Do you have items in your home that fall under the category of “functional but ugly”?  My craft room chair was one such item.  I liked it because my craft room is small and this fit in well and it had a soft seat. When I made over my craft room this of course either had to go or get a makeover. I chose the latter! I did a super quick version… no sanding, no priming.  I’ll show you my steps on how to paint a folding chair and even recover it if needed!.

 

Supplies Used

• Folding chair (can have padding on the seat or back)
• Spray paint of choice. Rustoleum is an excellent brand for metal. (1 can gave me 3 light coats)
• Material to match. Measure how much you will need. My chair seat took 1/2 yard.
• Leg caps if needed
• Staple gun (for attaching material to seat)

Preparation to Paint a Folding Chair

Remove the seat and/or back if it's padded. Remove the leg caps. Clean your chair with soap and water well, using a toothbrush to get into the nooks and crannies.  Spray paint two to three thin coats, letting each one dry very well before adding the next. This might require doing it in sections as you have to turn the chair upside down to reach all the areas.   You are welcome to sand any rust areas and then use primer paint first if desired, though I chose to not do that.

Covering Padded Areas

Pick some nice material for the padded areas. Heavier fabric will last longer. You may need to purchase foam and cut to fit depending on whether the padding is in good shape. I was able to cover right over the vinyl on mine.  Lay your seat face down on the material and while wrapping it around staple the edges snugly. I kept mine unfinished underneath as I didn't care what that part looked like.

Leg Caps

The leg caps on my chair were in pretty bad shape and one was missing. So I decided to replace them. The one's I found were a tiny bit large and would not stay on the legs. To remedy that I took a thin strip of duct tape and wrapped it around the bottom of each leg a couple of times. The caps then fit on snugly.