Remember trading spaces?...

While other cool kids at school were going to parties and getting their drink on, I was at home with my high school boyfriend, and we were watching home decorating tv shows and applying for college scholarships. That's how I rolled in high school, and if you don't remember hanging out with me that much back then, well now you know why. I had an aversion towards being normal and fun even though I thought I was the most normal and most fun person ever.

But hey, because of that, I now possess the magic skill of knowing how to recover a chair. Had I not watched countless hours of Ty Pennington on Trading Spaces, I may not have created the 8th wonder of the world that you see below. 

First, I hit the jackpot at High Fashion Home when I found this awesome sage green chenille fabric on sale for $9.99/yard. It was originally $75/yard. I know, how do I do it? The pictures make the fabric look much more neutral than it actually is. In person, it's a light sage green with a tan fish scale pattern. 

So this is what I started with...

This beauty comes from a dining table set that my parents bought when I was like 7. I remember that trip to the furniture store like I remember all family purchases growing up... my mom wanting something really nice that ole Jerry thought was too expensive, so they had to settle on something slightly less expensive and drastically less cool. But hey, now Thomas and I have a dining room table with built in memories via huge scratch marks made by our old dog, Frisky. 

First, I had to take the cushions off. I figured out how to operate the drill all on my own. Thanks again, Ty.

Eleanor wanted in on the action, so it was a learning experience for both of us.

 Next, it was time to cover the cushion with the new fabric. This picture is completely organic. Eleanor thought I had created a new pillow for her paw and laid down on my project. She didn't understand that the floor is mommy's highly dangerous work area. 

So I wrapped the fabric around to the back and used my staple gun pretty haphazardly.

Lastly, I had to rescrew the seat cushion into the chair and ended up with this lovely guy. 

To recap, I learned some things that I suggest to anyone else who may be up to a project like this... Try to limit how thick your fabric is. The thicker it is, the harder it is to make the corners nice and smooth. Also, take off the original fabric first instead of taking the lazy route I did. Lastly, use staples that have long teeth. Maybe I will post a picture of the entire dining room tomorrow so you can see how it all came together!

Love,

Lauren