Tuesday, July 19, 2011

DIY: Rocking Chair Makeover

We have this beautiful old rocking chair. My mother used to rock my brother and me in it when we were babies, and I've rocked all three kidlets in it. Its got nice lines, but it was in need of some love. It was oak, with gold painted accents including some lovely fruit on the head rest. (ok...maybe not so much lovely as, well....tacky. Sorry mom)

Then there are the cushions. One on the back, one on the seat. If you've ever seen the Dateline investigations where they shine lights on fabric to see all the germs and creepy crawlies, these are probably on par. I read once that 10% of the weight of a two year old pillow was comprised of dust mites and their droppings (*gag*), so this pillow is roughly 30 years old...and so probably 150% dead mites. You can actually see the wear lines from the bars at the back of the chair. They are paper thin, and fairly revolting.

So... feeling very empowered by some recent diy reading, I decided to roll up my sleeves and take a stab at making over this chair.

I sanded it down lightly and then did two coats of matte black spray paint. I then lightly sanded some of the edges to mirror the finish on the crib, and finally added some spray lacquer.

The only thing I'm not loving is the fine layer of dust that blew over some of it when it was drying. Thought I was quite clever by opening the garage doors a bit to allow for ventilation. Oh well, I suppose if I get ambitious I can start all over. But, I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

After the chair itself was done I picked up some gorgeous Amy Butler fabric and will be attempting to sew some cushions! Crazy I know, maybe I'll try and bribe James' Baba to help when she visits ;)

I didn't take before shots, but here are a couple of afters. The fabric is just tucked around the existing (revolting) cushions, but it gives an idea of what it will be.  Anyways, here's how it turned out:


Yay! One project off the list. I'm already starting on K's desk, so hopefully that will be done in the next week or so. Cheers!

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