Reupholstering a swivel bar stool means separating the seat from the swivel plate, recovering the seat pad off the stool, then refitting it. The swivel mechanism itself stays untouched. Unscrew the plate from the underside of the seat, note exactly how the screws were positioned, recover the pad with new foam and fabric, then reattach the plate to the original holes.
The swivel adds one complication over a fixed stool: everything you staple to the underside of the seat has to leave the mounting plate able to sit flat. Bulk in the wrong place makes the seat sit at a slight angle, and on a swivel that shows up as a wobble every time the seat turns.
A swivel stool has three separable elements. There is the seat pad, usually a plywood or MDF board with foam and fabric over it. There is the swivel plate, a metal plate with a bearing race that allows rotation. And there is the base, which may be a fixed frame or a gas lift column.
You only need to remove the first from the second. Resist the temptation to strip the whole stool down, because the swivel plate and base connection is often a friction fit that is easier to leave alone than to reassemble.
Turn the stool over and look carefully. Four to six screws typically pass up through the swivel plate into the seat board. Some designs place a timber spacer block between the plate and the board. If yours has one, keep it and note its orientation.
Support the stool so it cannot roll or tip. Undo the screws holding the plate to the seat board, working in a diagonal sequence so the pad releases evenly rather than binding on the last screw.
Photograph the underside before you separate anything. On a swivel stool the plate is often not centred exactly, and it can sit slightly forward of the seat centre to balance a backrest. Getting that position wrong on reassembly changes how the stool feels considerably.
Put the screws in a labelled container. Swivel plate screws are frequently a specific length chosen so they bite into the seat board without breaking through the top surface. Substituting longer screws is a common and easily avoided mistake.
Work around the underside prising staples out with a screwdriver and pliers. Take your time near the edge of the board, since plywood edges chip easily and a chipped edge shows as an irregularity under new fabric.
Keep the old cover intact if you can. Laid flat, it becomes an accurate cutting template, and it records how the original corners were folded. On a shaped seat with a scooped front or a waterfall edge, that reference is genuinely useful.
Inspect the board once it is bare. Look for splitting around the screw holes, which is the usual failure point on a swivel stool because the rotation puts a small twisting force on each fixing. If a hole has torn out, fill it with a glued hardwood dowel, let it cure, and drill a fresh pilot hole rather than relying on a longer screw.
Swivel stools tend to be used for perching and turning rather than settled sitting, which concentrates load in the centre of the seat. High density foam holds its shape under that pattern of use far better than the softer grades sold for scatter cushions.
Cut the foam using the board as a template, staying just inside your marked line. Foam that matches the board exactly will bulge over the edge once the fabric pulls it down.
Add polyester wadding cut around 5cm larger than the foam, wrapped down over the foam edge. This softens the transition at the rim and stops the foam edge reading as a hard line through the fabric, which is particularly noticeable on a round swivel seat viewed from any angle as it turns.
Measure over the padded seat and down to the underside on both axes, then add 8cm all round. Cut generously: trimming excess is easy, adding fabric is not.
Because a swivel seat is seen from every direction, pattern placement matters more than on a fixed stool. A directional pattern that looks right from the front will be sideways when the seat turns ninety degrees. For that reason, non directional weaves, plains and textures are the easier choice on swivel stools. If you do use a pattern, centre it carefully and accept that it will be viewed from all sides.
Velvet needs the same consideration. Establish the pile direction and keep it consistent across every stool in the set, running from back to front on each seat.
Staple in the same order as any seat pad: centre front, centre back, centre left, centre right, then outwards in alternating pairs. Keep the staple line as close to the outer edge of the board as you can manage without missing timber. This is where swivel stools differ from fixed ones, and it matters for the next step.
Before you finish stapling, mark the footprint of the swivel plate on the underside of the board with a pencil. Every staple and every fold of fabric needs to sit outside that footprint.
If fabric bulk ends up under the plate, the plate cannot sit flat. On a fixed stool that would go unnoticed. On a swivel, an out of flat plate produces a slight rocking motion as the seat rotates, and it puts uneven load on the bearing race.
Once stapled, trim the surplus fabric back to around 2cm from the staple line, and trim it flush where it approaches the plate footprint. Then locate the original screw holes, piercing the fabric with an awl rather than cutting an opening.
Sit the plate in position using your photograph as a reference, and check the alignment before driving any screws. Start all screws by hand a few turns, then tighten in a diagonal sequence.
Turn the stool upright and rotate the seat slowly through several full turns. It should feel smooth and even, with no rise and fall. If you detect a slight rock, the plate is probably sitting on fabric bulk. Loosen it, trim the offending area, and refit.
Then sit on it and turn. Weight changes how a marginal fit behaves, and a fault that is barely detectable unloaded becomes obvious under load.
Recovering solves tired fabric and flattened foam. It does not address a worn swivel bearing, a failing gas lift or a base that flexes. If the seat grinds or catches as it turns, the bearing race is worn, and that is not something a new cover improves.
Be realistic about a set as well. Recovering one stool is a pleasant afternoon. Recovering six, matching the tension and pattern placement across all of them, is a substantial job. Comparing the cost of fabric and foam for a full set against our modern fabric bar stools UK sale range is worth doing before you buy materials.
If the swivel action is what has failed rather than the upholstery, our gas lift bar stools UK sale selection covers swivel designs with fresh mechanisms, and the modern leather bar stools UK range is the practical option if wipeable seating suits your kitchen better. You will find the full selection at Furniture in Fashion, with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes.
Reassembly is where a good recovering job can still go wrong. Set the seat upside down on your bench, place the swivel plate onto it, and line the plate up with your photograph and the original screw positions before driving anything. If a spacer block sat between the plate and the board, it goes back in the same orientation.
Start every screw by hand until it catches its original thread, then tighten in a diagonal sequence rather than working around the plate in order. Diagonal tightening pulls the plate down evenly and stops the board from being drawn out of flat. Stop as soon as each screw is firm, because overtightening into plywood strips the hole and you will be back to drilling and dowelling.
If the plate will not sit flush, do not force it. Something is under it: a proud staple, a fold of fabric that has crept inwards, or a ridge of wadding. Lift the plate, trim or restaple the offending area, and try again. Two minutes here saves a stool that rocks quietly for years.
Sets bring their own considerations. Keep the fixings for each stool in a separate labelled bag, because screw lengths often vary slightly between stools even within a matching set, and a longer screw driven into a thinner board will break through the foam.
Cut all your foam and fabric from templates rather than measuring each seat individually, and keep the fabric pile or pattern running in the same direction across every stool. On swivel seats this is more noticeable than on fixed stools, since the seats rotate and the pile direction will be compared from every angle as people turn.
Finish one stool completely before starting the next. It gives you a reference to hold the second against, and any small adjustment you worked out on the first can then be repeated deliberately rather than rediscovered.
Do I need to dismantle the swivel mechanism to recover the seat?
No. Remove only the screws joining the swivel plate to the seat board. The plate and base connection can stay assembled.
Why does my seat wobble after reupholstering?
Almost always fabric bulk trapped under the swivel plate. Loosen the plate, trim the fabric back within its footprint, and refit so the plate sits flat on the board.
Can I use a patterned fabric on a swivel stool?
You can, but remember the seat is viewed from every angle as it turns. Plains, textures and non directional weaves are the more forgiving choice.
What do I do if the screw holes have torn out?
Glue a hardwood dowel into the damaged hole, let it cure fully, then drill a fresh pilot hole. Using longer screws instead risks breaking through the seat surface.
How firm should the foam be?
Use high density foam. Swivel stools take concentrated central load from perching and turning, and softer foam grades flatten quickly under that use.
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