Nesting Part 2: Getting Crafty

In my last post I mentioned I bought a high chair off of Ebay, but what I didn't say was it's a vintage Cosco chrome high chair!.Wondering why I went with this highchair? First of all I love the style and that there is no plastic whatsoever on it, which makes me very happy! Secondly, it's much smaller than most high chairs on the market right now, which is great for our small house. Thirdly, it's easily customizable with new fabric or vinyl, which is something I took advantage of. And finally, I paid $22.51 for it and $18.00 for shipping, not too bad I'd say! I think it might have been less expensive than other vintage Cosco chairs, because it was covered in a weird creepy clown print, but not a problem when you plan on recovering it! 

To recover the seat all you have to do is find a fabric or vinyl you want to cover it in. You'll need about 3/4 of a yard of 44" wide fabric. There are four screws on the seat back of the high chair (as seen in the photo), which holds the back of the chair on. Take a Phillips screwdriver and remove the four screws. Pull off the part with the cover. You can remove the old vinyl easily, because it is not attached or glued in.  You'll want to use the old vinyl for a pattern to cut out the fabric you are using. Cut the fabric according to the pattern, but leaving half an inch to an inch of extra fabric around the pattern. There is padding on the seat already, but you could remove the padding and replace it . I used the same padding, because it was clean and I didn't really want to bother with it! I will say I have removed the padding from a vintage Cosco chair before and it was a total mess. You'll need a garbage bag close by and maybe a face mask, because it separates and gets all over. The next thing you'll want to center the fabric over the padding and pull it tightly around the seat back. I used tape to hold the fabric down, I am sure there are other things you could use that would look better, but no one will see it! After the fabric is secure on the seat back place it back on the chair and screw back in.

Next you'll turn over the chair and take the bottom seat apart. This is a little bit more tricky, because there are ten tabs (see photo) you'll need to pull back with either pliers and/or a Flat Head screwdriver. Take off the seat cover and repeat the same steps as done with the seat back. Replace the seat cover after cover is secure and fold tabs back down.

If you are using fabric you may want to cover the fabric with clear vinyl or use Scotchguard fabric protector, so it will not get stained when your child uses it. I am planning on using the fabric protector, but I still might go back and cover it with clear vinyl. I have time to decide and it's so easy to take off the covers and add the clear vinyl later. 

Here is what our high chair looks like now. I'm so happy with how it turned out!