
we’re moving from paint to fabric this morning- my other favorite way to spruce up a piece of furniture without spending a fortune. these chair makeovers were done by d*s reader jill- she found this first chair on craigslist for $50 and bought $35 worth of fabric and spray paint for the project. she took everything apart herself and remade it- and i think the finished result is fantastic.


the second chair is jill’s favorite- her ikea lunna chair. she says, “it’s the most comfortable chair in the world- it feels like a hug” but she didn’t love the fabric texture or pattern for her room. so she simplified the cover a bit (to use less fabric) and sewed a new cover herself. i think it’s a great update- good work, jill!
[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email right here with your pictures!]
[ps: my new wedding post (about planning destination wedding activities for your guests) is up on the ms wedding blog now]

36 Comments
Fantastic indeed! The Craigslist chair makeover look great. Thanks for sharing.
WOW! That first chair is stunning. Congrats!
Do you know if there is any blog who focus on remakes of IKEA furniture? If not, there rreally should be one :D People are so creative.
emma
totally! there’s a great one called ikeahacker: http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/
Pretty fabric. Where is it from?
these are both great! i have two chairs i need to reupholster and i’d love to do them myself (better get to work, huh?)
Amazing! I love the before & after for the first chair.
That first chair is certainly fantastic!
wow, really amazing work. the first chair is my fav.
jill’s first chair looks like a giraffe! long and lean….love it.
I have a love seat I would love to reupholster. I have never done this before, is there a website or a book I can purchase to help me along?
That first chair started out truly weird. Who is responsible for that?? But the makeover makes it look like a million bucks. Nice work.
I love what Jill did with the first chair — it looks awesome!!!
I recently bought 4 chairs for $80 from Kijiji. I cant wait to start working on them… seeing great transformations like these two chairs is so inspiring :-)
Kelly @ DesignTies
Glad you guys like ‘em. The giraffe fabric is from fabric.com. Great discount for first-time shoppers. The blue fabric is from tonicliving.com.
It takes time, but it’s easy. Use the existing fabric as your pattern and go for it. Good luck to everyone else on their projects.
Hi Jill.
Love the lunna chair. I have one and it is super comfy! My cover got ruined due to a leaky roof. I’m not much for sewing, any tips on recovering it?
The first chair is to die for! I have a horribly ugly chair I would love to re-do, do you know where I can find a great how-to for beginner re-upholstering??
great to see the Berries fabric used on the chair! looks fantastic, tonic living have some gorgeous fabrics.
i’m inspired! now if i could only find a chair to recover….
I love the fabric on the first chair.
Hi, could you post the pattern? I have the same chair and I´d like to make a cover for it.
thanks
this is my 1st comment ever on this blog…although i’ve been reading it forever…i’m always impressed with the before/after projects, the 1st chair with the giraffe print forced me to post. SUCH
OOPS…meant to finish that thought…SUCH a great makeover!!!
The Lunna chair cover unzips to come off. I took a seam ripper to it and the pieces were my pattern.
For the water stain problem, it might be cool to slip it off, throw it in with some rit dye and see what happens. It’s not like you can ruin it now.
Both chairs just scream “creativity & talent” ~ I see a bright future ahead for Jill ~
Chairs by Jill! Keep up the fine work ~ You have a keen eye.
The chairs look great! Does anyone know of any good websites that show you how to recover chairs? Thanks
Jill – will you make me a chair? Pleeeeease? Seriously though, if you’re willing to do some custom work (for pay), please let me know how I can get in touch with you. You’ve done a beautiful job on both!
Those chairs are just beautiful! I especially love the first one. I’ve tackled re-finishing furniture, but I really want to try some chairs. Thanks for the inspiration!
This is so pretty! But is it difficult to DIY? I have one wingback chair which I wanna change the fabric too…. seems to be a lot of work? How long did it take?
I’m in LOVE with the giraffe print chair. I have been looking for a cozy chair to makeover, and this style intimidated me, but I think I’ll go for it! And I just found one on CraigsList for only $30. Did this require any sewing? Was taking apart the chair difficult? Any info would be GREAT!!! GOOD JOB!!
About that white painted armchair: Since my parents painted over a lot of nice wood furniture in the 70ies and going to art and crafts school i now am very hesitant in painting over any wood that can be cleaned up and waxed. Wood is such a good neutral element to match anything to anyway.
Jill, I have a Lunna chair that i need to re-cover (our new puppy thought it was tasty), do you have any templates for your new cover or did you take apart the old one and use it as the template? If you can send me any advice I would be grateful, have a baby coming in April and i wanted to use the chair in the nursery although obviously can’t in its current state. (hopefull) thanks in advance.
I love what you did to you Lunna chair, wish I was gifted in the sewing department as it looks fabulous! Mine is looking so tired
;-0
Hi Jill
I just adore both chairs.
Would love to do a course here in Scotland. :)
I have a LUNNA chair and cannot get a new cover anywhere for love nor money !! :(
Oh how i wish you lived near me, XX
Hey Jill!
I’ve recently moved into a furnished room & would like to sew a new cover for the lunna chair there, but can’t cut the old one up!
Your work was fantastic, so I was wondering if you have any templates you could send me to [email protected]
Thank you so much
Hi Jill!
That was a great job! I’m afraid I wont be able to do what you did for my Lunna chair! Need some help here — do you by any chance also know how to make the covers for the Lunna footstool? I bought one secondhand with the black-and-white floral like your first picture but it wont fit in with the theme of my furnishings so I need to have new white Corduroy covers and if you can help, it would be wonderful!
Thanks Jill, for your inspiration!
Jill,
Would you sell me a cover for a Lunna chair? I have one that is worn out but the chair is too comfy to throw. Thanks
Ed
Jill,
Can you make/sell me a cover as well? I love my Lunna chair, but my cover looks really worn.
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