Paint A Perfect Rocking Chair
Sam Lutz • December 1, 2015
Rocking chairs make beautiful but Christmas gifts, but they can be expensive unless you manage to buy one used and restore it to its original beauty. In this tutorial, we’ll discuss methods for painting the perfect rocking chair. This project can be a challenge because of all the curved surfaces, tight spaces and corners. To paint the perfect rocking chair, be sure to set aside plenty of time so you can be sure to get the project done right.
Materials
- Sponge
- Bucket
- Detergent
- Microfiber cloth (2)
- Fine and medium-grit sandpaper
- Orbital sander (optional)
- Exterior-grade mold-resistant primer (spray or non-spray)
- Exterior-grade paint (spray or non-spray)
- Paint brush (various sizes, not needed if using spray paint)
- Tarps
Process
- Clean the rocking chair (above and underneath). Use mild detergent mixed in warm water. Wipe down the entire rocking chair with a damp sponge, then dry off the chair with a dry microfiber cloth.
- Sand every bit of the rocking chair that you’ll be painting. If using an orbital sander, use it to sand down flat areas of the rocking chair. Move on to sanding by hand once the broad, flat parts of the rocking chair have been addressed. This creates a rough surface that the new paint can adhere to.
- Dust off the chair with another dry microfiber cloth to remove dust from the sanding you did in step 2.
- Put the rocking chair on a tarp. If you’re planning to use spray paint, the tarp should be extra wide to catch any over spray.
- Paint the chair with mold-resistant exterior-grade primer. The mold resistance of the primer is especially important if you’re planning to leave the rocking chair outdoors on a porch or patio. If you’re planning to use the chair indoors only, then standard primer is acceptable. If you’re painting the chair with non-spray paint, use a wide flat brush to paint the broad, flat areas of the chair, then use the angled brush to paint the corners and tight spaces of the rocking chair.
Note: You may need to apply paint to the rocking chair in stages. First, paint the parts of the rocking chair you can reach when it is right-side-up, then wait for the primer to dry and paint the parts of the chair you can reach when it’s upside down. This applies to coats of paint as well as primer. - Wait for the primer to dry. When you apply more paint to the rocking chair, the primer should feel dry and smooth, not tacky to the touch.
- Paint the rocking chair with the first coat of paint, following the procedure described above.
- Wait for the coat of paint to dry.
- Sand the paint with a light sandpaper.
- Paint the rocking chair with a second coat of paint. Wait for the coat of paint to dry.
- Add any finishing touches like a stenciled design to the back of the rocking chair.
Resources
If you still have questions about painting your rocking chair, we recommend taking a look at a few online tutorials.
- This tutorial shows the painting process without spray paint.
- This tutorial shows the painting process with spray paint.
You can also watch this YouTube tutorial on the process:
And of course, we recommend stopping by Ace Paint and Unfinished Furniture
for supplies and friendly advice. We’re happy to answer your questions and recommend some great products that will help you with your project.
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