend extends to worn upholstery. Worn fabric and foam rubber need to be replaced with new elements: sheathed with a new flap. In fact, there are no antique chairs that are unsuitable for restoration, even if your grandmother painted them. In the master class below you will learn how to update old chair and how to tastefully paint its surface.

Upholstered chairs “Before and After”

1 2 3
4 5 6

Refreshing the color and design of old wood

The complete or partial transformation of a restored chair directly depends on the availability of certain tools and materials. Not many people know how to properly restore old chairs at home. In the process of restoration kitchen furniture you can’t do without a drill (screwdriver), a small hammer, two different types screwdrivers, scissors, brushes, clamps, stapler with mounting brackets, sandpaper, a small mallet and scissors. As the last component you will need:

self-tapping screws;
wood glue;
foam pillow;
varnish and coloring agents;
flap upholstery fabric.

At the first stage of repair, the surface should be restored. The furniture is cleaned of dust and thoroughly wiped with a wet sponge. Next, the seat and back of the body are removed and the components are disassembled. Sometimes it needs to be fixed. Use a rubber mallet instead of a metal hammer to avoid damaging the parts.

If the chair is assembled using screws, the structure is disassembled without special effort with your own hands. It is enough to unscrew them for complete dismantling. You need to fold them in such a way as not to confuse them later. To clean any remaining epoxy glue, use a dampened rag, then carefully scrape it off with an old dull knife. The cleaned frame is left to dry for some time. Only then is the structure restored and remodeled.

To remove epoxy adhesive in labor-intensive areas, use steam jet pressure instead of water. With absence special device To perform a delicate procedure, they use a proven “old-fashioned” method - using a hose with a tip, which is put on the spout of a kettle to transform the tree.

Changing the look of furniture: the best example

The step-by-step process of restoring the old stool should be carried out as follows:

Treatment with putty against all kinds of chips and cracks.
Sanding wood with different types of sandpaper (first coarse-grained, then fine-grained).
Inspection of the complete structure being repaired (correction of looseness by gluing and other methods).
Restoration of the seat (with soft upholstery or hard seat).
Decorating the surface of a wooden chair base (varnishing or painting).

Removing old varnish A sanding machine will speed up the process of removing the old layer. You can securely fix the legs using wooden scarves. You will also need studs with nuts and washers. Polishing and painting are best done on fresh air
We stretch the upholstery, securing it with a construction stapler at a distance of no more than 1–2 centimeters. Depending on the shape, the fabric at the corners can be fixed like this. Another way to secure the fabric at the corners

How to Repurpose and Paint an Old Wooden Chair

Do-it-yourself restoration of old chairs is aimed not only at updating the frame. The upholstery of an antique chair can be decorated different ways with your own hands:

Fabric covering of the soft part or removable top cover.
Updating the back with a decoupage pattern to match antique chairs.
Restoring the back with durable textiles (a piece of denim, rope, tapestry, jacquard or velor).
Additional decoration for upholstery - macrame.
Belting the back too soft (needs to be removed) old upholstery, change to simple mesh with square cells).

You can find it online great amount Photo and video different ideas craftsmen who restore furniture. The new back of an old piece of furniture can be decorated with a hand-sewn fabric cover. Individual capes and covers can be changed based on the interchangeable design of other home attributes. Each master decides for himself what can be done using old wooden chairs. By choosing what to paint, you will restore the product in an individual style.

Don't rush to throw it away old furniture. From a life-worn and moth-eaten “four-legged friend” you can get a real work of art with just a little effort and imagination. Today you will learn how to update an old chair with my own hands to add freshness and novelty to your home interior.

Method number 1: decorating a chair with paint

Not only a real “old man’s” Soviet chair, but also a wooden “Viennese” one and a folding one country house options easily transformed with paint.

Dyeing technology

To paint old chairs you will need:

acrylic paint;
flat synthetic brushes (separately for varnish, paint and putty);
gloves;
putty;
white spirit (for metal);
varnish remover (for varnished models);
matte varnish or wax;
fine and medium grain sandpaper.

Restore old chairs according to this scheme:

The first step is to prepare the furniture for painting: wash it and sand it with sandpaper. The surface should remain slightly rough.
It is better to degrease the iron model with white spirit before painting.
Treat lacquered furniture special means for removing varnish.
Mask all cracks and scratches on the surface of the legs and back with furniture putty.
After this, paint the entire surface of the furniture in 2-3 layers, waiting for each layer to dry completely. Open the product with varnish.

Interesting! If you want to achieve interesting effect scuffs, then initially apply dark paint to individual areas, and then cover them with wax. Paint the entire area the right shade in 2 layers, and then use fine-grain sandpaper to go over the previously marked areas to “expose” the dark areas.

If you haven't decided what color to paint your furniture, you can't go wrong with a bright white shade. This color is universal and goes well with all bright upholstery materials.

New! Chalk paints are a newfangled type coloring matter, which are not yet very common in stores, but we recommend using them because of their bright colors and super-fast drying.

To paint individual areas of the surface, use masking tape.

Method number 2: seat reupholstery

Restoring old chairs with your own hands using the reupholstery method is the second most common technique after paint.

Interesting! Even if the stool does not have a comfortable soft seat, you can make it yourself.

Washing process technology

To work you will need:

thick upholstery fabric;
furniture stapler;
screwdriver or screwdriver;
meter tape;
self-tapping screws;
overlocker for finishing edges or sewing machine.

An old soft chair is restored in this way:

Turn the product over, placing it with the seat on the work surface. Use a screwdriver or screwdriver to unscrew the soft part from the frame of the product. If it is screwed not with screws, but with nails, then pull them out with pliers.
Measure the width and length of the seat, add 7 cm to each value, and open the part from the new fabric. Finish the edges of the fabric piece sewing machine or overlocker.
Place the pattern face down on your work surface. Place the seat on it with the wrong side facing you. Make sure that the distance of future pattern bends is the same on all sides.
Fold and staple two opposite sides of the upholstery fabric to the seat. At the same time, slightly stretch the material. The staples of the stapler are attached in increments of at least 10 cm, and the corners are not yet secured.
Do the same with the other parties.
Lastly, pull the corners into the center of the seat and also secure with staples.
Place the seat on the frame and re-screw it with self-tapping screws. If it was initially held in place with nails, then it makes sense to replace them with self-tapping screws.

The soft seat can be decorated with beautiful furniture nails around the perimeter.

Select upholstery material so that it matches the style of the stool. This is how classic jacquard doesn’t look good on modern designer furniture, but old wooden chair with a back and patterns, it looks strange with geometric print upholstery.

Often, chairs look perfect if their style uses the same fabric from which the curtains or drapes in the room are sewn.

The match looks harmonious.

Method No. 3: sewing a cover with gathers in the corners

The clear advantage of sewing a cover is that this method is much cheaper than reupholstering a seat.

It is enough to purchase 2-2.5 m of fabric, make the pattern correctly and sew it.

The fabric is selected on the basis of resistance to wear, since products are constantly subject to increased stress, especially in the dining room and kitchen.

To sew a cover for an old chair, follow these steps:

First of all, you need a pattern. For measurements you will need masking tape, paper or newspapers.
Attach a large spread of newspaper to one or another part of the product, mark the outlines of the furniture on the paper, and remove the excess with scissors.
Prepare the second part and attach it to the first, gluing it with masking tape. Having assembled the pattern completely, cut it in the places where the seams will be. Thus, you will have a more or less accurate pattern specifically for your product shape.
Remember to leave seam allowances and take into account the directional direction of the fabric, especially if it has a pattern in the form of stripes or large flowers. Please pay attention Special attention back. It happens that in order to recreate exact bends you will have to cut out a separate part along its side. If you do not have the goal of conveying all the delights, it is enough to make wide allowances of 5-7 cm along the side cut of the back.

Important! It’s better not to make the cover on the back very narrow, otherwise you simply won’t be able to put it on the chair. Cut the back wide or flared, then pleat the excess and tie at the back beautiful bow. If you like a “tight” cover, then install a twisted zipper in one of the seams.

Method No. 4: Decoupage a chair with paper

Remaking old chairs with your own hands does not always require drastic changes. Sometimes new chair it will work out of the old one if you disguise it minor defects, scratches and stains with an original fashionable print or beautiful patterns.

Decoupage will help you. Take:

multi-layer napkins with the desired print;
PVA glue;
a pair of brushes;
scissors;
matte clear varnish;
roller

To make original designer furniture from old chairs, follow this algorithm:

Clean the furniture, paint as described in method No. 1.
Separate upper layer napkins with a pattern, cut out the desired size fragment from it.
If you want to change the entire decor of an old chair: from the back to the legs, then chaotically tear the napkin into 10x10 cm pieces.
Apply PVA glue liberally to the desired area of the future decor. Place a cut piece of napkin on the desired area of furniture, smooth it with a brush with the remaining PVA, removing bubbles and smoothing out the wrinkles with a roller.
The top layer of PVA should be as thin as possible. Leave it to dry for a day.
Finally, cover the entire surface of the furniture with clear varnish in 3-4 layers, allowing each layer to dry.

As you can see, remaking an old chair is not as problematic as it might seem at first glance.

Creative furniture decor solutions

To old stool got a vintage touch, you can paint it pink, blue or cream. Gold or silver paint is useful for painting. On top of everything, apply craquelure varnish to the entire area. The antique effect is created by small cracks from the varnish.

An old stool will be saved by upholstery made of multi-colored straps. Intertwine them according to the “basket” principle and secure them at the bottom with self-tapping screws.

Allow your children to be creative acrylic paints. Cover the result with varnish. You will not only receive designer furniture, but also possibly a future family heirloom.

Now you know how to restore an old chair, turning it into an exclusive thing for mere pennies. If you have other modernization ideas and restoration experience, share with readers in the comments.

Video: Restoration of an old chair

If you still have old ones soviet chairs, don’t write off getting rid of them. You can change them with your own hands so that they become better than they were at the beginning. Also independent restoration furniture significantly saves any budget if you previously intended to buy a new set.

Master class on restoring chairs with your own hands

At the beginning of furniture restoration work, it is necessary to choose a type that will make the old chair new. If wooden elements If they are very loose, cracks have appeared on them, and the upholstery has become fairly worn out over time, then to update such a chair, a detailed and thorough restoration will be required with its complete or partial disassembly. If over time the chair has not suffered much damage: the fabric has become slightly frayed, the varnish has peeled off and the paint has faded, then there will be no need to disassemble the item itself. The simplest and most economical type of restoration is reupholstering chairs with your own hands. Next, let's look at each type of update in more detail:

Comprehensive restoration of chairs

When working on a comprehensive restoration of chairs, the following equipment will be needed:

Furniture filler. Such a material could be, for example, foam rubber.
Special stapler and staples for furniture.
Varnish and paints, as well as stain.
Brushes of different hardness, width and shape.
A sheet of plywood, for new elements of chairs, if the previous ones have completely become unusable.
Furniture glue.
Metal clamps.
Furniture tapestry, with colors that will organically fit into the new interior.
Sander.
Wooden mallet.
Screwdriver.
Drill.
Self-tapping screws.

You also need to take into account that restoration work will take approximately 5 – 7 days. Part of the time will be spent drying finished product after gluing and painting.

The order and stages of restoration work

First of all, you need to prepare the chair for restoration work. Clean all surfaces from dust and dirt, and remove greasy spots, If there are any. For this you can use any soap solution and rags or brushes. The main task in this stage is speed. Wood does not like prolonged contact with water and chemical solutions.

After the chair is completely dry, it needs to be disassembled into parts. This must be done as carefully as possible so as not to spoil any individual elements.

When all parts are separated, they must be carefully examined for defects. If there are cracks, they will need to be glued. Only after the glue has completely dried can you start sanding all the parts using sandpaper.

Over time, any furniture loses its original appearance and quality. To solve this problem it is necessary to carry out restoration work, independently or with the help of specialists. Most often, chairs are restored with their own hands. Master class and step by step photo will help you do it correctly and with the highest quality.

List of materials and tools for restoration

Before starting work, it is necessary to assess the condition of the furniture and identify problem areas– damage to housing elements, deterioration of paintwork or unusability of connecting components. After this, you need to draw up a restoration plan - repair or replace parts of the chair, restore the protective layer or improve the fasteners. Usually these works are performed in combination.

Depending on the type of restoration measures, the optimal set of tools is selected and Supplies. The minimum configuration should include the following components:

screwdriver or screwdriver;
furniture stapler;
hammer, grinder;
a sheet of plywood, preferably four-layer;
varnish and stain;
set of brushes;
clamps for fastening chair elements;
screws, self-tapping screws.

DIY chair restoration

You need to be prepared that all the work on restoring the chair can take from one to five days. This long period is due to the drying time of the paintwork. If you connect the parts at once, the likelihood of uneven distribution of the protective layer will increase.

Disassembly of the structure

The trim is removed if it makes it difficult to access the screws. The staples are removed using a slotted screwdriver and pliers. Then you need to remove all fasteners. To do this, use a screwdriver or screwdriver. If the structure has wooden dowels, they are drilled out without damaging the load-bearing parts.

At this stage, you must adhere to the following rules:

each part is numbered according to its location on a pre-prepared drawing;
inspection for cracks or other mechanical damage;
If necessary, take photographs of the disassembly process.

Then you can begin the main part of the repair.

Treatment with adhesives

To restore damaged parts, wood glue should be used. If you do not carry out regular woodworking, it is recommended to buy a small volume adhesive composition. More often they use “PVA-furniture” in aluminum tubes of 50 ml. Average consumption is 100 g/m², price – from 45 rubles.

The order of gluing parts:

After applying the composition, you must wait 5-10 minutes.
Using clamps, the parts are connected and remain in this state for 1-2 hours.
Excess glue is removed with a rag.
After final drying, the exposed composition is removed grinder or fine-grit sandpaper.

The glue can be used as a filler for deep cracks. It must first be mixed with wood dust. Then the resulting mass is filled with the chip.

Making a new seat

Most often, damage occurs in the seat structure. If they are irreversible, it is necessary to make a new one from plywood according to its dimensions. Then foam rubber is cut to the same dimensions and placed on top part seats.

It is best to buy a new fabric base. Its dimensions should be 7-10 cm larger than the dimensions of the seat. Then you should perform the following steps:

Foam rubber does not need to be rigidly attached to glue. It is important that it covers the entire area of the workpiece.
A tapestry (fabric) is laid on a flat surface, foam rubber is placed on top of it, and then a seat.
The edges of the fabric are fixed on the back wooden shield using a furniture stapler.

Some chair designs have wooden sides. They are dismantled before the upholstery process and then installed again.

Application of protective coating

To prevent the appearance of fungus or mold, as well as to renew appearance applied to the surface of the parts paint and varnish composition. First, each element is treated with stain, and then, after a day, with varnish. The latter must be applied in 3-4 layers.

As an alternative, you might consider painting the chair. After all layers have completely dried, the structure is assembled. During the process, it is recommended to check the previously drawn up diagram.