In the front view select the top and bottom of the seat. Here are some selection tips for maya:

click + ctrl + shift = add to selection

click + ctrl = deselect from current selection

click + shift = reverse current selection mode

After you have the top and the bottom of the seat selected, go to your top view, and make sure the top view is highlighted around the border.

Now in the menu, go under Edit Polygons, Texture, and select the option box for Planar Mapping.

A window pops up. These are the options for the planar projections. In the Mapping Direction, be sure to select camera. This way, we can create projections from our current camera view, instead of trying to project to a specific axis.

Click on Apply then Close.

If you closed the uv texture editor open it. If you already have it open, you'll notice that the top and bottom of the seat were projected from our top view. This means that the uv's for the top and bottom of the seat are now layed out becuase of the planar projection.

This next step is very important, and if not done, can cause alot of confusion within the uv texture editor.

You will notice that there are some handle tools around the object. These are the inital tools brought up right after a projection. The squares are for scaling, the arrows are for translating, and the blue arc is for rotating

Click and drag the selection to the second quadrant on the left.

Now scale it smaller, so it fits easily into the second quadrant. It doesn't have to be a perfect circle, just eye it.

Now click anywhere within the uv space. You will notice that our projection has become deselected, and you can see the rest of the uv's in the first quadrant.

Something important to remember when moving selected uv's within the uv editor: Just because you can't see the uv's, doesn't mean they're not there, as we just witnessed. That is why it was important to move our selection into the second quadrant. This way we can work with our projected uv's without getting them confused with the rest of the uv's. Feel free to use the open space outside of the quadrants to temporarily place layed out uv's. Just don't forget where you left them!