My beautiful grandson was born in April, and we are so delighted he is here, we love him so much. I can now understand how my friends who have grandchildren said they felt when their grandson/granddaughters came along. There is no feeling like it, it's not the same as when you have your own children. Although I love my children with my whole heart and still would take care of and protect them, having a grandchild is so very different, I just can't explain it.
I took over his nursery decorating the day I found out he was coming. I was thrilled to be able to do this for his parents and for him. He had everything he needed in there, crib, dresser, changing table, bureau, all the decor to complete his room, and a brand new rocking chair with an ottoman that his mommy got for a shower gift from her sister, he was all set. But, downstairs where his mommy would feed him most times, there was no rocking chair. I just happened to have two of them, and both are antiques. One was my mother's, which was a colonial design from the very early '70's, and the other was from my husband's family which was over 100 years old. As I was looking over the very old chair, I discovered that it was handmade, that made it even better. I held on to it for years, even though it was taking up space in the garage, because I couldn't part with it. I knew someday hopefully one of our four kids would have a child, and lucky us finally one of them did! Now I had to decide which one I was going to give to them. Looking at the rocking chairs side by side, I knew the colonial style was out. It didn't match their decor, so I opted to redo the older one, which actually had a more sleek, modern look for it's time. Funny how that works, fashion and style always come full circle.
When I started this project, I had a little bit of a problem with it. First, one of the arms was broken. Being that old, I had to piece it back together very carefully. Second, it was loose in a lot of places and had to be tightened up. Third, sanding it was a huge problem. I'm not sure what kind of lacquer, polyurethane or whatever they used back all those years ago, was a bear trying to get it off, but I didn't do too bad. I bought a can of paint that had a primer in it but when I started to paint, the red stain on the chair would seep through it. So, I did a second coat, same thing happened. Now frustrated, I opted to use a spray primer, in gray, to try and fix the problem. By golly, it worked! Then I bought a can of creamy white paint called Smokey Beige from Rust-oleum, and spray painted the chair. It came out so beautiful I wanted to keep it, but I had to remind myself it was for my little man.
So here is the problem chair, as I started out. Not looking too good.
This is the paint and primer that I bought, and with a little help from my friend the primer, it's starting to look good! I actually love the color of the primer.
First coat going on.......
A lot of nooks and crannies to cover.......
Just about done........
And look at it now! What a difference a little paint makes. Remember, spray paint is you friend!
A new cushion was made for the seat. I had to semi fit it, the seat is really wide on this chair from front to back and side to side. I cut the foam cushion with an electric knife, the best way to cut by the way, gives an even clean line.
And now it was complete for his mommy to rock the day and night away with him! I hope my sweet boy Jaxson loves it, keeps it for many years, and passes it along to his children.
Love your Nonna and Zia!
0 comments:
Post a Comment