A Forgotten Beauty

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Friday, July 16, 2021

Have you ever come across something that just grabbed at you, and you know you had to have it?

Like maybe an old forgotten rocking chair quietly sitting, waiting for someone to see it’s potential… and appreciate it’s simple beauty?

It was partially hidden among some other old chairs. A press back rocker.

With the back top detailed in open carvings of floral scrolls.

It was dirty and grungy with a very worn and tattered seat.

The finish had been stripped off here and there from being weathered, sitting on a front porch…partially protected from the elements.

Even though it was just a forgotten frame there was something about it that I just fell in love with. So when this shabby beauty of a rocker was offered as a freebie, I said “Yes,” and it came home with me.

Restoration

I began the process of restoration by removing the tacks just to remove the tattered, torn, worn-out seat.

I sanded the rocker down with 60 grit sandpaper and my orbital sander in places that I could get the sander to. In places that the sander did not fit…I used good old fashioned elbow grease with sandpaper to remove dirt, grime and the remaining stain. I sanded it down to bare wood, to my liking.

Some spots may still seem darker, but I like that it gives the chair age and depth…

keeping the natural warmth of the wood.

How Did I Treat the Carved Back?

Using the corner of my orbital sander and a point on a piece of folded sandpaper I gently sanded the carvings to clean out the stain, arriving at the patina I have achieved.

Originally, I thought I would reupholster it and repair it to bring it back to what it once may have looked like. But the more that naked chair frame has sat… the more I appreciated it’s rustic elegance and decided to leave it to maybe simply wearing it’s elegant carvings and nothing else.

Simple and beautiful!