Throwing back to the first time I ever Reupholstered Anything

Moving on with our throwback posts this one published back in September of 2015 and was my first time reupholstering anything. Its funny looking back I didn’t remember how much I hated the fabric on this rocking chair after I got it done. I totally love it now! What I do remember though was what a long-fought job this was to get the old fabric off and finally refinish the whole chair. It was pretty icky actually. This little rocker is still with us up in our master bedroom closet where I use it every day!

Its pretty amazing to read back and realize how much has changed here at Grandma’s house! Here is the original post:

You’ve probably heard me mention once or twice now that I lost both of my Grandmas within just a few months of each other. The majority of the furniture and the old farmhouse and the whole journey started with the passing of my mom’s mom, Grandma Charlotte.

My dad’s mom (Grandma Eleonora) was not what I would have called a hoarder (she just knew how to keep a lot of things lol) so my dad and his siblings told all of their kids to head over there and pick what they wanted.

It wasn’t a good time.

In fact it was awful to go over to Grandma’s house, without her there, and just start choosing things – I felt like a vulture.

It was so incredibly sad.

I went down to her basement, a pinnacle place and memory of my childhood and I spotted this little rocking chair and I put my name on it.

This is an old rocking chair that I’ve run into time and time again on pinterest so it is not an uncommon rocker. However, I have not yet seen one with the same wood design as mine, but the shape and general idea is the same.

I had never reupholstered anything before so this was a real learning curve for me because there was no way I was going to keep that ancient pinkish fabric, eeeww.

I also wanted to sand it down and stain it darker but this old rocker did not take stain very well nor did it sand well, nor was it worth it. I should have just added another coat of poly to the wood and called it a day but, ya live, ya learn, ya know.

All I can say is that this turned into a much nastier and messier project than I had ever anticipated. The seat was full of some kind of straw and stuff that became like dust and the amount of staples and nails used on all of it was absolutely mind boggling.

After two hours of pulling staples and an entire garbage bag full of the incredible amount of stuff that it had been stuffed with, it was ready to be remade and I was ready to never see it again.

At some point in this rocking chair’s life it lost the support that had been in the seat.

This rocking chair is bigger then it looks and it really needed something besides fabric for that big seat so I picked up a bunch of 1x2s and cut them down to size and covered the seat with a bit of a gap between them, I did the same with the back of the chair too.

From there I covered it in batting and chose the coolest fabric that I could find….

Its not very cool is it? Yeah… well… Admittedly I should have looked harder but my little home town only had so much to choose from.

Its ok…. I guess… but I suppose I will probably redo it someday… As for now though I’m pretty happy with the fabric on this old rocking chair, it should did brighten it up a bit!

Taking a cue from This Awesome Blog I used trim to cover up all of my seams (hot glue guns are AWESOME, never mind the burns) and basically I just stretched the fabric and stapled it down.

What I would do different now that I’ve done this. I would spend more time picking out fabric.

I would NOT stretch my fabric so tightly.

I don’t know why I thought it had to be as tight as possible but no, it doesn’t need to be stranglehold tight, I figured this out after I had already screwed up the seat. Oh well. I will fix it someday but, for right now, I like it fine 🙂 

If you’re thinking of tackling a similar project, I totally recommend giving jacquard fabric a shot. The beautiful patterns and textures it offers can bring an elegant and sophisticated touch to your project. Plus, it’s durable, making it a smart choice for upholstery work.

And I think Grandma Eleonora would be really happy with her old rocking chair!