Rocking Chair With Damaged Finish Gets a New Look

Patricia
by Patricia
1 Material
I was in a thrift store to pick up another item, and spotted this rocking chair on my way out. No way was I leaving it behind! I definitely have an affinity for rocking chairs!
The chair itself is sturdy, but there was damage to the finish.
I'm not sure when the chair was manufactured, but I'll call it vintage. It has an American Colonial style.
I could not locate the name of the manufacturer, but there is a sticker affixed underneath the seat that reads, "Wayside Inn". I did a Google search for Wayside Inn, but I couldn't pinpoint any further information. The font style and graphic reminds me of something reminiscent of the 1950's, but I cannot say for sure when this chair was made. If anyone has any information on the Wayside Inn label I sure would love to hear from you!
I wanted to keep a traditional look for the rocker. I initially chose a color scheme of Graphite with the seat painted in Coco. I love that color combination, but after I painstakingly painted two coats of Coco on the seat and around the spindles, I decided it just didn't work for this piece. It looked OK but just not what I envisioned. I don't have photos of that, and I didn't include that in my blog post, so let's keep that as our little secret!
Despite the extra labor it would take, I decided to sand the Coco color off the seat. I applied two coats of Graphite to the entire chair. I sanded the paint smooth all over.
Using a light hand, I sanded further in some areas to give a gently worn look.
Typically I paint the underside of chairs, but in this case I wanted to preserve the Wayside Inn label, so I left the original finish underneath.
Normally I apply the dark wax over the clear wax, but when applying it to dark colors I think it works well directly on the paint. So I applied black wax first and after it cured for about 24 hours I sealed it with soft clear wax. In the end I'm happy with the one color scheme for this chair and am glad I took the time to give it the look I wanted. I'd like to personally invite you to visit my blog and keep in touch with past and future projects. Thanks for reading!
Suggested materials:
  • Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (Graphite, black wax, and soft clear wax)   (Winsome Cottage (Waynesville, Ohio))
Patricia
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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