Do you need to unify a dining room of mismatched chairs? Or would like to add a festive touch for a party? It doesn’t get easier than this five-minute slipcover technique. Just select materials that go with your color scheme and desired feel for the room, and follow these instructions. You can get 8 dining chairs done in well under half an hour, if you have all the supplies at hand!

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

* Dining room chair needing a makeover

* Tablecloth (60”x84” standard oblong is a good size for most dining room chairs.)

* Embellishments of your choice. (For this project, we used three small bunches of artificial flowers and two beaded $1bracelets.

* Optional: Glue gun to attach embellishments

TIME NEEDED: About 5 minutes for the first time — even less once you get the hang of it.

THE STEPS:

1. Drape the tablecloth over the chair (photos #1 and #1a). Center it so that the fabric in the front of the chair just touches the floor.

2. Pick up the two ends of the tablecloth that are draped against the back of the chair and pull them together so that the two “flaps” meet in the center of the chair’s back (photo #2).

3. Once you have centered the two “flaps”, grab the ends of each piece and tie them together in a knot (photo #3).

4. Arrange the artificial flowers so that they sit directly above the knot, and glue them in place (photo #4). When no one is sitting in the chair, you can lift up the knot so that it sits on top of the chair back (photo #4a). Then, as guests take their seats, the knot can simply be lifted to drape down the back.

5. Knot the ends of the tablecloth that hang by the front legs (photo #5). An alternative is to wrap a beaded bracelet around each end, as has been done in the example shown in photo #4a.

Even though this easy wrapping technique works perfectly every single time you do it, no two slipcovers you make need ever be the same! There are an infinite number of ways to embellish a wrapped dining chair, depending on the look and mood you’re going for. Here are some fun ideas to get your thoughts rolling:

* Apply glue to the ends of the draped fabric. Then, dip them into a white or colored glitter for a highly festive look.

* Glue wide grosgrain ribbon to each end of the fabric that hangs down in the back, and use the ribbon to tie the two ends together. Tie into a bow and let the ends of the ribbon hang down the back of the chair.

* Tie the ends of fabric on the back of the chair around a plastic vase or cylinder, so that it hangs directly on the back of the chair. Treat it like a decorative vessel and fill with anything pretty

* flower petals, seashells, small ornaments, old photographs, etc.

* Decorate the tablecloth before wrapping with it, using stencils, stamps, or faux flower pounding

THE TOP SIX REASONS TO USE SLIPCOVERS IN YOUR DECOR:

1. You can redecorate as often as you want: with the seasons, when you buy

new furniture, when you get bored.

2. They’re washable; great for homes with kids.

3. You can quickly change a room’s color or theme for a party.

4. You can buy a room’s worth of furniture at a garage sale or thrift shop and

have confidence that the slipcovers will unify mismatched chairs.

5. You aren’t stuck with living with a regretted purchase, because you can

easily keep trying new looks for very minimal time and money.

6. There are endless ways to embellish them.

 

From the E-book

Quick & Stylish Decorative Crafts