Getting the right chairs at home can be quite tricky. This is especially true of getting chairs that are the right height. The dining room chairs for example can be too high for the table and you have to lean over the table too much. Or they could be too low and need to be raised. So how would you make the chairs taller?
When trying to make chairs taller you need to think both in terms of the legs and the seats. You can replace the legs, add casters, use wooden raisers, or add plastic pads. You could also place filled cushions or reupholster the seats. Leg shims and leg extenders are also ideal in some situations although they don’t work for all chairs.
Of course, you have to take into account the style of the chair you’re trying to make taller and get all four legs at the same height by the end of the job. Read more to find out the different ways you can make chairs taller.
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Replace Chair Legs
The most obvious solution to having chairs that are just too low for comfort is to replace the legs. But just because it’s an obvious solution, it doesn’t mean it’s the easiest. You have to take into consideration the style of the chair, the materials, and the colors when choosing the new legs. Although you can always repaint the chair to make the legs match the rest of the chair.
But the style and material can be harder to match. An ornate chair, for example, would require legs with some flair and flashy style as well. And the opposite is true. Also, make sure the new legs can handle the weight of the chair. On the plus side, you don’t have to worry about getting one leg taller than the other three.
Use Filled Cushions
If you don’t have the time, skills, or patience to change the legs of the chairs, you can opt for a much easier and less time-intensive solution and just use filled cushions on the chairs. No tools are needed and you don’t have to worry about matching colors or styles. Seat cushions are portable which means you can remove them, get them cleaned up, then place them back.
The challenge here is not just to get cushions that fit the theme and style of the room, but they have to be comfortable as well. Most seat cushions are made of foam which tends to sag and goes flat over time. This requires buying new cushions to replace the old ones. How often you have to replace them depends on how often you use the seat cushions.
Add Casters
Casters are wheels that you can install at the end of the chair legs to give them more height. Casters also give the chairs mobility. You can wheel the dining room chair around the same way you move your desk chair. But since dining room chairs are heavier in general than other chairs, then the casters you buy have to be able to accommodate the extra weight.
Chairs with casters can be a little problematic especially when you don’t want the chairs to move. However, many casters have stoppers that act as breaks that prevent the wheels from moving. Additionally, casters come in different sizes and colors so they’re easy to match with the chairs and the other furniture in the room.
Use Wooden Raisers
Wooden raisers are just what you’d expect them to be. They are pieces of wood that you stick to the bottom of the chair legs to increase their height. They’re a bit technical and fixing them to the legs can be a little tricky. First, you need to buy them at the store, online, or have them custom-made by a carpenter. Make sure they’re the right height and size for the chairs.
Then you can either drill a hole in them and screw them to the end of the legs or you can glue them. Glue is the easiest option but it’s a permanent one. If you make a mistake and need to readjust the wooden raiser, you’ll have to break the glue which can render the raiser unusable. Screwing the raisers into the legs is a better solution since you can replace them easily.
Use Plastic Pads
Plastic pads are similar to wooden raisers. They increase the height of the chair on a permanent basis and they also require either gluing or screwing into the legs. However, plastic pads are made of gelled plastic and work both on wooden as well as metal chair legs. They are quite handy and affordable. And they don’t take a lot of work to fix them to the chairs.
The main advantage plastic pads have over wooden raisers is that they come in a wide variety of styles, heights, and colors. You won’t have trouble finding the right pads to fit the chairs and the room. Moreover, you can use them to add more style to otherwise drab-looking chairs.
Use Leg Extenders
Leg extenders are another permanent solution to make chairs taller. The main difference between leg extenders and plastic pads and wooden raisers is that the leg extenders are made of different materials including marble, metal, plastic, and wood. Not only that, but they also come pre-equipped with built-in screws to fix them into the legs without a hassle.
Depending on the material you use, leg extenders might not just make the chair taller but also heavier. Marble and metal leg extenders add considerable weight to the chairs which might make them less portable.
Use Shims
Shims are thick wedges of wood, plastic, or metal that you can use to prop a chair or a wobbly table. They don’t need glue or screws and you just slide them under the legs and make sure they won’t slide out on their own. Shims are quite easy to use and come in different heights, colors, and materials. But I recommend avoiding metal shims to protect the floor.
The main drawback of shims is that they’re not a permanent solution. They might work with chairs that you don’t have to move around such as the chairs in the living room. If you move the chair, you’ll have to readjust the shim to fit in place.
Reupholster The Seats
If you don’t like the idea of messing around with the legs of chairs and still want a permanent solution to make chairs taller, you can have the seats reupholstered. Old chairs tend to sag and reupholstering them will give them extra inches of height. The main advantage of this solution is that you don’t have to do anything yourself.
But it’s a costly solution. Between the materials and the labor fees, you’ll end up paying more than if you just bought a few shims or leg extenders.
Change Screw-in Legs
If you’re lucky, or prudent, enough to have bought chairs with screw-in legs, then making the chair taller is quite easy. All you have to do is go back to the furniture store where you bought the chairs and look for taller legs. Remove the short legs by unscrewing them from the chair seat and screwing in the new ones.
Buying whole new legs for the chair can be quite expensive. Moreover, you have limited options in terms of style and height.
Conclusion
To make your low chairs taller, you can use easy solutions such as plastic pads, filled cushions, or shims. If you want a more permanent solution then you can use leg extenders, reupholster the seats, or replace the legs with taller ones.