A Five-Dollar Antique Rocker is Beautified

Rocker After

Rocker Before

We acquired this very weathered, antique rocking chair from an antique store in Birch Run a few years ago. This chair cost only $5.00. It took a while before Jim was able to refinish it, but once he did, wow! It looked terrific. What you see in the "before" photo is exactly what it had looked like when we brought it home. Who knew that beneath all that gray, weathered exterior lie a gorgeous mahogany chair?

Jim removed the old, damaged caning as it definitely couldn't be used, then took the chair apart so he could get to all the individual components of it. We were both in shock once he had sanded away who knows how many years of grime and weather? I guess good quality wood doesn't go bad. 

We don't know exactly how old the chair is, but given its condition and structure, I estimate it to be roughly a century old, possibly older. I can research it and modify this blog once I do. After he refinished it, it sat in the basement for a couple of years before I finally got around to installing the new caning. For this chair I decided to use a radio-weave cane instead of the traditional caning seen in other blog posts. I felt like I wanted to try something new and chose the radio-weave because it complemented the curves of the chair. It wasn't too difficult to work with either, which is great. I love when the photos really speak the language that only an antique that has been weathered can relay. A photo is indeed worth a thousand words. Wouldn't you agree?

Nightstand Modernized with Paint

Nightstand After

Nightstand Before

This nightstand was part of a bedroom set that included the bed, dresser, armoire and bookshelf, however, it was brought to us in sections so I didn't have an opportunity to get good "before" photos, so I used the only photo that could work for this set, but you get the idea as they all looked the same.

The customer chose a sage green paint,  which really looked great and modernized the bedroom set. The nickel finished hardware really set it off and it looked terrific once it was done. Jim had to remove the old hardware and scuff up everything before he could prime, then paint it. He uses a paint sprayer which gives everything a nice, even coat and looks great.

Jim did this one exclusively, so kudos to him. It was a two-week project due to the amount of pieces that came with it. They delivered it over a couple of days and one the project was complete, they picked it up the same way, renting a trailer to be able to make everything fit. It looked real good and our customer was quite satisfied with it.

Antique Height Chair Refinished and Caned

Height Chair
After

Height Chair
Before

This height chair had belonged to my customer's grandmother, so I estimated it to be at least one hundred years old, if not older. I can imagine the stories this chair could tell if it could speak. I wonder if it had a tray, since there was no evidence of it, or where it could have been attached. As in the other chair I recently completed, this one also strand caning so it needed a spline after the chair's seat was pushed into it. 

The method for doing this type of caning is to soak the material for at least an hour to an hour and a half, longer if necessary, then working it into the seat. It gets tricky because you want the finished seat to stretch across the opening, but it tends to "bunch up" on the edges as you hammer the wedges into the perimeter, so it's necessary to make some adjustments as you go. Usually it's not a problem because once it is in place and dries, it automatically tightens up. 

This chair presented a few unique challenges because the caning was very close to the arm rests which made it difficult to install in that area. Jim did the refinishing work on this one so when he finished his part, I tackled mine. I used to do the restoration for most things, but since Jim retired in 2020, he took over that part of the operation, while I handle the caning and upholstery, exclusively. Needless to say, once this little chair was refinished and the new caning was installed, it looked like brand new again.
 

Caned Rocking Chair

Caned Rocking
Chair After

Caned Rocking
Chair Before

Another antique rocking chair that had a broken seat. This rocker had belonged to my customer's grandmother, so I estimated it to be at least one hundred years old. The chair itself was in pretty good condition, needing no refinishing, but of course the seat had seen plenty of use so needed to be replaced. This was a strand caned rocker, so it needed a spline instead of being woven. 

Despite the faster method of doing spline/strand caning, I actually prefer the woven method. It definitely takes longer, sometimes three to four days compared to an hour for strand caning, but it is more enjoyable.

Of course once the old, torn seat has been removed and the new seat is installed, the chair looks pretty good. This year I seemed to get more spline caning than woven. Either way, both types of caning greatly improve the overall look of the chair once it's been finished.