1950s Dinette Chairs Get a Little TLC from Stefani Bishop

A friend of mine recently made a huge career change and moved to the east side of the state.  He knew he had to pare down a bit for the move, so he sold me a gorgeous 1950s dinette table with 6 chairs for an unbelievable price.  The table is in fantastic condition.  The chairs, on the other hand, needed a little love.  Fearing that the table and chairs would be relegated to the basement to live in DIY limbo forever (or before I could raise the nearly $2,000 to get them properly recovered by professionals), I enlisted the help of my friend Stacy to bring these chairs back to life.  Stacy is Props Master at The Civic Theater, and she knows her way around a staple gun.

First, here's what we had to start with:

For being nearly 70 years old, those chairs look great.  Sure the padding needs some new life, and the vinyl needs to be replaced, but the frames, themselves, are perfect.

So, first things first; open a bottle of wine and discuss strategy.  Stacy and I decided that doing all the seats at once would be a good plan.  After all, once we do the first, then the second, we'll get in to a rhythm and the process will get faster and more efficient.  I set to work taking seats apart:

While Stacy whipped out the sewing machine and made magic happen.

See!  Magic! (Also pictured, the leaf for the table, the cord to my fan, my horrifying berber carpet).

With all six seats redone, it was time to figure out how the hell we were going to reupholster the backs.  Double-sided, chrome handle on the top... we played around with some ideas before we were sure.  (When I say "we," I mean Stacy.)

Back to me disassembling the backrests while Stacy made a template and cut out the vinyl pieces for the back.

After much stretching, smoothing, and giggling at the strange positions we had to be in just to get the vinyl to do what we wanted it to do, we had a few chairs done.

We high-fived.

Now, the last few embellishments still have to be added, but here it is, the final result.  Not too shabby for a couple of people with determination, elbow grease, $40 worth of vinyl, and a little DIY know-how.  (Ignore the towels on the table... they are guarding a puzzle-in-progress from some very nosy cats).