I love restoring old family heirlooms!
It's like saving a piece of precious family history.
I had an opportunity to do one this week:
This was Robin's grandfather's rocking chair.
He's long gone,
but she has wonderful memories of him
rocking in this chair.
It has been sitting out in the elements, behind a shed.
It's very weathered, the wood is splintery.
What paint is left is flaking off..
And the poor cane seat is in disrepair.
Robin wants to use it out on her screened-in porch.
I checked out the decor while I was there...
And lucky me also got to check out
a couple glasses of wine to boot!
Okay, so back to this chair.
Any help for this old soul?
Heck yeah!!!
After sanding off all the loose paint and weathered wood,
I added a strip to the bottom of the cane seat,
to stabilize the caning.
I primed the chair with a good bonding primer.
Once the primer was dry,
I painted the chair in Clark & Kensington
Glossy Black exterior house paint.
Before painting a second coat,
I rebuilt the seat by adding webbing, foam and batting.
Once the second coat was dry,
I recovered the seat with this outdoor fabric.
I stapled it all along the bottom edges,
and then added a dust cover.
(No, I don't use padded sawhorses...
I use…
Wilma's handy dandy cat tree…
Hey repurpose, folks!!!
That's what it's all about!)
I also found this other fabric remnant
that has some of Robin's favorite colors -
purple and green -
So I made it into a little slipcover
and edged it in black eyelash fringe.
Robin was out of town today,
so I decided to put the finished rocker
on her porch to welcome her home!
(I thought it was especially fitting
because today would have been
her grandmother's ("Nannie's") 101st birthday.
She passed away last year.)
I think Nannie would like the updated look!
Here it is, sporting its "summer clothes."
And come autumn,
Robin can switch out the pillow, add the slipcover,
and presto, a new look!!!!
So many options.
Rocking chairs and porches...
well,
they just go together.
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