How to Reupholster Vintage Diner Chairs Step by Step

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!

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!

Comments

acraftymix says

January 27, 2017 at 1:10 am

They look fabulous Brandy, great job. Hope your wrist and arm are feeling better. That sure was a lot of takes and nails you removed.

Pili Gomez says

January 26, 2017 at 3:05 pm

This is a true labor of love but really worth the effort. I bet your grandparents would be very happy to see them shining again. I am planning to feature this at the party tomorrow.
Enjoy the rest of the week!

Paula says

January 26, 2017 at 2:15 pm

You did such a good job with this and it looks fantastic in your home. I know your grandparents would be thrilled to know that this set is still being used and enjoyed.

Angie ~ ambientwares says

January 24, 2017 at 5:10 pm

These turned out beautiful and look absolutely perfect in your home and that space! Fantastic job!

Leanna says

January 24, 2017 at 3:39 pm

These are absolutely stunning antique chairs. My grand parents had a set as well and I can remember them talking about how they were made from real metal and could be welded etc. This is a lovely family heirloom. Congratulations on the restoration.

- Brandy says
  
  January 24, 2017 at 9:14 pm
  
  Thank you so much! They are truly treasured!
  
MEM says

January 24, 2017 at 6:26 am

The set came out beautifully! Its just my style too. Did you replace the padding too? I didn't see that part.

- Brandy says
  
  January 24, 2017 at 7:41 am
  
  The padding was actually in great shape so I reused it 🙂 And thanks!!
  
Mary-The Boondocks Blog says

January 24, 2017 at 5:16 am

These came out looking spectacular. I am very impressed with your handiwork. The whole set looks great.

Theresa says

January 23, 2017 at 10:42 pm

I love how your chairs turned out. Stunning set. Definitely a labor of love. I'm sure you'll enjoy the set & memories for a long time. Thanks for joining us at the Inspiration Spotlight party. Pinned & shared.

Fabiola Garcia says

January 23, 2017 at 10:03 pm

Wao!, what a great transformation you did to that already beautiful dining set. Love the legs. I have the same condition in my right hand, and pulling all those nails or staples kills me. I will only do 2 chairs in a day. I bought a bracer at the pharmacy and after applying a cream to my hand, I will put my bracer to sleep, is the best to relief the pain. Hope you get better relief for your hand pain.

- Brandy says
  
  January 24, 2017 at 7:42 am
  
  Thank you! My arm and hand recovered soon after, but seriously, I thought I'd have permanent damage with how painful it was!
  
diy180 says

January 23, 2017 at 8:09 pm

What a cool table and chairs. Reminds me of the set my mom had growing up. It's looks great and love the color. Thank you for sharing at Dishing it and Digging it link party.

JESS44903 says

January 23, 2017 at 8:41 am

These look great!

I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

homeonthecornerblog says

January 21, 2017 at 7:01 pm

We had a similar set at my uncle's lake cabin. Boy, I wish I had gotten it when they sold the cabin. Yours looks great!

Kreativk Net says

January 20, 2017 at 11:55 pm

A wonderful transformation! I love the new colour and wow, these are really precious, they have been through so many family get togethers! Thank you for sharing at Sweet Inspiration, wishing you a lovely weekend!

Carol says

January 20, 2017 at 5:25 pm

When I was growing up ions ago, our next door neighbor had a similar set. Love your redo!

- Brandy says
  
  January 21, 2017 at 12:13 am
  
  Thank you!!
  
- Rijkhoff p says
  
  December 23, 2023 at 8:14 am
  
  Ik ben na jaren 50 geboren ik van deze stijl gaan houden en de inspiratie kom van de film Happy Days zin's dien wijk ik van deze tijdloze Design niet meer af er zijn Nederland zaken die in de 50th doen alleen de dinner meubels zijn we wat beperkt in Amerika Canada lopen wel achter dat vind ik wel jammer jaren 50 fan
  
the cape on the corner says

January 20, 2017 at 12:37 pm

wow, those look gorgeous! when we bought our house, there were 4 red barstools in the basement, exactly as i had intended to buy actually, but we did have to really clean up the chrome. i love that you used the grey for the fabric. gorgeous!
b

Newer Comments »

How to Reupholster 50s Vintage Diner Chairs Step by Step

2019 UPDATE!

More Craft Projects

About Brandy

Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply