We received our first commissioned project to reupholster and paint this beautiful antique rocking chair. This chair would become the key peice in a couple's nursery, with the other key piece, the baby, still to come. First we had the painstaking task of removing all the brad nails, of which there were hundreds. Then we had to assess the structural integrity of the seat. The straps that supported the springs were rotten and beyond saving, so we bypassed the whole spring system and opted to use plywood as a foundation for the upgraded cushion that we installed. The result was a more supportive, yet comfortable sitting experience.
After doing some needed repair and reinforcement, we painted the wood (purists everywhere cringe). The desired color was heirloom white (shabby chic-ers everywhere rejoice). The customers had selected a fabric to match their nursery, and after placing the fabric against the chair frame with it's new color, we noticed that the colors just looked a bit bland. Thankfully we had planned on reusing the antique brass brads which provided just the right amount of pop and contrast we were looking for. After two days of battling the brads, that seemed to have a mind of their own at times, and fighting fabric resistance that loomed at every turn, literally, we finished. And the result speaks for itself, a happy customer!
The process is tedious, so if you have ever thought about redoing a chair like this, make sure you are committed to finishing, because once you tear into it, there's no undo button. In the end, it is very rewarding to complete a project like this. It shows you what you're made of, and sometimes more interestingly...what old chairs are made of. They used some weird stuff for stuffing back then, just sayin'.
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