Expert: Mark H. Miller - 8/25/2007

Question
Hi Mark,

Thank you for your time.  I have 8 new dining room chairs with some carving on the chair back.  The seats are already upholstered but I wanted to make them look even more formal by upholstering the back also.  

Because I will be able to see through the ornate back side, I will need to cover both sides of the piece of plywood I insert in front of the ornate carving.  My question to you is:  What is the process/order of steps in doing so???  For example: Do I first cut the plywood a tiny bit smaller than the inside of the back's frame.  Then perhaps put some foam in the front, cover with fabric and staple to the back side of the plywood.  Lastly, would I cover the back of the plywood with fabric and staple (I don't know) to the front edge of the plywood?  Only to cover the staple trail with fabric trim???  And the how would I secure the newly covered plywood piece to the actual chair back's frame?

I really would appreciate some guidance.  I don't want to ruin these beautiful chairs.

Thank you in advance so very very much for your time and wisdom.

Smiles,
Cassandra

Answer
Hi, it is never a good idea to change a high quality chair style.  However, there are reasons one may want it done, the trick then becomes to do so in such a way that the remodeling can be undone.  Even if a long time from now.  To do that make the plywood a little larger than the opening,  place a piece of 1" foam against the front and wrap the fabric around stapling it on the back.  Then with very thin padding material on the back sew a piece of material with very small stitches around the perimeter.  You should then have a slab like unit that would lay flush against the chair on the front covering the opening.  Then with very small brads - (headless nails) place a few right around the perimeter on the very edge,  the head of the nail should go right through the fabric so that you no longer see them,  you may need to take a pin to pull the fabric over the head of the brad.  Years from now should you want to remove the upholstering and return to the original design all you would have are a few small holes from where the brads were and those can easily be puttied in.

I hope this helps.  Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have further questions.

Mark Miller.