Do you ever find yourself wishing you could make your chairs taller? Whether you’d like them taller for style or functionality, you’ll be glad to know that there are many ways you could add inches to your chairs without breaking the bank.
Here are 9 ways to make your chairs taller:
- Use chair raisers
- Use plastic pads
- Use leg extenders
- Use chair cushions
- Reupholster the seats
- Install casters to the chairs
- Replace screw-in legs with taller legs
- Placement of long gas lift cylinders
- Get it done by a professional
Keep reading through the article, which will serve as your helpful guide to making your chairs taller. If you’re looking for DIY tips on adding more height to your chairs, this is the place to look.
1. Use Chair Raisers
Chair raisers serve to do as their name implies – raise chairs. They are designed with indentations to accommodate the legs of your chairs. Fitting them to the bottom of your chair’s legs elevates the seat of your chair, depending on the length of chair raisers you used.
There are two types of chair raises to choose from:
- Interconnected chair raisers – Interconnected chair raisers are connected by a frame that keeps them more stable.
- Single chair raisers – Single chair raisers are individually fitted to the legs of chairs to add height.
The best chair raiser to try will depend on whether you are going for style or functionality. Interconnected chair raisers tend to be the less desirable choice if you’re going for a minimalistic look. Interconnected chair raisers are pretty bulky and don’t fit the bill if the goal is to have stylish taller chairs.
Here are the pros and cons of both interconnected and single chair raisers:
| Chair Raiser Type | Pros | Cons |
| Interconnected Chair Raiser | More stable than single chair raisers. | More expensive.Bulkier.Can be quite unsightly. |
| Single Chair Raisers | Inexpensive.More inconspicuous than the interconnected chair raisers. | Can be more wobbly.May cause unevenness. |
Here’s how to integrate your single chair raisers to your chairs:
- Pick the right size and length for your chair raisers.
- Firmly fit them to the legs of your chairs.
- Check for unevenness and wobbliness.
- Paint them to match the color of your chair for a seamless look.
If chair raisers don’t do it for you, don’t worry, there are more options to consider.
Wooden Chair Raisers vs. Regular Chair Raisers
Let me start by saying if you like your chairs looking elegant, wooden chair raisers aren’t for you. Wooden chair raisers are an alternative to regular chair raisers, which are usually made of either plastic or rubber.
Wooden chair raisers are usually wooden blocks without the indentations found in regular chair raisers. For this reason, they’re considered less secure as they’re merely glued on. Since they are literally wooden blocks, they can look chunky and awkward on the bottom of your chair’s legs.
Wooden chair raisers are affordable and come in different sizes and heights. This is an alternative for chairs with no decorative purpose in the household. When aesthetics are not the order of the day, wooden chair raisers can get the job done.
Here are the pros and cons of regular chair raisers versus wooden chair raisers:
| Type of Chair Raiser | Pros | Cons |
| Interconnected/Single | Have indentations that enable a better fit and more stability. | Interconnected chair raisers are more expensive. |
| Wooden Block | More affordable. | Less secure as wooden raisers are simply glued on. |
2. Use Plastic Pads
Much like the chair raisers already mentioned, plastic pads or cups are fitted or glued to the leg chairs to provide more height. These gelled plastic extenders come in different shapes, designs, and sizes.
Plastic pads are ideal for chairs with metal legs as they protect your flooring from scrapes. They also help reduce unnecessary noise when moving the chair.
3. Use Leg Extenders
Furniture leg extenders are an excellent option for adding height to your chairs. They are the chair raiser’s more attractive sisters, and they come in metal, wooden, plastic, and marble.
Leg extenders are also found in different shapes and sizes. They’re easily screwed to the bottom of your chair’s legs by turning in a clockwise motion until they are fully locked in place.
4. Use Chair Cushions
Chair cushions add height to your chairs and provide additional comfort. If you need your chairs to be a little taller because you’re on the petite side, this is an excellent alternative to chair raisers. Dining chair cushions usually come with ties so you can secure the cushion to the seat and keep it from slipping off every so often.
5. Reupholster the Seats
Seats can begin to sag after years of use. This takes away from the height of the chair. To give new life to your chairs and restore the height lost, reupholstering the seats is the way to go. You can either do it yourself or hire a professional to do it for you.
Reupholstering the seats will not only give your chairs the makeover it needs, but it can also make for more comfortable sitting.
If you so choose to reupholster your seats yourself, here’s a step-by-step guide on the process:
- Detach the seat and remove the stapler pins at the bottom. When this is done, you can remove the old foam.
- Remove old webbing straps if they’re torn. Torn webbing straps will need to be replaced.
- If the webbing straps are sagging, tighten them. Sagging webbing straps can take away from the height of a chair.
- Add an extra foam layer to the webbing. The proper foam thickness should fit nicely with the webbing and add height to your seat.
- When the foam layer is in place, use staple pins to secure them. Apply as many staple pins as you need.
- Place the upholstery seat cover and secure it with staple pins. This keeps the upholstery in place.
- Repeat the process with every chair. Take care to give all the chairs the same foam thickness to ensure uniformity.
If DIY is not your forte, you can get this done by a professional for a more consistent look.
6. Install Casters to the Chairs
On chairs that are more functional than decorative, you can add casters that will add height and mobility. Casters have different weight-bearing capacities, so make sure that the casters you get are made to hold under the weight of the chair even when it’s occupied.
Casters that have locks are also recommended, although you only really need one or two casters to have locks. If the casters are sold by set, the chances are only one or two are lockable because you don’t need all four to be lockable.
7. Replace Screw-In Legs With Taller Legs
Being as we exist in the new age of DIY, many modern chairs have screw-in legs that are easily replaceable. After a quick trip to the hardware or home improvement store, you can have instant taller chairs.
Be sure you leave the store with identical chair legs. Also, bear in mind that you’ll need to be sure that the legs are even and safely secured once you fasten them. If you don’t feel confident in your DIY skills, you can enlist the help of a professional.
8. Placement of Long Cylinders
Of all the ways we’ve mentioned to make your chairs taller, this is perhaps the most complicated and the priciest improvement you can make to your chairs. However, these are usually fitted to office chairs. If you’re willing to overlook the process and costs of such an upgrade, you can opt for long cylinders to enhance the height-adjusting capability of your chairs.
There are two types of chair cylinders:
- Pneumatic – Utilizes nitrogen
- Hydraulic – Utilizes liquid
These two types work the same way, but their structure and content are different. By using a lever, you can engage the chair’s height-adjusting mechanism so that it causes an elevation of the seat. You will need to get this professionally done..
9. Get It Done by a Professional
If none of the proposed options inspire confidence in a satisfactory result, you could always resort to the tried-and-true way of taking your chairs to a professional upholsterer or carpenter to make the needed changes.
This will cost you in professional fees, but you get spared the stress of having to make the changes yourself. The professional costs vary, depending on the extent of changes that need to be made as well as the number of chairs commissioned for work and the materials to be used. However, going with a professional will guarantee a good job, and you’ll have taller chairs in no time.
Conclusion
Whether for the purposes of style and functionality, taller chairs may be the change you need around the household. Thankfully, there are quite a few options to help your chairs reach new heights. While some options are purely functional, others address the stylistic and functional aspects of adding height to your chair.
You may also like: How to Fix a Broken Bed Frame
