Chair Restoration: Re-tying Springs/Upholstery Webbing

May 8

Well, one thing is for sure, this post will not be filled with beautiful images of my recent chair restoration. Instead, you'll be treated to various views of the underside of an old chair. Lucky you.

But seriously, old chairs with springs stuck out the bottom should not be feared, this project was actually easier than I thought it would be.

Here's how she looked when I decided to tackle this project.

I started by removing all the old webbing, which some people say you can salvage, but in this case, it just wasn't meant to be.

Step 1: Secure the string. Start with the end of the string facing the center of the chair, nail or staple to the frame. Double over and staple/nail again to ensure a stable string.

{I used a heavy duty jute twine and a plain old staple gun}

Step 2: Secure the string to the spring. Pulling the string tight, loop around the closest side of the spring, making sure to press the spring as tightly as possible. Then loop around the further end of the same spring. Press the second spring to the same general height and loop around the right side and then left. Trying to keep the tension of the springs as even as possible. Secure the string on the chair frame, as in Step 1. Repeat for each row of springs.

Step 3: Repeat Step 2, to form a grid over the springs. In other words, if step 2 is horizontal, step 3 will be vertical. Make sure to connect your vertical strings in the center of the spring to the horizontal strings.

Step 4: Continue in this fashion until each spring has been fully secured. I chose to go with just four ties, as show above, because these chairs are VERY occasional chairs. If your chair will receive a lot of use, I'd recommend going with at least 6 ties. You can see the original string in this shot for reference.

Step 5: Secure your upholstery webbing to the chair frame as in step 1.

Step 6: Pulling the webbing as tight as possible, cover one horizontal row of springs at a time, securing to the opposite side of the chair frame.

Step 7: Add the vertical strips of webbing in a basket formation.

{you can go one step further and hand stitch the springs to the webbing}

And you're done. See, that wasn't so bad, right? Ok, maybe it was a bit involved but it's worth it to salvage a chair, wouldn't you say?

So, here she is.

Clearly, you can see the webbing from the front.

Mr. DD said it should of been tighter, but you can literally bounce a quarter off these springs as is. I think it's just the look of this chair, at least that's what I am telling myself. Kind of reminiscent of the new deconstructed look they have going on at Restoration Hardware these days.