DIY Chair Covers & Decor

A few years ago, we replaced our carpet with laminate flooring. My husband spent his whole week of vacation installing it with minimal help from me, and he did a great job! I took the opportunity to kind of redesign our entryway and reading area, and I had grand plans to get some gorgeous oval backed Louis XVI style chairs, and all kinds of other things...but I ran out of money, and had to make do with what I had, which were these...

Plus a cat!

...some old rickety chairs that came with a cheap table set from Walmart during our college days. I figured I could at least pad them a little and do what I do with all kinds of other things, cover them with pretty fabric! I'd never made chair covers before, but I figured it couldn't be too hard.

So I got my padding, fabric, and got to work! (Sorry for the fuzzy pics, these were all taken with an old phone a few years ago with bad lighting.)

I used good old duct tape to attach the foam, fancy!

And then just started kind of cutting pieces and forming them around the chair.

I knew I wanted to use box pleats on the bottom, and originally I planned them to be long enough to cover the ugly metal legs. But when I made it up it just didn't do it for me, it reminded me of a grandmother's dress or something.

So I chopped off some of the length, and thought they looked muuuuuch better!

The back I decided to close with some self covered buttons!

 I was pretty happy with the end result! They weren't Louis XVI chairs, but they were much prettier than what they were before.

I also had a big armchair, a favorite of the kitty (with the scratches to prove it!) and I covered with just plain muslin...

I just fitted and pinned as I went, added pleats to match the other chairs...

...and my favorite part, a big blue bow in back, which made it easy to fit snug!

One other little detail I did on the cheap was to stencil the back of the bookcase, didn't cost much!

Overall, I love my little reading area! Considering I didn't have a lot to spend at the time, I'd call it a success.