Home » DIY » Furniture makeovers » Modernizing an Old Cane-back Chair with Tufting

Modernizing an Old Cane-back Chair with Tufting

ByJennifer
41 Comments

I picked up a set of 3 of these old caned chair’s for $40. I totally scored a deal!  I loved the style, but the caning was so dried out, when I tossed the chairs in the back of my van, they cracked all over. I decided it would be easier to make it an upholstered piece instead of trying to re-cane it. Modernizing an old cane back chair with tufting is a great way to save those chair backs that you don’t want to re-cane.

Side-by-side comparison of a chair before and after reupholstering; the left shows a brown cane chair with patterned seat, while the right highlights modernizing an old cane back chair with tufting, fresh fabric, and white paint.


To give an old cane back chair a makeover, start by painting the chair frame first.

 

A white, partially painted wooden chair missing its seat sits on a cluttered surface with paint supplies and tools around it—perfect for modernizing an old cane back chair with tufting.

I love the look of caning, but it can be expensive to do a set of chairs. If you have rattan caning left over, you can try replacing the glass with it in a cabinet door, making a caned vase, or even  giving an old  headboard a makeover. I first took the seat off and painted the frame, and recovered the bottom seat. You can see a tutorial from a few years ago on how to do that here.
A hand lifts a piece of off-white fabric, revealing white padding and a curved base on a wooden floor—modernizing an old cane back chair with tufting.
For the top caned part, I used quilt batting to stuff the back which I laid on top before I stapled it to the front. All. The way. Around. I think I went through about 400 staples. After stapling use a button to create a tuft. You’ll pull the button thread through the back and secure it by knotting behind the caning. Then add more batting to the back side and staple the backing fabric on the chair.
White fabric with visible hand-stitched basting along the edge, lying on a wooden surface next to the handle of a black tool—perfect for modernizing an old cane back chair with tufting.
I then hot glued on trim to cover the staples.
White wooden chair with a fabric-upholstered, tufted backrest and a floral-patterned cushioned seat, perfect for modernizing an old cane back chair with style, placed on a wooden floor.
 When I did the top I used plain linen. I thought it might look busy to do both the upper and lower the same pattern.
 I actually really like contrast of the top and bottom.
Close-up of a beige, square cushion with a single central button and decorative trim, perfect for modernizing an old cane back chair with tufting; placed in front of a dark piece of furniture.
The tufted  vintage button added a pretty touch to the front side of the upholstered cane back chair.
Close-up of a beige fabric surface with a single round decorative button tufted into it, perfect for modernizing an old cane back chair with tufting.
A single chair like this is perfect for a desk chair or just to have around when you need an extra pretty seat.
White wooden chair with a fabric-upholstered, tufted backrest and a floral-patterned cushioned seat, perfect for modernizing an old cane back chair with style, placed on a wooden floor.
Since there were three chairs and not 4, I need to decide if I am going to do the other two chairs the same way, or if I want to mix it up a little. 🙂
The image shows the word "Jen" written in a black, cursive script on a white background

If you are reading this post at any other sites or blogs besides Jenniferrizzo.com, your rss feed,e-mail or in your reader this is stolen content.

*This was posted Via Jennifer Rizzo. com

41 Comments

  10. Wow Jen that chair is gorgeous!! What a transformation! Congratulations on taking a bigger space!I am now taking on a partner to help with my rent.Things are starting to look better 🙂
    xx
    Anne

  16. Wow Jennifer the chairs are coming out so beautiful. What a beautiful choice of fabrics too. They really look great. I need to get down to Naperville and check out your space soon.
    Kris

  18. Jennifer, great idea and I love it. I also have old cain/french chairs and the cain part is very tired….my creative juices are flowing from this wonderful post. Your end result….beautiul. Blessings, Karen from A Cape Cod Nest.

  29. The chair turned out beautifully! Love the fabric especially since I’m using it for our bedroom curtains, a lovely fabric. so on the back of the chair do you still see the cane painted white. Lovely

  30. Jen!!!!! This is so amazing! I love it! I have seen so many chairs at yard sales that would be perfect for this! Thanks for inspiring me today!

    blessings,
    karianne

  32. This is so pretty.. how did you change the wood color?? I have a favorite chair of my mom’s I need to refinish and it has the dark old wood. Thanks for any help! xx

  33. Hello, I am a new follower, spotted your chair on Thistlewood Farm. It turned out beautiful and has really inspired me to rethink my own project! I just bought 6 cane back chairs for $75! The cane is in great condition, but I’m really liking this look with the padded back. My question is for the button tufting, how did you finish that on the back side? Did you pull it through the cane and paint the thread to match the chair? My chairs are long straight back, so not sure if I should do two tufts or 4 or maybe even 6 with 3 pairs of two?

  36. my cane back needs replaced on at least 2 chairs as it dried out and split, any suggestions, recaning is too time consuming.

  37. Excellent!!! I will be transforming my entire dining set now. This is just what I was looking for to update my dining set. Thank you!!!

  38. Hi Jennifer, I see there have been several requests for a back pic! I would love to see what you did for the back tufting and covering… 🙂

    1. Hi Nicole. I don’t think I took a picture of the back and the chair has already sold. 🙂

Comments are closed.