Tag Archives: Rocking chair

* Snow Day Project: Footstool Makeover *

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A TON has changed in my life since my last update and I am busier than I have ever been before…

The long and short of it: I am 7 months pregnant with my first child, a baby girl, due May 18th 🙂 If you count back from my last entry, it’s kind of self-explanatory.

My pregnancy has been rough, and naturally, I cannot use most products I used to when doing projects, nor have I had any energy to do them anyway. I’ve avoided traditional paint, dust, chemicals, fumes, all the toxic nonsense. But I had a nice snow day off from work today, and decided to tackle a tiny, fun little project. The shabby rocker from my last entry? This cute little footstool goes with it…it’s down in our den and ready for downstairs feedings and rocking the baby! We ended up getting a comfy secondhand glider/ottoman for the nursery.

Before I get down to it, I DO finally have a huge project in the works, and it’s slowly getting there…my 50-year-old family bedroom set is now my daughter’s nursery furniture and it is being rehabbed. All drawer tracks were repaired by my hubby, tracks are being greased, new hardware is being added, and the dark pine frames are being painted with a beachy look to go with the “shabby beach cottage” nursery. I kept the drawer fronts their original dark pine. It is a unique, high-contrast, almost odd look. I’ll take photos of the completed nursery soon. I knew this was what I wanted in a nursery, whether the baby was a boy or girl.

So back to the task at hand…here was my raw material for the footstool. The second photo was me deciding between two fabric choices. I opted for more color and saved the blue and cream etoile for another day/project.

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The colors used for it were Shabby Paints’ “Alamo White”, and 3 custom-mixed accent colors…a beachy slate blue, an oatmeal beige, and a mint green…I did the base coat of the white and then highlighted with the others. After re-upholstering the top, here is the end-result (and hubby and I both love it).

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MUCH more fun! Not only will it work with the rocker (especially because her name is going on the top of the rocker in little-girl-themed letters when the time gets closer since the name is a secret), but it’ll make a great little seat for her before long. Here it is with the rocker before an accent pillow and name decal on the back:

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Cost breakdown:

Footstool: Free 🙂 We sold off some items (like our game table set) from the second half of the den to make room for a playroom and space for the baby, and this was purchased with some of the money we got for it…it gave us a very nice Valentine’s Day out together at the Jersey Shore.

Fabric: $1’s worth of fabric purchased from a Walmart remnant. I still have half left for a small pillow or a seat-pad if I decide to make one. All tolled, this project would have cost about $8 if I were actually paying for it. Doesn’t get any better, does it?

Within a month, there will be an update showcasing the final product that is Babygirl’s fabulous nursery!

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Trash to Treasure: Rocking Chair

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It’s been about a week since I’ve updated the blog. Please excuse my lack of attention! Life has been extremely busy, and I’ve been celebrating a fantastic (and long-awaited) new job offer!

A week and a half ago, my husband was on his way home from work and took a shortcut through a nearby neighborhood. Someone had put this out to the curb with the trash:

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An old but nicely detailed hickory rocking chair. It needed tightening and some new screws, which hubby so kindly did for me!

I loved it immediately and knew I wanted to make it over and put it in my guest room/future nursery. I have reading chairs all over the house and thought this room needed one as well.

I usually always choose to refinish wood and almost never paint it! I am a wood and furniture junkie and think the grain and quality of wood comprises much of the beauty of a piece. My exception to the rule is kitchen cabinets, because I love a light and bright kitchen!

As soon as I looked at the rocker, I thought “WHITE!”. It just needed to be white, period. I got started immediately. I painted on a coat of my trusty bonding primer after rubbing the chair down with mineral spirits on a clean rag. I then used up some white trim paint that we had left but was unhappy with the coverage, which was uneven around the fine details. I then switched to Rustoleum’s spray paint/primer:

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The rocker was old and worn in some spots, so it did not take the paint completely evenly (and I strive for perfection), but all in all, I was pleased with the results. It got two good coats with a 3rd and final spray in some spots.

Next up was choosing a chair cover. I searched first at Pier 1, one of my absolute favorite home stores. I didn’t see anything I loved for a price I wanted to pay (I’m cheap). I then switched my search to Pottery Barn, another favorite. I got lucky when looking for clearance chair cushions. This color, the blue and white “Maia” pattern, was what I had decided on originally:Image

However, I then came across the Tiffany-blue colored “Alessandra” pattern and fell in love. It was exactly what I was looking for, and even better…less than half-price with free shipping to boot! I bought the largest size cushion because the rocker is pretty large and I wanted the whole seat covered. Let me tell you…it just BARELY fits on. It does, but any bigger and it’d have been too large. Note that if you shop Pottery Barn and find something you love on clearance, you cannot return the item.

Here are the results. Not bad for a side of the road find, right?!

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And, of course, here are some photos of the chair in its “home”…the guest room (click to enlarge them):

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The total cost of this project was a mere $20!

Next time you see something with real potential on the side of the road, consider taking it home and turning someone’s trash into your treasure! It’s inexpensive, easy, and you end up with a beautiful item for your home!