Did It Myself No. 3: Rockin' Rocking Chair

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Sometimes fabric starts it all. When I was working on my daughter's room—before I knew she was a girl—I was looking for neutral colours and prints that don't outright announce "Hi! I have a penis/vagina!" I've talked about my dislike of pink in a previous post. I'm an earth-tones gal through and through. So, when I saw this graphic floral with its greys and greens and browns I just knew I had to have it. (I had to have it so bad, in fact, that I forgot to check the price tag... oops.) You may recognize the fabric as the background for the baby superheroes artwork I from my last post—so, I'd say I got my money's worth. Even though this fabric features flowers, I don't find it overly feminine. It actually reminds me of Where the Wild Things Are. Something about the long, snaking, brown and beige vine. It looks like the tail of a beast who just disappeared around the corner...

As for the rocking chair itself—it took some convincing, but I talked my husband out of an oversized and overpriced glider in favour of a solid wood rocker by promising I'd make a real nice cushion for it. I'd like to say "and bippity boppity boo—it was done," but this project actually turned out to be quite time-consuming. The chair, which I failed to take a photo of in its original state, had to be sanded, primed and given two coats of paint (and the darker wood still bleeds through in a few places). The cushion was another adventure as I bought several pre-cut pieces of foam, which didn't work. Then, I got foam custom cut, but it was too hard and felt uncomfortable. What I ended up doing was just buying quilt batting, cutting it myself and then sewing it into the fabric. I added some ties, velcroed it up and over the headrest (another request from my hubby) and there she be. I'm happy to report it's already been utilized extensively and just this morning it was spit-up on for the first time. Rock on.

Oh! And I should also add a photo of the stool my husband built to go with the chair. We much debated the height and width of this bad boy to provide optimum rocking assistance and I think it turned out perfectly. It also doubles as a little night stand for when I'm crashed on the cot next to the bundle's crib.