Office Chair Reupholstery

Thought I'll write a post after reading my friend Beverly's note on being green. I did this project last summer, right about a year ago. It wasn't a simple green project but gave me a lot of satisfaction after it was completed. Of course, there are those who would question why I don't go out and get a new chair, my husband included. But there is something special about making things with your hands and turning potential trash into something useful. The experience is something that money cannot buy.

I love the website P.S. I made this. The creator really inspires me to look around and see what can be repurposed. I learned to do the upholstery from Apartment Therapy and a few other websites.

It's pretty simple. I went out to Walmart to get a heavy duty staple gun, which is very handy for home and decoration projects, always good to have one handy. For the fabric, I went to Ikea and picked out a fabric that I liked for less than $10. The whole project probably cost me around $20 while a new chair would have been a few times that price, not to mention that it's probably not going to fit in the car and I'll have to get it delivered.

So I simply unscrew the parts, taking care not to lose any screws or small parts. One tip is to stick the screws on a piece of tape. Then I cut the fabric, ensuring it's big enough the cover the original fabric. The next step is to start stapling with the staple gun and make sure the plastic parts cover the edge of the fabric when I assemble it back. Lastly, simply screw the parts back together and there's a brand new customized chair!

What Can You Do With a Kashi Snack Box?

I picked up a box of Kashi TLC Fire Roasted Veggie Crackers to beat those late afternoon hunger pangs in the office. Those were absolutely delicious but as usual I find it a pity that the good sturdy packaging was going to go to waste.  

While recycling is a great way to save the box from the landfill, I always remember from a talk that the three R’s should be practiced in this sequence – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Since I couldn’t reduce it, I decided to look for a way to reuse it before it finally ends up in the recycle bin at the end of its lifecycle.

My office drawer was in a mess and one of the things I love to do with old boxes is to make drawer organizers out of them. This is a real simple project. All I do is to cut the box across so it’s now two boxes with an open top. Takes less than five minutes and my pens and little trinkets are now tucked away neatly in these little organizers.