How Do You Cover Dining Room Chairs?

There are three practical ways to cover dining room chairs: fit a ready made stretch or loose cover over the whole chair, recover the seat pad in new fabric, or dress the chair with a tie on pad or throw. Ready made covers are the quickest and need no tools. Recovering the seat is more permanent and gives the neatest result. Dressing with textiles is the most flexible and can be changed by season.

Which route makes sense depends on why you are covering the chairs. Protecting good upholstery from children calls for something removable and washable. Hiding tired fabric calls for full coverage. Refreshing a room you are otherwise happy with calls for a considered permanent change.

Ready made stretch covers

Stretch covers are made from a jersey type fabric that pulls over the chair and grips its shape. They are inexpensive, wash easily and fit a wide range of chair shapes because the fabric adapts.

They work best on chairs with a simple rounded or square back and no arms. Fitting one over a carver chair or a chair with an open back rail rarely looks convincing, because the fabric bridges the gaps rather than following them.

Measure before ordering: seat width, seat depth, back height from seat to top, and back width at the widest point. Covers are sold by size band, and a cover a size too large bags at the back no matter how carefully it is fitted.

Loose and tailored slipcovers

A tailored slipcover is cut to the chair’s shape with proper seams and often a skirt. It looks structured rather than stretched and reads as intentional in a formal dining room.

Loose linen covers do the opposite, hanging softly with a relaxed drape. They suit country and coastal schemes and forgive an imperfect fit, which makes them easier to buy off the shelf.

Both types benefit from ties or elastic at the back legs. Without a fixing point, the cover creeps forward every time someone sits down.

Recovering the seat pad

If the chair has a drop in seat that unscrews from underneath, recovering it is the most satisfying option. The pad lifts out, the old fabric is stripped, new foam and wadding go on if needed, and fresh fabric is stapled underneath.

The result is permanent, neat and uses far less fabric than a full cover: around half a metre of 140cm wide cloth covers two seats. It also lets you choose a heavier upholstery fabric than a slipcover would allow.

Use upholstery weight cloth rather than curtain or dress fabric. A tight weave resists snagging from zips and belt buckles, and the fabric dining chairs UK sale range shows the sort of weights that survive daily use around a table.

Tie on pads and throws

The lightest touch of all is to add rather than cover. A tie on seat pad brings colour and comfort to a hard wooden or metal seat and can be removed for washing. Keep the depth to around 3cm so the seat height and table clearance are not disturbed.

A folded throw over the back of two end chairs adds softness without committing the whole set to a look. This works well for occasions and can be put away afterwards.

The limitation is coverage. Neither approach hides worn upholstery, so they are best on chairs that are structurally and visually sound.

Choosing fabric for covers

Washability is the first question. Anything that goes over a dining chair will meet food eventually, so a fabric that survives a 30 degree wash is worth more than one that needs specialist cleaning.

• Cotton drill and canvas: hard wearing, washes well, presses crisply
• Linen blends: soft drape, creases readily, suits a relaxed look
• Stretch jersey: forgiving fit, best on simple chair shapes
• Faux leather: not suitable for slipcovers, excellent for recovered pads

Prewash any fabric before cutting a cover. Cotton and linen shrink, and a cover that fits perfectly before its first wash will not afterwards.

Fitting covers so they stay neat

Fit covers from the back forwards. Slide the cover over the back rest, work it down, then smooth the seat panel towards the front edge and tuck the excess into the crevice where the seat meets the back.

Secure with ties knotted around the rear legs, or with elastic under the seat. A strip of non slip matting under the seat panel stops the cover travelling forward, which is the most common complaint people have about covers.

Steam or press covers once fitted. Five minutes with a handheld steamer removes fold lines and makes an inexpensive cover look considerably more expensive.

When covering is not the answer

Covers hide fabric, not structure. If a chair rocks, creaks or has a sagging seat base, a cover simply postpones the repair. Deal with loose joints and tired foam first, then cover.

There is also a point at which the arithmetic changes. Six tailored covers in good fabric represents a real spend, and if the chairs beneath are basic that money may go further towards replacements. It is worth comparing against the dining chairs UK sale range before ordering fabric for a full set.

Equally, if the chairs are sound but the table is the problem, changing the table alone can transform the room. The modern dining tables UK sale options cover most common sizes and finishes.

Living with covered chairs

Buy or make two sets if the chairs are used daily, and rotate them. Washing at a low temperature and refitting while slightly damp lets the cover dry to the chair’s shape, which removes creasing without ironing.

Check the ties and elastic every few months. They stretch with use, and a quick adjustment keeps the cover looking taut rather than tired.

At Furniture in Fashion we supply dining furniture to homes of every size, and covers are a sensible way to protect a good set while children are young. When the time comes to change, the 6 seater dining table sets UK collection removes the matching question entirely.

Protecting chairs in a busy household

The most common reason for covering dining chairs is protection rather than decoration, and that changes what a good solution looks like.

Washability is the first requirement. A cover that needs specialist cleaning will be left in place through several spills, which defeats the purpose. Choose something that survives a low temperature machine wash and dries quickly.

Buy two sets from the start if you can. Rotating covers means one is always clean, which is the difference between a system that works and one that is abandoned after a month.

Cover the seat rather than the whole chair where possible. Most damage happens on the horizontal surface, and a fitted seat cover is quicker to remove, quicker to wash and far less likely to look untidy than a full length cover pulled about by children.

Deal with spills immediately by blotting rather than rubbing, which pushes liquid further into the weave. Keep a cloth in the room rather than the kitchen so the response is quick.

Finally, accept that covers are a temporary measure. They protect chairs through the years when protection is needed, and can be retired once the household changes rather than kept indefinitely.

Getting the colour right

Covers change the colour of six large objects at once, so the shade matters more than it would on a single cushion. Very pale covers show every mark and very dark ones show dust and lint, while mid tones such as stone, clay and olive stay looking clean for far longer.

Look at the room after dark as well as in daylight. Dining rooms are used most in the evening, and warm bulbs shift cool greys towards beige in a way that can be unwelcome if the rest of the scheme is cool.

Where the chairs sit in an open plan space, take the cue from the kitchen units rather than the dining area alone. Covers that relate to the cabinetry pull the two halves of the room together, while covers chosen only against the table can leave the seating looking detached from everything around it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do stretch covers fit chairs with arms?

Rarely well. Stretch covers are designed for simple armless shapes, and fitting one over a carver usually leaves the fabric bridging awkwardly across the arms.

Can I cover a chair with an open back?

Full covers do not work on open backed chairs because the fabric spans the gap. A recovered seat pad or a tie on cushion is the better approach.

How do I stop chair covers slipping forward?

Use ties knotted around the rear legs, elastic under the seat, and a piece of non slip matting between the seat and the cover.

Should I wash covers before fitting them?

Prewash any fabric you are sewing into a cover so shrinkage happens first. Ready made covers can be fitted straight away and washed as needed.

Is it better to cover or recover dining chairs?

Recovering the seat gives a neater, permanent result and uses less fabric. Covering is quicker, fully reversible and better where you want washable protection.