DIY Network

Bench Convert old dining room chairs into funky bench seating. From "From Junky to Funky" episode DFJF-113

Designer Samantha Gleisten creates bench seating out of a pair of discarded dining room chairs.

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Designer Samantha Gleisten's idea for additional seating in the homeowners redesigned room was created easily by adjoining and recovering two old chairs.

Materials:

Two chairs
Fabric
MDF
Hollow metal tubing
Threaded rod
Screwdriver
Circular saw, jigsaw
Reciprocating saw
Scissors
Sewing tools
C-wrench
Spray adhesive

	Figure A
	Figure B

1. Unscrew all of the seat pieces from the metal frame.

2. Recover the bench arms (figure A). Determine the amount of fabric needed, and then cut the fabric. Wrap and adhere the fabric with spray adhesive. Stitch the sides to ensure that the fabric will not pull off.

3. Remove the fabric and cushion from the chair bases.

4. Determine the need to replace the wooden seats based on wear. In this case it was necessary to replace one wooden base. For the usable base seat, remove the wooden hanging edge from the seat. Create a replacement for the seat base. Measure and cut the MDF seat replacement piece (figure B).

5. Align the seat base pieces and attach by adding a piece of 1 x 2 to the underside of the point of contact.

6. Measure and cut the foam replacement for the seat.

7. Attach the foam to the seat base using spray adhesive.

8. Measure and cut the fabric to recover the base.

9. Wrap the fabric around the seat and staple to the bottom.

10. Measure and cut metal spacers. Determine the spacer placement and length. Cut the spacer and thread rod using a reciprocating saw.

11. Attach the spacers. Drill thread-rod-sized holes in the chair legs at the determined heights. Place the spacer between the legs and insert the thread-rod at each side of the spacer.

12. Reattach the arms and chair base to the metal frame.

Project Expense:

Chairs: Free
Foam and Fabric: $24
Materials: $8

Total: $32