Brightening Things Up

by Kimberly Hickok

Over the weekend we had the house and the deck power washed. Then we pulled the deck furniture out of storage and set up the cabana. The upholstery on the furniture looked just plain tired.

Deck furniture upholstery project - DIY

Still in good shape but definitely a little blah.

I went to Marshalls and Pier1 to see if I could find new cushions. I had a devil of a time finding cushions that were the right size. I even ended up buying what I thought would work from Pier1 and had to return them.

Time to move on to Plan B. How hard could it be to re-cover the cushions. Surely I could do this myself, right? Ha! Let me just say that this wasn’t as easy a project as I thought it would be. First I had to pick the fabric. Not. Easy. I spent a good hour in Joann Fabrics trying to choose two complimentary fabrics for the project. $83 later, success.

Next I had to figure out the best approach to take to make the pillows. Should I rip the cushions apart and use the fabric as a pattern? Seemed like a good plan.

I quickly realized that I didn’t need to go through all that effort. So for the rest of the cushions and pillows I literally traced the shape of the cushion on the fabric, measured around the cushions for the contrasting gusset and stuffed the old cushions inside. Voila!

The original chair backs are tufted. I opted not to tuft these cushions and not to add a piped edge.

The original chair backs are tufted. I opted not to tuft these cushions or to add a piped edge.

Of course I see little puckers and imperfections but overall I’m pretty pleased with how the project turned out.

These lime green and blue oil lamps were the inspiration for the fabric color.

The colors also complement our deck dining chairs. The only thing I’m wrestling with now is the outdoor carpet. I think it’s neutral enough to work. Yup. I’ll leave it. All that’s missing is me and a Margarita.

DIY deck furniture upholstery project

The deck is officially ‘open’ and ready for warm weather.

Project details: 5.625 yards of the floral fabric at $9.99 a yard; 2 yards of the blue fabric for the gusset and small pillows at $9.99 a yard (plus an additional 75% discount for purchasing the end of the bolt). Total cost  $83.95. Total sew time – 8 hours.

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2 comments

Karen Paul April 26, 2014 - 9:51 am

Kim they look fabulous! Your space looks very inviting. :0)

Reply
Deck to Screened Porch May 15, 2015 - 9:41 pm

[…] not a proud person. I’m happy to make do until I have the money to take on a project. Last year I reupholstered the deck furniture. And we’ve been using one of those screened in cabanas to give us some shade and keep the […]

Reply

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