While ago I told I have two makeover projects coming. Here’s the first one: a wooden rocking chair makeover. This was how the rocking chair looked like before:

And here’s the fabulous after:

I decided to to just paint it all black instead of leaving some parts without paint. Simple is better! So here’s how I did this project:

The runners were in a really bad shape so I had to fix them first. The other one was so damaged that I had to cut both runners a bit shorter to fix it.

I made a template and sawed along the lines that I drew on the runners. Then I used some wood filler and sanded them smooth.

I painted the rocking chair with a black paint in satin finish after cleaning it well with a damp cloth. I used plastic wrap on the bottom of the runners to prevent them from sticking to the paper I had on the floor. I was able to start painting the top part of the rocking chair even when the runners weren’t completely dry. They were dry enough to touch, just a bit sticky (enough for the paper to stick to it) so plastic wrap worked really well!

I did two coats of paint for the hole piece and three coats on the seat, arm rails and top rail. I sanded the parts with three coats of paint between the second and the third coat. That made them look and feel smooth. I should have sanded the hole piece between the first and the second coat but sometimes I forget things… and just start doing.

Anyway, I think the end result is looking very good. I’m glad because the dark brown wood next to the lighter wood of the flat file was really starting to bother me… Now it looks a lot better!