How to Reupholster an Armchair Without Ruining the Wood Arms

The fastest way to ruin a beautiful armchair is to pry fabric off the frame with a screwdriver and gouge the finished wood every time it slips. Learning how to reupholster an armchair with wooden arms means working slowly around that show-wood, taking the chair apart in the reverse of how it was built, and putting it back together in the same order with fresh fabric. The old pieces become your patterns, photographs become your instructions, and a strip of decorative gimp hides the staples where fabric meets wood.

Is it hard? Honestly, an armchair is a big step up from a dining seat. Expect 15 to 30 hours for a first chair, spread over a week or two. The work is not complicated, but it is methodical, and patience matters more than skill. Many people find the second chair takes half the time.

The order of the layers is the whole secret. Upholsterers cover a chair from the inside out: inside arms and inside back first, then the seat deck, outside arms, and finally the outside back. Removal goes in exactly the opposite direction.

How to Reupholster an Armchair With Wooden Arms: Tools

• Upholstery staple remover, tack lifter, needle-nose pliers and a flat screwdriver wrapped in tape
• Staple gun or a pneumatic upholstery stapler with a narrow crown, which places staples precisely next to show-wood
• Upholstery fabric (about 5 to 8 yards for most armchairs), welt cord, cardboard tack strip, and flexible metal tack strip for the outside back
• Gimp braid or double welt plus a hot glue gun for finishing at the wood
• Batting, foam labeled for furniture flammability, and spray adhesive
• Curved upholstery needles, heavy thread, a sewing machine with a zipper or welt foot
• Painter’s tape, a marker, a camera or phone, and resealable bags for labeling
• Safety glasses and work gloves

Safety Tips

Old staples and tacks snap and fly during removal, so wear safety glasses the entire time. Keep fingers clear of the stapler nose, especially when holding fabric tight near the line of fire. Disconnect pneumatic staplers from air before clearing jams. Sagging springs under tension can snap back when you cut their ties, so control them with a gloved hand. Choose fabric and foam labeled for furniture flammability standards.

Step by Step: Teardown

1. Photograph and Label Everything

Before removing a single staple, take photos from every angle. As each piece comes off, photograph how it was folded, where it was pulled through, and how it met the wood. Label each piece with tape: OB for outside back, OA left, IA right, deck, and so on. Note which direction the fabric ran.

2. Remove Layers in Reverse Order

Flip the chair and take off the dust cover. Then remove the outside back, outside arms, seat cushion cover, deck, inside back and inside arms. Around the wood arms, work the tack lifter under staples at a low angle, and slide a putty knife under the tool to protect the finish. Mask the show-wood with painter’s tape before you start to protect it from scratches.

3. Inspect the Frame and Padding

Check joints for looseness and reglue them if needed. Look at springs, webbing and padding. Firm padding in good shape can stay; a thin layer of new batting over it freshens the feel. Crumbling foam should be replaced.

4. Use Old Pieces as Patterns

Press each old piece flat, lay it on the new fabric with the grain running the same direction, and add 2 inches all around for handling. Center motifs on the inside back, seat and cushion, and keep stripes aligned from inside back through the deck and onto the cushion. Cut the large pieces first, then make welt strips from leftover fabric cut on the bias, about 1 1/2 inches wide.

Step by Step: Recovering the Chair

5. Inside Arms

Staple the inside arm fabric at the top of the arm first, pull it down through the gap between the arm and seat, and staple to the seat rail. Where the arm meets the wood arm cap, fold the fabric under and staple tight right along the edge of the show-wood. Small relief cuts help the fabric turn around posts. Cut carefully: a cut too deep shows.

6. Inside Back

Center the fabric, staple at the top center, then pull through to the back rail and staple at the bottom center. Work outward, pulling the sides through the gaps at the arms. Tight, even tension now prevents ripples later.

7. Seat Deck

Most chairs use a deck of inexpensive fabric with a strip of show fabric at the front, sewn together. Pull it through to the back and sides and staple. Add a layer of batting under the front edge for comfort.

8. Welting and Piping

Sew welt cord into the bias strips with a zipper foot. Staple welt along the outside edges of the arms and back, wherever the original chair had it. Good piping outlines the chair and hides seams.

9. Outside Arms and Back

Blind tack the top edge of each outside panel: place it face down, staple through a cardboard tack strip, then flip the fabric down so the staples hide inside the fold. Pad with a layer of batting, pull down, and staple underneath. Close the sides of the outside back with flexible metal tack strip, or hand stitch with a curved needle.

10. Finish Against Show-Wood With Gimp

Trim fabric neatly along the wood edge, then glue gimp braid over the staple line with hot glue, pressing it with a scrap block. Start and end at a discreet spot, and fold the cut end under to prevent fraying. Add the dust cover underneath.

Leather, Piping and Tufted Chairs

Leather does not forgive extra staple holes, so plan every placement carefully and use a slightly narrower staple. Leather stretches less than cloth and wrinkles at corners, so pleat in small folds. Tufted chairs require marking button positions on the foam and fabric, adding pleat allowances between buttons, and tying buttons through to the back. If you want to reupholster a tufted chair or deep-buttoned leather, consider practicing on a simpler chair first.

Planning Your Time and Workspace

An armchair spreads out once the fabric comes off. Set aside a corner where the chair, the labeled old pieces and the new fabric can stay undisturbed for a week or two. A sturdy worktable or a pair of padded sawhorses at waist height saves your back. Learning how to reupholster an armchair with wooden arms goes far more smoothly when you protect the show-wood with painter’s tape for the whole job, not just during teardown, because tools slip during stapling too. Keep the photos handy on a phone or tablet so you can check how each piece was folded before you staple. Work on one area per session and stop before you get tired, since rushed staples near the arms are the hardest mistakes to hide.

Troubleshooting

• Ripples on the inside back: tension was uneven. Release side staples and re-pull from the center.
• Fabric gaps at the wood edge: staples sat too far from the wood. Restaple tighter and cover with gimp or double welt.
• Scratched arm finish: touch up with a stain marker and buff with furniture wax.
• Puckered corners: add relief cuts and smaller pleats.
• Ran out of fabric: use the deck fabric under cushions and plan yardage before cutting.

Cost and Difficulty

DIY materials typically run $150 to $500 depending on fabric price, with fabric being the largest expense. Professional reupholstery of an armchair usually costs several hundred dollars to over $1,000 in labor, plus fabric. Doing it yourself saves real money but costs time.

When to Call a Pro

Bring in an upholsterer for valuable antiques, chairs needing coil springs retied, deep tufting in leather, or frames with broken joints. A pro also makes sense if your fabric is expensive and mistakes would be costly.

Many upholsterers will also do part of the job, such as retying springs or sewing the seat cushion and welt, while you handle the stripping and stapling yourself. That split keeps costs down and still gets a professional result on the hardest steps. Anyone still unsure how to reupholster an armchair with wooden arms can also ask a local shop for a quick consultation on fabric yardage before buying.