Retro Renovation

Remodel & decorate in Mid Century Style

Home / Decorating Resources / furniture

Melissa DIY refinishes and reupholsters her 1950s dinette and Cosco high chair: Fabulous!

pam kueber - Updated: November 10, 2020

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

1950s dinette cleaned up and reupholstered -- DIY

“Before”

Remember this recent story about how to reupholster vintage dinette chairs affordably? Well, reader Melissa used the video shown to tackle doing the upholstery herself — both on the dinette chairs and a vintage Cosco high chair she found for $3.12. Melissa also used steel wool to polish the chrome, and achieved what looks to be perfect results. Oh my goodness — her DIY project turned out beautifully — you go, girl! Read on for Melissa’s story of triumph…

Mel writes:

melissa
Very impressive job, Mel!

Hello!

I’m always checking out your website, because I love retro and mid century modern style. I know your always putting people’s projected on your site. And I thought you might like to put mine up 🙂

I have refinished a 1950’s table and chairs as well as a high chair. I bought the table and chairs off craigslist about two years ago for about a $100… I bought the fabric for about $50… and then the steel wooling started. I thought it was going to be much harder than it actually was, and I was pretty worried it was not going to turn out well. But I surprised myself. and everything turned out better than I could have ever imagined.

vintage cosco high chair reupholstered
Yes, who among us has not purchased and refinished a vintage Cosco high chair — before we actually had a baby for it?

Then a few weeks ago I spotted a retro high chair at the thrift store for $3.12. I thought to myself well I don’t have any kids, and that would be stupid for me to buy. But I could just couldn’t resist it for only $3.12. So I thought, well, I could refinish it and sell it. But now that I have it done and it looks so good, I feel like I need to save it for when I have a child lol.

I asked Melissa whether she used the video I featured on my site, and also quizzed her on where she got the supplies. She said:

I did use her video. But I did not know it was on your site, I just googled “reupholster retro chairs” and eventually found that video. I bought the fabric from Beatrice, the lady in the video. I had originally emailed her to find out where I could buy that type of vinyl, because the only kind I was finding was the kind with backing or non plyable. Then she just told me I could buy it from her. So I did 🙂 I also got the white piping-piece from her. I had my mom help me with them, I thought four hands would be better than two. And we did it in the middle of the hot summer on my front porch with the heater on us — lol it was HOT.

Mel

Thank you, Mel, for this inspiration. Of course, I asked Mel what else she had going on in her house. More to come maybe! 🙂

Reader Interactions

Comments are closed. 

66 comments

Comments

  1. gavin hastings says

    Beautiful!
    But I have one suggestion and I am surprised no one else has said this:

    Now that you have the metal clean-ditch the steel wool. Too abrasive….and it will scratch up that chrome plating in no time.

    I would just damp wipe it clean, and every couple of months wash it with a thin paste of Bon Ami or Barkeepers Friend and water; buff dry. Good for another 50 years!

    Great job.

  3. Jamie Farone says

    Great Job!!! I just recently did the same thing with my cocktail diner room’s set! I too found a vintage cosco high chair exactly the same as the one you have and I covered it in a red glitter vinyl. I dont have children yet either but my sister inlaw is expecting in a few months and my husband and I are trying to plan a family so dont feel bad! Im always 5 steps ahead of things too! lol. I figured, that Im planning to have kids soon and theres my familys children that can benefit from the high chair.. you never know who may stop by and need a place for the baby! My dinette set is very similar. I used red and black and trimmed it in leopard print. I got 4 chairs and a table for 40.00. it was sooo beat up. it sat in someones barn for over 30 years. I got all the rust and such off and reupholstered it and did the furniture tacks and pretty much gutted everything and started from scratch! I get caught up in projects by myself and like to usually keep it that way. But from 4:30am on a sunday morning til about 11pm sunday night, I finished it all.. ofcourse with food and potty breaks here and there. But seriously!! fantastic Job!! us DIY’ers should form together and run a business! these kind of projects are what keeps me going day in and day out! Im so happy for you.. also anyone out there who is also in the midst of doing this kind of project, ive also found that the brand chemical “CLR” works wonders with just a scotch green scrubby sponge to remove rust.. I tried the steel wool and it scratched the chrome a bit.. so this was more effective for me and was alot quicker..
    Have a great day everyone!

  4. Amy Dietz says

    Beautiful job! I love it all, especially the high chair. They don’t make them like that any more, trust me.

  6. Jill says

    Gorgeous!!! I am so in love with that dinette set and hight chair! I am trolling Craigs List for a table just like this 🙂 Way to go Melissa!

    RE: the high chair – I wouldn’t have been able to pass it up either, it is so darling! And to add my 2 cents about the safety issue – [pam edited commentary on safety issues — no personal advice, folks — consult with an expert.] Heck, it’s cute just for decorative purposes too 🙂

  7. Karen Morgan says

    I have that high chair hanging in my garage. Sad to say, but it was mine when I was a baby. It is missing it’s tray and foot-rest, though. Any idea if you can get replacements for those? This one looks so good that it makes me want to redo mine!

  10. Susan Crawford says

    I currently have a table very close to that one – except the sides are solid chrome, it doesn’t have the red strip. We had the yellow one when I was growing up, and my daughter has one like it that is solid red! Does anyone know who the manufacturer was? And we had a high chair just like that for my darling baby brother. Love it! 🙂

    • TappanTrailerTami says

      Hi Susan,

      Like Pam said, Cosco made lots of tables, chairs, high chairs, kitchen roll around utility carts, and also lots of the high step stools/chairs that had the flip out steps.

      Another big manufacturer of the dinette sets was Virtue Brothers in California. I had one that was yellow cracked ice, with the wide solid chrome band, 6 chairs, and two leaves. Solidly built! Alas, I gave the set to my mom, and went to a mcm oak dining set, more in keeping with the room it is in.

      • Susan Crawford says

        Thanks for the info…yes, the “cracked-ice” tops are the look I love in those old tables.