I literally laughed out loud when I saw this and then went, "awww...poor thing". I kid you not that I believe every 80's kid I know had this upholstery in their home at one time or another. Am I right?! hahaha!! Likewise, you can see what I did to a matching footstool in this post.
HOT MESS
Well, this little thing is about to be relieved of it's fuzzy polyester coat once and for all. This thing was even dangerous. Somewhere along the line it must have started to come apart and someone thought it a great idea to knock in some super long nails. They stuck out and were rusty!
You know I love me some rust, but not on a child's rocking chair right where they would put their feet. Yikes!
So, I basically had to knock apart this whole bottom of this chair and put it back together the right way. The simplest fix was to reattach it all with countersunk screws using my drill and drill bits.
Of course, my littlest was smitten with this chair and was eager to help me nail in some wooden plugs.
Then, after we got it all tightened up, it took nearly my entire tub of wood filler to get it done right. However, it looks kinda like a spotted cow, doesn't it?
DIY STEPS
Next, once the filler was cured, my sander came out to play making it all nice and ready for paint - the fun part! At first I couldn't decide between a couple ways to go with this. In the end, my kids and I thought it would be perfect in a rustic red.
I give the chair two coats, letting it cure in between. It's starting to look mighty spiffy now, isn't it? While the paint cures, I reupholstered the seat and made a coordinating pillow. woot!
THE REVEAL
My child's rocking chair is now relieved of its awful nails and upholstery. It's ready to some little one very happy.
Additionally, the red is the perfect shade for a happy spot to be. Plus, you can't go wrong with ticking stripes, right? I LOVE ticking. I used blue ticking on the seat, and then made a denim pillow with a star cutout backed with red ticking.
Finally, no more ugly polyester upholstery and whole lot more fun. Yay! Not only do little people get to have their own spot to sit and read or play, but it also truly makes them feel special.
I know the feeling because I still have my own rocking chair from when I was a wee child. Since we don't need two rocking chairs, this one is now available in my online shop.
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SHARE
This was totally fun for me to do and hopefully inspires you to see past the worn down look and envision the new. In addition, pin and share so others can be inspired too!
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- Confessions of a Serial DIYer
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