"Cherish" Room - Day 4

Today I was going 'off my rocker'!  Since children's rockers are always in demand for the holidays, I thought I better have a painting day at home getting the rockers I've found ready for my space.

This is a classic hardwood rocker and has simple styling for a child's room.  It is a collectible rocker from Nichol and Stone Co. Gardner, Massachusetts. I've had it in my space but it hasn't sold - it seems people just want some color these days.  Making the decision to paint a collectible piece of furniture is always a hard thing to do, but the goal is to provide a product that people want so it's getting painted!  Then the next hard decision - what color?!

I decided to go with Emperor's Silk red from the Annie Sloan chalk paint line - perfect for a little "Emperor" or "Empress"!  Red is a popular choice for children's rooms being able to accent cowboy or cowgirl, aviation, farm, sports, circus, primary colors or other themes.

Next, I added a clear wax, and then a layer of dark wax.

After buffing it out, the dark wax gives the rocker a richer finish, adding to the classic styling and preserves the heirloom quality of this rocker - perhaps this will be received by some cute toddler as a Christmas gift and then become an heirloom when it's passed down to future heirs!

Next, this oak rocker will be beautiful painted old white and then shabbied.

 

 The detailing on the back gives it the necessary frill for a little princess!

 Here is is after I coated it in Annie Sloan's Old White.

Next, I sanded it to bring out all the detail - but I wasn't happy with it - I used a sander and I didn't like the way it was sanding everything instead of just the little details so I repainted the fancy part of the chair and distressed it again.

 This time I did it by hand using small pieces of folded sandpaper to get in the little crevices - I like it a lot better now because it shows off more of the intricate, frilly details!  I finished it off with some clear wax.

Now it's just precious and would also make an heirloom quality Christmas gift for any little princess!  I can't wait to see both of them under the tree in my space!

My third little rocker is a delicate antique wicker rocker with an extra side pocket for reading material! Don't worry - I'm not doing anything to this one! This would make a great prop for a children's portrait photographer.  I think I'll make a little pillow for it's seat  - but choosing fabric is always hard to do because the fabric choice could either make or break a sale!  So I thought I'd ask my readers -what kind of fabric do you see on this?

 I need help with this one too!  What color would you paint this little rocker?  I think it needs a cushion too so think about color and fabric choice! I'm open to any suggestions! Leave me a comment below this post and we'll see what others think! Tomorrow is a big day - moving lots of furniture in!