I finally used the word dastardly—and yes, I know we should be focusing on our office cabinets, but that’s a big project and this rocker has been giving me the stink eye since November. For anyone who needs a refresher: I picked it up on Craigslist for $25 because I liked its clean lines, then it sat untouched for over nine months until this weekend.
The main reason for the delay was the back of the rocker. I knew how to reupholster a seat, but the opening at the top of this chair had to look finished on both sides and totally confused me. After asking for advice in a previous post, I learned there are many ways to approach it, which gave me the confidence to give it a try—eventually. I combined reader suggestions, some searches, and tips from a friend who reupholsters for a living, then improvised as I went. So here’s the story of Me vs. Rocker, in a friendly, step-by-step way.
First, I pulled off all the old upholstery to see what I was dealing with. I recommend small channel-lock pliers for removing staples and tacks—they grip better than needle-nosed pliers or the back of a hammer and helped prevent tool slippage.
After a few hours of removing tacks and staples I had a pile of hardware and the chair largely stripped down. I removed the two wooden seat slats and was left with the bare frame, which showed it needed some serious wood putty and sanding before any finish could be applied.
I decided to tackle the seat pieces next. They were two separate boards, so I temporarily taped them together with delicate surface painting tape so I could upholster them as one piece. For padding I used multiple layers of extra-loft batting—Soft N Crafty from JoAnn—rather than a thick slab of foam. I wanted the rocker to remain firm and a bit crisp, not sink-in soft, so I stapled on five layers of batting until the feel was just right.
After stapling all those layers, I realized the seat needed to flex a little to fit past the arms and hinge forward into the frame. I nearly panicked, but my husband suggested turning the seat over and cutting the tape on the underside so the batting could fold forward. That solved the problem without needing to restaple the layers.
For fabric I found a Kravet remnant on clearance at JoAnn—an unexpected bargain at $2 a yard—and knew the pattern would look great on the rocker if I centered it carefully. To secure the fabric I began by folding it around the seat to find the center, then flipped the seat and tacked one staple into the top middle and one into the bottom middle while pulling tight. That let me check centering and adjust if necessary before committing.
Once centered, I stapled the fabric at the four cardinal points—noon, three, six, and nine o’clock—then continued around the perimeter, pulling taut as I went. At the carved-out corners I folded the fabric like wrapping a present, using a few staples to hold tidy folds so the front looked smooth and tailored.
I reinstalled the seat to confirm the batting and fabric still allowed the seat to hinge forward enough to fit. Success. With that done I turned my attention back to the frame: filling visible holes with wood putty, sanding to smooth and scuff the surface, and using a liquid deglosser to prepare for a finish.
Although I had planned on a rich dark stain, uneven areas of the wood meant stain wouldn’t take consistently. Since this was a $25 Craigslist find and not an heirloom, I chose to spray-paint the frame with oil-rubbed bronze (ORB) spray paint. With its built-in primer and metallic undertones, ORB gave the chair the look of richly finished wood after three thin, even coats.
Update: A helpful reader pointed out that our fabric was featured on the cover of the Ballard Designs catalog. We checked and discovered that Ballard offers a chair upholstered in the same fabric for several hundred dollars, and the fabric alone retails at a much higher price per yard than what we paid.
Have you ever put a project off because it felt intimidating? For me, two-sided upholstery was the stumbling block, but once I broke the job into manageable steps—strip, assess, pad, cover, and finish—this rocker transformed into something I’m proud to have rescued. I’ll share the final after photos and the rest of the process in Part Two.