Yard sale chair renovation

I picked up this beauty for $5 at a yard sale last year:

OK, so maybe “beauty” wouldn’t be the best word to describe a tired-looking wicker rocking chair with multiple layers of fading paint. But I saw enough potential there for a quick DIY refresh that I snagged it up in the hopes of turning it into additional seating for the covered front porch.

I finally got around to working on the chair early this week. I started by power-washing it to get rid of any chipping paint. A word of caution here: Power-washing wooden/wicker furniture may cause it to splinter and will roughen up the finish a bit. I didn’t bother sanding this piece, but if you want perfectly smooth results, you may want to add that step.

Using wood glue and an adjustable clamp, I glued down some spots on the chair that were coming unraveled. So far, the repairs are holding up great!

After the glue dried, I basically sprayed the whole thing with Krylon spray primer/paint in one. I chose a glossy khaki color similar to our home’s window and door trim. It took a total of three cans to cover everything well.

Here’s the final result:

This project took me about two hours to complete and cost me about $15 total (for the chair and the three cans of paint).

So what do you think of my “new” rocking chair?