I am so excited to be a part of this months’ Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest! The theme for this month is Farmhouse Fun, and our generous sponsor is Old Fashion Milk Paint! Since I had never worked with OFMP before now, I was super excited to give it a try. After hearing mixed reviews about the paint itself, I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to work with. Since I already knew which piece I was going to paint, I was looking for a rustic yet clean look for my step dad’s rocking chair. The end result is fabulous and he is beyond happy with the new makeover.
How To Add Farmhouse Fun To A Weathered Old Rocker! – Pin it for later!
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The Old Fashion Milk Paint Company supplied each contestant with paint and other finishing products for the purpose of this contest. All opinions and thoughts are 100% my own. Please see our full Disclosure Policy for full details.
My step dad has had this rocker on the porch for years, it was long overdue for a fun makeover. That is why when I heard the theme for this month, “Farmhouse Fun”, I knew it would be perfect and fit right in. You see he is a HUGE baseball fan (Go Tribe!) and he loves his rocking chair. Rocking chairs just scream Farmhouse to me, and baseball, of course, is where the fun comes in. The two go perfectly together, this update was a no brainer.
As you can see in this before picture, the rocker was well worn and well used. I couldn’t even count the number of different colors peeking through all over, especially the arms. There was some blue, some red, even green and yellow in some places.
I gave the whole rocking chair a good sanding to get off as much of the old paint as I could. Since Old Fashion Milk Paint works best on porous surfaces, I was trying to get through all of this paint to the bare wood. There was simply too many layers to get through, and those spindles, oh boy those spindles, they were a headache in themselves! Since I didn’t choose to purchase the bonding agent that is recommended for nonporous surfaces, I decided to give the rocker 2 coats of primer before adding the OFMP. I didn’t want the crackle effect that you get when bonding agent is not used.
The OFMP stuck to the primer just great! I was so happy I used it so I didn’t waste this wonderful paint. Just look at that smooth milky finish! Sure, It would be great as is on any cozy Farmhouse porch. But I wanted to bring in the “fun” and give it a personal touch. Since he is a die hard baseball fan, that is exactly the fun I was looking for.
I didn’t want to overdo it with color, just a few bright spindles in his favorite team colors would do it. Just enough to give it some character. Where does the baseball theme come in? In the arms of course.
Like I said, I didn’t want to overdo it and make it ALL baseball theme/color so I added touches here and there to make it fun and add some interesting details. That’s where the baseball stitching came in. Right down the center of each arm. NOW it looks like a fun baseball themed chair right?
To add the baseball stitching, paint on one thin line in a light gray or tan. Add small red lines in a V shape, one line on either side of the center gray line. Using the same paint as the center line, add small dots at the outer end of the red stitches with the end of your paint brush.
When I stepped back to give it a good once over, the whole piece was stark white, a bit too bright for the look I was going for. I decided to give it a light dry brushing with very watery gray paint. After I dipped the very dry chippy brush in the gray, I offloaded almost all of the paint on the brush onto a scrap piece of cardboard. Then I brushed on the gray in a quick streaking motion randomly all over the chair. Adding a little extra to the edges, and areas that would normally be worn on an old chair. It was exactly the look I was going for. A new chair with an old look, perfect for the front porch.
Once the paint and details were completely dry, I gave the entire chair a generous coat of Acrylic Matte Glaze. You can purchase that through the Old Fashion Milk Paint Website as well. This will protect the chair from the outdoor elements, and normal ware.
We are very pleased with the result of this old rocker! It sits happily on my parents porch and is used every day. A happy Papa is always a good thing!
If you are a blogger and love to flip furniture, be sure to check out The Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest Group over on facebook. For more information on joining these contests each month, you can send an email to [email protected]
Please visit the hosts of this wonderful contest and check out the incredible pieces they have created, along with many other bloggers sharing their Farmhouse Fun pieces. You will be amazed! There are some incredible transformations to be seen!
Visit Stacy at Anastasia Vintage.com
Visit Evey at Eveys Creations.com
As always, Thank You for stopping by! If you enjoyed this post, you may also like …
Love this transformation. I especially love the baseball detail on the arms. You did a fabulous job on this rocker.
Thanks so much Anj! It was lots of fun to do.
I am imaging that your Dad was thrilled with the colored spindles and special nod to baseball giving the chair a theme. It’s so special now. I am impressed and now when I see a rocker for sale at the resale, I will look at it differently, inspired by you.