To pad a bar stool chair, remove the seat from the frame, cut high resilience foam to the seat shape, wrap it in polyester wadding, then stretch fabric over the top and staple it to the underside before refitting. For a hard wooden or metal seat you will typically use foam between twenty five and fifty millimetres thick at a density of thirty five kilograms per cubic metre or more. The whole job takes an hour or two per stool and needs only a staple gun, scissors and a screwdriver.
If the seat cannot be removed, or the stool is upholstered already and simply gone flat, you can either add a fitted cushion pad on top or open the existing cover and replace the foam beneath. Both routes are covered below.
Gather everything before you start, because a half stripped seat left overnight tends to stay that way.
For materials you need high resilience foam of the correct thickness, polyester wadding of around one hundred and thirty five grams per square metre, upholstery fabric or faux leather, and a piece of black bottoming cloth to finish the underside neatly.
For tools you need a manual or electric staple gun with eight or ten millimetre staples, sharp scissors or a long bladed knife for the foam, a screwdriver for the seat fixings, a marker pen, and a staple remover or small flathead screwdriver for taking off old covers.
Spray adhesive designed for foam is optional but genuinely helpful. It stops the foam creeping sideways as you pull the fabric tight, which is the most common cause of a lopsided finish.
Turn the stool upside down on a soft surface so you do not scratch the frame or the floor. Most seats are held on with four screws through a metal plate, and on gas lift stools those screws pass through the swivel mechanism.
Photograph the underside before you undo anything. When you come to refit, the orientation of the plate and the position of any height adjustment lever will matter, and a photograph saves guesswork.
Keep the screws in a pot. If you are adding significant thickness to the seat you may need slightly longer screws, so check that the existing ones will still bite properly into the new build up. Screws that only just reach are a safety issue on a seat that takes body weight.
If the seat is fixed and cannot be removed, skip to the section on cushion pads further down.
Place the bare seat base on your foam and draw around it with a marker. Cut just outside the line, because foam compresses under the cover and a slightly oversized piece gives a fuller edge.
Cut foam with one long continuous stroke rather than sawing. An electric carving knife is ideal, a long bread knife works, and a craft knife will leave a ragged edge unless the blade is fresh.
For a comfortable kitchen stool, twenty five millimetres of foam over a solid base is the minimum that makes a real difference, and fifty millimetres gives a properly cushioned seat. Going thicker than fifty raises the seat height noticeably, which matters if your worktop clearance is already tight.
Build a domed profile if you want the seat to look upholstered rather than flat. Cut a full size base layer, then a second layer twenty five millimetres smaller all round and place it underneath the first, or bevel the top edges of a single thick piece at roughly forty five degrees. Either approach softens the perimeter so the cover does not crease.
Bond the foam to the base with spray adhesive, applying a thin coat to both surfaces, waiting until tacky, then pressing together. Do this in a ventilated space.
Wrap the foam in polyester wadding, cutting it large enough to fold over the sides and reach the underside by about thirty millimetres. Wadding does two things: it stops the fabric gripping the foam and squeaking as you sit, and it rounds off the edges so the shape looks resolved. Skipping it is the difference between a seat that looks home made and one that does not.
Staple the wadding lightly to the underside, just enough to hold it. Do not pull it tight or you will flatten the dome you just built.
Cut your fabric with a generous margin, at least sixty millimetres beyond the seat edge all round. Lay it face down, centre the seat on top of it foam side down, and start stapling at the middle of the front edge. Then do the middle of the back edge, pulling firmly. Then the two sides. Working in opposing pairs keeps any pattern straight and the tension even.
From those four anchor points, work outwards towards the corners in small increments, alternating sides. On a round seat, gather the surplus into even pleats rather than trying to eliminate it. On a square seat, fold the corners like wrapping a parcel, trimming the bulk from inside the fold before the final staple.
Trim the excess fabric to about twenty millimetres from the staple line, then staple the bottoming cloth over the whole underside with the edges turned under. It takes five minutes and it is the detail that makes the work look finished.
Set the seat back on the frame, align it using your photograph, and start all the screws by hand before tightening any of them. Tighten in a diagonal pattern so the plate seats evenly.
Sit on it and check for movement. A seat that rocks slightly usually means one screw has missed its hole or the foam is trapped under the mounting plate. Loosen, clear the obstruction and refit rather than tightening harder.
Check your knee clearance too. If the new padding has raised the seat by forty millimetres, you may have gone from a comfortable gap under the worktop to a tight one. Two hundred and fifty to three hundred millimetres between seat top and worktop underside is the range to aim for.
Some stools have integrated seats, and some are simply not worth dismantling. A fitted cushion pad is the answer.
Make one by cutting foam to the seat shape, covering it as described above but stitching or stapling into a fabric envelope rather than onto a base, then adding fabric ties or a strip of hook and loop tape to the underside. Non slip matting under the pad keeps it in place on a smooth seat.
Alternatively, if an existing upholstered seat has simply collapsed, you can open the bottoming cloth, remove the tired foam and replace it with a new higher density piece before restapling the original cover. This preserves the factory shape and is far quicker than a full recover, though old fabric can tear when restretched, so work gently.
Kitchen seating takes more punishment than dining seating, so specify accordingly. Look for an upholstery weight fabric rather than a curtain or dress fabric, since lighter cloth will pill and thin along the front edge within months.
Faux leather and coated fabrics wipe clean and suit family kitchens. Woven fabrics in mid tones hide marks better than pale or very dark ones. Velvet looks handsome but shows pressure marks, which is worth knowing before you commit to it in a room where people sit down with wet hands.
If the stool frames themselves are past saving, padding will not rescue them, and it is worth comparing the cost of materials against a replacement. Our modern fabric bar stools UK sale range covers factory upholstered seats with tested foam densities, and our modern bar stools UK collection includes padded designs across a range of heights. For dining seating in the same scheme, our dining chairs UK sale options let you match materials across the room, and you can see the wider collection at Furniture in Fashion.
Twenty five millimetres is the minimum for a noticeable improvement over a hard seat, and fifty millimetres gives properly cushioned support. Remember that added thickness raises the seat, which reduces your clearance under the worktop.
High resilience foam at thirty five kilograms per cubic metre or above holds its shape under daily use. Lower density foam feels soft initially but flattens within months, particularly on the front edge where people take their weight when sitting down.
It makes a genuine difference. Wadding softens the edges, prevents the cover gripping and squeaking against bare foam, and gives the finished seat a rounded profile rather than a hard cornered one.
Yes, by making a fitted cushion pad with ties or hook and loop tape on the underside, used with non slip matting on smooth seats. It is less neat than a full recover but far quicker and fully reversible.
Eight or ten millimetre staples suit most seat bases in plywood or solid timber. Use the shorter size on thinner bases so the points do not push through the top face.
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