DIY Decoupage Chair Seats

How I gave some thrifted barstools a quick and affordable makeover with some paper and Mod Podge.

DIY Thrifted Bar Stool Makeover

I thrifted this lovely pair of rattan back bar stools a couple of months ago for $10 a piece (I linked an almost identical pair if you’re interested). I absolutely love rattan but have held back on filling my home with it so as not to jump on a trend bandwagon, so by the time I found these I felt like I could finally indulge my fantasy. They were in fine shape except for the dirty seat cushions.

I’ve reupholstered chair seats before, so I was eager to get to work replacing the old upholstery they came with. But when I took one of the stools apart, I found that to my dismay, the seat was glued in one piece, and I was not able to remove the fabric without ripping the seat to shreds. This also meant I wouldn’t be able to reupholster them.

After sitting on this problem for a couple of weeks, I found a solution that I’m pretty thrilled with. These DIY decoupage chair seats also ended up being a lot cheaper than hunting for the type of fabric that I would have wanted to use.

My helpful four year old assistant aiding in the demonstration of this diy decoupage process.

What I used:

Mod Podge matte sealer, glue and finish

Paper Source handmade paper (from their paper bar in store)

A rag

A large paintbrush

A small paintbrush

A flat edge tool

What is decoupage?

Decoupage, deriving from Middle French meaning “to cut out” is the craft technique of decorating with scraps of paper. Paper is cut out in shapes or strips, glued onto a surface, and then lacquered over the top. You can decoupage all different shapes and sizes of things, from small decorative objects like boxes to larger pieces of furniture.

Mod Podge is an all-in-one glue and lacquer which is easy to use. Basically you use it to glue the paper to the surface of your project piece, then then to seal over the top once it has been glued down.

How to decoupage chair seats

To start, I ripped the upholstery fabric and foam off of the seat cover, scraping any residual foam and glue off of the seat. Afterwards I gave the seat covers a light sanding and then washed with a damp rag. When you decoupage, it’s important to make sure the surface you’re going to be pasting onto is as smooth and dust free as possible.

As you can see, the upholstery fabric was wedged down into the side of the chair, so I wasn’t able to remove it cleanly.

I then cut a large piece of paper in generally the same size as the seat cover, leaving a bit of extra room all the way around. Often decoupage is done using shapes of paper (individual flowers, for instance), or strips of paper similar to paper mache, but I wanted the print I was using to be uninterrupted on the surface of the seat.

Next, I coated the seat of the chair with an even layer of Mod Podge.

I used an old paintbrush, a foam brush would work just as well here.

Now the next step was where I made a bit of a mistake, simply because of the type of paper I used.

The tutorials that I watched recommended wetting the your paper with water before adhering, either with a spray bottle or a damp rag. It relaxes the paper and makes it more pliable, which minimizes creasing and bubbling on your surface.

Fish print handmade paper from Paper Source.

I used a softer, grainier handmade paper, and it didn’t handle the additional moisture well. You can see that the seat underneath shows through a bit too much in some spots. I think for a sturdier paper this would not have been a problem. If you want to use a handmade paper, which I think has some of the prettier options, I’d recommend laying a flat white paper underneath first.

The water sprayed on the paper before gluing made the paper a bit too translucent, and the wood underneath shows through in spots.

I placed the paper down, in the direction that I wanted the pattern to go. Then I let the glue set for a few minutes.

Letting the Mod Podge dry for a few minutes before working to seal down the edges.

When the seat was getting a bit drier, I started to work on the edges. I took my small brush and applied more Mod Podge to the underside of the edges, and then carefully cut just enough extra paper to push down into the seams. My flat edge scraper came in handy here.

This part was tricky in places simply because of the nature of the projects— the fabric edges were bigger in spots, but it turned out fine.

Once the piece dried completely (which did not take long), I applied another coat to the top with my paintbrush. A foam brush would work just as well if not better here; I just used what I already had.

Looking forward to placing these in our freshly painted kitchen soon!

Conclusion

I am always a fan of a cheap and elegant solution to a problem. I love the look of them, and the project was not very difficult or time consuming. I absolutely love Paper Source’s sheet paper selection, and using paper instead of upholstery fabric was a really amazing budget friendly hack if you, like me, find yourself going down the rabbit hole of very costly upholstery fabric options. Success!