How to Reupholster a Foot Stool

Remove your base. Mine had screws holding the base to the seat, so I used a screwdriver to remove them and then put them to the side.

Use staple remover or similar tool to pry off any staples holding upholstery fabric to the seat.

Keep all your pieces so you can use them for size reference.

While your foot stool is in pieces, use this time to fix any issues with it. I gave my base a coat of spray paint to cover some chips. I also replaced the board of my seat with a sturdier wood as mine was cracked.

Use your old pieces as a template to cut out new pieces of upholstery fabric, cushion wrap, and cambric dust cover.

Tack your cushion wrap in place with a few staples so it doesn’t shift during assembly.

Trim any excess cushion wrap. (I was a little too liberal with my circle template, so I had a lot of extra fabric.)

Staple your fabric in place about 1 to 2″ away from the seat’s edge.

Pull the fabric tight and staple the fabric again opposite the circle from where you first stapled.

Pull the fabric tight and staple again at what would be 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock to your first 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock staples.

Staple again halfway between each staple, still pulling the fabric tightly.

Go around the whole seat pulling your fabric securely to make sure there’s no wrinkles or bunching. Staple down the fabric.

You may have to put in more staples than you think. You also may need to remove some of your initial staples to get the fabric lying as flat as you want. That’s totally normal.

Once you finish stapling, trim back the upholstery fabric.

Staple your dust cover in place. Staple at opposite sides, but don’t pull very hard as the fabric is much more fragile.

Put everything back together.