How to Reupholster Vintage Diner Chairs Step by Step

Modified: Jun 7, 2025 · Published: Jan 13, 2017 by Brandy · This post may contain affiliate links.

How to reupholster vintage diner chairs, step by step! A labor of love and a simple way to preserve this 67-year-old family heirloom. Scroll to the end of the post for a fun update!

How to reupholster vintage diner chairs, step by step! A labor of love and a simple way to preserve this 60-year-old family heirloom.

This project was an absolute labor of love, but I love how it turned out! This vintage dinette set belonged to my grandparents. They bought it over 60 years ago and raised 7 daughters around that table! It's hard to find high quality like this---furniture meant to last a lifetime. When my grandmother passed away I received the set to use in my own home.

The original vinyl color of the vintage 1950s chairs was a dark blue, but my grandfather reupholstered them to a mustard yellow in the 1970s, and that is the color that I remember the set being. We would sit around this table and kitchen chairs and play games and have family meals. My grandma had a couple of table cloths that fit this table that she'd use every night for dinner. I have them in my linen closet and love using them!

My grandma also cut out her sewing patterns on this table, paid bills, and wrote letters. She wrote many many letters and was a big fan of "snail mail". There are so many memories associated with this set, not just from me, but from all of the family members on that side of the family!

How to Reupholster 50s Vintage Diner Chairs Step by Step

When I received the set 4 years ago it was in great shape overall. The chrome was shiny and the frame of each chair was sturdy, but I could see a few areas that would need attention down the road. There were a few nails popping out of the top of the chairs and one chair had a tiny rip in the seat. There were also a few stripped screws on a couple of the chair backs. I tapped the nails back into place and that bought us time as I decided how to approach restoring them again. One chair has two legs that are bending in, so that will need to be addressed, but for being 67 years old you won’t find a set of chrome diner chairs more cared for than this one.

When I was ready to take the plunge I started by taking each chair apart, removing the upholstery tacks, and examining the wood underneath.

It was tedious, but not hard.

We fixed any areas that were stripped and replaced all of the screws.

We also replaced all of the nails with screws so that they wouldn't work their way out of the tops of the chair backs in the future.

The HARDEST part was deciding on a color for the new vinyl! I liked the mustard color, but couldn't find any vinyl that was the same shade. I ordered a bunch of samples, and would definitely recommend doing that before purchasing 10 yards of fabric or vinyl online. None of the samples looked like they did online! I contemplated a bunch of different types of retro vinyl including red, gray, and even some sparkly hues and ice vinyl but in the end, I settled on a beautiful seafoam shade. I ordered 10 yards from Fabric.com for about $8/ yard.

After fabric, new upholstery nails and screws, and chair leg caps, I ended up spending just over $100 to cover 7 retro chairs and a booster seat!

Each chair took me about an hour and a half to do. If I didn't run into wrist problems I could have set aside a couple of days and finished them all, but all of the time spent pulling out nails and tacks took a toll on my hands and wrist. I ended up being in a lot of pain and even had a hard time sleeping through it! So I slowed down and worked on one or two chairs a week.

It was all worth it though, just look at the shiny vintage diner chair!

THIS STOOL! Such a favorite of mine as a child, and all of the grandkids. Many fights were fought over who got to sit on the stool during mealtime. Ruby has now claimed it for herself and since everyone else is too big to sit in it, she doesn't have to share.

I think of my grandma every time I see this table. It is truly a family heirloom and I hope that I can keep it in the family for at least another 60 years.

2019 UPDATE!

It's been a few years since I reupholstered my retro diner chairs and they are still in GREAT shape! We couldn't love them more. Two chairs had legs that were starting to bend in. My husband, who can fix anything, wasn't sure what to do and didn't want to make them worse. After all, they are 70 years old. It was stressing me out to have the kids sit on them so he suggested that I order replicas and store the originals until the kids are older. We bring them out as extra seating for guests and use some in our home office.

Friends, this was my Christmas gift and I couldn’t be happier with the results. I shopped around and decided to go with Heffron’s. Their site is just so fun to browse. So many options for 1950s retro furniture, diner booths, and chairs.

They did a fantastic job and designed 6 new heavy duty chairs for our dining set that will last a lifetime and shipped them right to my door. The color is exactly the same as the ones above, with the addition of a two-toned seat back and contrasting piping. You can't even tell that they aren't vintage chairs because these are made exactly how the first set was made and they work perfectly with Grandma's table. Restaurant quality gorgeous design. Our booster chair/step stool is the only seating that isn't being stored right now. That thing will never break, it's so sturdy! This is not sponsored. I was just so happy with the entire process and they had so many different styles!

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About Brandy

Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!

Comments

MC says

September 11, 2024 at 4:40 pm

I love your choice of fabric. This gave me courage to take my grandmother's chairs apart with the intent to re-cover them. These have obviously never been updated. The back of the upper part of the chair has the vinyl fabric over a very thin piece of luan or something. Did you run into that with your chairs? I'm concerned that the tacks aren't going to be secure if I try to line up the nail holes, or that it will weaken that thin piece of wood if I don't. What was.under the vinyl on your chair back's back?

Reply
- Brandy says
  
  September 12, 2024 at 3:01 pm
  
  It’s a big undertaking but worth it!! So my grandfather had already reupholstered the chairs once so I’m not sure what was originally under them, but when I changed the vinyl there was thin wood/cardboard on the back. I put my tacks and nails in different holes (just to the side of the originals) so that they’d hold better and not be stripped.
  
  Reply
Olivia says

February 27, 2020 at 2:37 am

What color did you choose when you purchased the new chairs? It is hard to tell on the website. Thank you

Reply
- Brandy says
  
  February 27, 2020 at 12:21 pm
  
  Hi Olivia! The chairs that I ordered were: "921V in Grade 3 Spirit Millennium Surf with Adobe White Insert" Hope that helps!
  
  Reply
  - Olivia says
    
    February 27, 2020 at 4:41 pm
    
    Thank you! What style seat did you use as well? These are amazing looking I found your photo last night and now I have to have them haha
    
    Reply
    - Brandy says
      
      February 27, 2020 at 7:01 pm
      
      Of course! These seats are THE BEST. So retro and fun, but also super sturdy. We did this seat (but added the V-back detailing) http://heffrons.com/retro/chairs/921retro.html I liked the look of the thicker seat, but the ones we already had were the thinner one and worked just fine!
      
      Reply
Darlene Garat says

December 29, 2019 at 3:58 pm

I couldn't find a reference in the article on how you fixed the stripped screw issue. I also inherited a retro dinette and have recovered the chairs a few times BUT the backs are not staying fixed on two of the chairs. The screws are stripped and I can't find information on how to fix this issue. How did you do it?

Reply
- Brandy says
  
  December 29, 2019 at 9:25 pm
  
  Hi Darlene! I've seen people use wood filler, etc. but we used thread inserts like this. https://www.homedepot.com/p/POWERTEC-1-4-in-20-x-7-16-in-Pronged-Tee-Nut-50-Pack-QTN1113/309409731 We can't remember exactly what size we had, but you could even take the chair back to the store and ask which ones would be best! You just need a screw long enough to go through the chair back and into this on the other side. The only problem is that you'd have to take the upholstery off to access the other side of the chair back to attach this, then reupholster it and screw it back onto the chair.
  
  My husband said another option would be to use something like this and push it (tap it with hammer) into the hole on the back of the chair then screw the chair frame back onto it. https://www.homedepot.com/p/E-Z-LOK-E-Z-Hex-Insert-for-Soft-Wood-Flanged-with-3-8-in-Internal-Thread-16-Thread-Pitch-0-98-in-L-25-Pack-903816-25/304618014?MERCH=REC-_-rv_gm_pip_rr-_-309409731-_-304618014-_-N
  
  Reply
Amanda Shields says

January 15, 2019 at 4:18 pm

Hi! What is the name of the vinyl fabric you purchased? It's beautiful!

Reply
- Brandy says
  
  January 15, 2019 at 7:07 pm
  
  Hi! It is a sea foam marine vinyl from fabric.com. It looks more green online than in person. So pretty!
  
  Reply
Angie ~ ambientwares says

February 02, 2017 at 11:04 am

Wanted to let you know you'll be featured at the Funtastic Friday Link Party tonight!

Reply
Donella says

January 31, 2017 at 7:23 pm

Love how sleek and modern it looks but still gives off the vintage vibe we all love about diners.

Reply
Jen Panguluri says

January 31, 2017 at 5:19 am

Brandy the set looks fantastic! It looks vintage and up-to-date at the same time. I recently re-did a chair and had similar issues to you, the first being what fabric to use. I settled on the fifth one! And when I was done with just one chair I had major shoulder and wrist/hand issues. On the backs of your chairs did you use a staple gun for the front part, then just tack the back piece of fabric with the upholstery tacks? Thanks!

Reply
- Brandy says
  
  January 31, 2017 at 7:47 am
  
  Yes! My grandpa used upholstery tacks when he covered the chairs in the yellow vinyl years ago and they held up well! So did the same. Thank you for the compliment! And the shoulder and wrist issues? Ugh! But worth it in the end, right?
  
  Reply
sherrygcole says

January 30, 2017 at 4:27 pm

Hi Brandy! I am featuring your dining set at Totally Terrific Tuesday tomorrow! Have a great week!

Reply
Christine at Light and Savvy says

January 29, 2017 at 1:01 pm

Hi Brandy! Thank you for sharing at Wonderful Wednesday! And Fantastic job on the chairs! Your amazing project will be featured at our next weeks party:) Please stop by and see it...and share with us again! Hugs- Christine at Light and Savvy

Reply
SuziesView (@SuziesView) says

January 28, 2017 at 4:33 pm

First of all wow I love what you did with the table. I love that table. Plus your room in itself is stunning and right up my ally. It is so pretty. I am so happy to view your post from Friday Faves. I will see ya around!

Reply
Sharon@bluewillowhouse says

January 28, 2017 at 7:46 am

You did a beautiful job with your vintage diner set. The blue is so pretty. Thank you for sharing at the Snickerdoodle Create~Bake~Make link party! I am featuring you at today's party. sb

Reply
A Pretty Fix (@aprettyfix) says

January 27, 2017 at 2:27 pm

A great before and after! I have a vintage stool and a dining table that need some love - this has got me inspired 🙂 Thanks for walking through your process - love how the chairs turned out!

Reply
Alayna says

January 27, 2017 at 9:24 am

Very pretty. That color goes perfectly with the rest of the dining area. And I can't believe how shiny and new they look overall considering their age and use! Great job. I have reupholstered a couple of things and my wrist hurts just reading about your experience 😉

Reply
Coffee Mounds & Lipstick Clouds says

January 27, 2017 at 5:13 am

Wow, awesome! I love vintage anything! Looks fantastic, great work 🙂
#TrafficJamWeekend

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How to Reupholster 50s Vintage Diner Chairs Step by Step

2019 UPDATE!

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