Yes: Vintage dinette chairs can be reupholstered successfully. The seats of Laurie’s chair were in fine shape, but the original backs had seen better days. She found pink and gray marine-grade vinyl online and then, someone locally who reupholstered them for just a very reasonable price — including supplying and adding the upholstery tacks.
Laurie writes:
Hi,I actually took the chairs — just the backs — to a fabric upholsteror in Rochester, N.Y. She did them for just $25 chair!!! They came out BEAUTIFUL! I ordered the material online myself and saved even more… It is marine grade vinyl and matched PERFECTLY!Sincerely,Laurie
Hey, $25 per chair sounds like a fantastic price to me.
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I also have several stories on where to buy retro style vinyl and even real Naugahyde — these are all filed in my category –>Remodeling Basics / Furniture.