How to paint a Rocking Chair Like a Pro

Painting and varnishing your wooden rocking chair is a great and simple way to make it look amazing again. It’s the quickest and most affordable way of giving it a fresh new look. While reupholstering your roc king chair is the ultimate renewing process, it is more complex and longer to achieve.

Plus it is not always necessary, as padding and fabric might be in good condition. Whereas if you just paint a rocking chair, you can still give it your own personal touch in colors and finishing looks.

You also can make your rocking chair more versatile without having to buy another one. The best part is that painting a rocker is relatively easy to achieve if you follow these simple DIY techniques presented below. On to it!

Best Furniture Paint Types

Paint types play an important role in how the finishing looks like. So it is important to first consider what finishing looks you wish for your rocking chair. Based on that you will know what type of paint or varnishing you will need.

Oil based paints adheres easily on most surface types and are very wear resistant. Nevertheless they are more expensive, take a long time to dry and use harmful volatile organic compounds (VOC’s).
Latex paint is widely popular for its price, low VOC levels, multiple colors options and finishing types such as gloss, semi-gloss, mate and satin. Not as resistant as oil based, it can be rightfully used for indoor furniture or some outdoor ones with low exposure to weather elements.
Acrylic paint is less used for painting furniture. Nonetheless it is possible to obtain interesting semi-gloss and mate results by using and mixing acrylic mediums.
Milk and chalk paint are considered specialty paints, mostly used to achieve vintage looks.

We will soon publish a guide of the best types of varnishing and paints for wooden rocking chairs and everything there is to know on furniture coatings. In the meanwhile let’s go through the basics.

Tools Needed to Paint a Rocking Chair

Paint brush, higher quality ones are recommended. They allow a smoother and more professional finish. Popular and reliable brands are Wooster, Purdy, Proform, among others.
Paint sprayer and eventually spray shelter for covering the floor and other furnitures.
Small high density foam rollers for smooth surfaces and clean finish. They are a great option for larger surface areas.
Wood primers provides a better paint grip on wood, that will last longer. It also protects wood from certain abrasive elements in some paints. Oil based primers are popular since they are pretty practical. You can use latex based paint on them and the paint color will not be affected by the primer undercoat.
Small sanding machine or Sanding paper with a grit ranging 80-150 is ok depending on the type of finishing or the condition of the rocking chair.
Paint additives such as Penetrol for oil based paints and Floetrol for latex based ones help give a higher end finish.
Wood sealer, polyurethane for wooden surface and polycrylic for painted surface. They provide extra protection coating for stains, scratches, discoloration and humidity.
Tak cloth to remove any dirt, brush hair or any element that might affect the finish.
Paint, such as chalk paint, latex paint, spray paint

Steps for Painting Interior Wooden Rocking Chairs

1. Remove or Cover Upholstered Parts

Strip the rocking chair out of all cushions, if these are removable. If they are not, make sure to gently cover the fabric near the parts you will be painting to avoid staining them with fresh paint.

We do recommend to paint the whole rocking chair, or at least all visible parts.

2. Sand the wooden Rocking chair with a Medium Grit

Lower grit numbers might damage the sanding finishing on the wooden rocking chair. Lightly sanding with a medium grit between 120 and 150 eliminates any missing differences from scratches and missing paint or varnishing parts and provides and even surface. This allows for a better paint grip, quality finish and overall aesthetics. Make sure to remove any dust or residue with the tak cloth.

3. Apply a Wood Primer

They come as oil based or latex based. You can use a paint sprayer, roll or brush when painting a wooden rocking chair. Just consider that you need to apply primer in spray several times in order to create sufficient coating.

Using a brush or roll is a longer process but its easier to generate an even coating. Brushes are more precise for detailed work.

Using a paint sprayer requires to cover up parts and areas you want to protect, it’s the best option for painting evenly. It is also great for painting spindles and hard to reach parts.

4. Lightly sand Uneven Areas

Sand uneven areas with excess primer and pass the tak cloth to clean the worked surface, if necessary. This step is important as excess or unevenly applied primer will affect your finishing looks.

This step is very important for achieving a smooth finish. Paint coats are pretty thin and will show any surface irregularities.

5. Choose the Type of Paint Based on the Desired Finish

All about the final look you want to achieve

There are different paint types as we discuss above and they have their pro’s and con’s. At the end, for most it’s all about the final look. Since you can achieve so many different styles with rocking chairs, options are limitless!

Are you looking for a vintage look? Chalk paint is a wonderful option.
Rather looking for something shinning but not so pricey? You can go with latex paint.
Oil based paint is the best choice if you want to add overall protection against wear and weather.
select the most appropriate painting utensil whether it be a thin brush for detailed areas, small foam roller for wider and longer areas or a spray can for quick and easy.

Focusing instead on the practicality side of things

Having some kind of limitations? Drying time, cost, available equipment (not everyone has a paint sprayer around), might be some of them.

Cheapest paints usually include latex or some chalk paint options, but beware, they are not very weather resistant. Nonetheless, they do dry faster than oil paints.
Do you have little time for this project? A paint sprayer will do the job quick. Make sure to keep the sprayer at one feet distance at least from your wooden rocking chair. Plus the closer the quicker the stroke.
Need to paint an outdoor wooden rocking chair but want to keep it low budget? Grab a quality oil paint and two brushes (medium/large and small size).

You can use a spray shelter to protect surrounding areas. They are very practical, relatively low priced and will make your life easier.

6. Paint Coats and Drying Time

To increase the rocker’s wear resistance we recommend to apply three paint coatings if the paint type is water based and at least two if it is oil based.

Acrylic and latex paint dries much quicker than oil paints. Whatever the paint you will use for painting furniture, you need to wait for it to completely dry before applying the next coat.

While painting spindles, the easiest and fastest method is to use a paint sprayer. It allows to spray all the spindles evenly.

7. Apply Several Coatings of Sealer or Top Coat

Apply at least two coatings of polycrylic sealer on top of the painted parts. This will increase the overall paint resistant to chipping, stains and wear in general. But first make sure you have cleaned any type of residue such as brush hair, dust or other.

You can apply wax for Chalk paint and other similar finish also if you like. In that case beware because once applied you need to sand the parts again in order to repaint the chair. This is because the paint will not hold well on the wax. Something to consider if you need to retouch the chair from time to time.

How well you apply the top coat influences greatly on the finishing look, so be extra careful.

Voila! the used rocker has a brand new look! Did you enjoyed to paint your rocking chair? Would you do it again? I guess practice makes perfect, brings confidence and help save time. But no worries, now its the time to sit back and enjoy a chill relaxed moment in your new looking rocker.

Tips for Painting a Rocking Chair For Outdoor Use

Painting a wooden outdoor rocking chair accounts for mostly the same steps as seen above for painting an interior rocker. But there are some important details to differentiate, which we describe below.

Check out our guide on best materials for outdoor rocking chairs for more information.

Look for Damage

First of all, it is advisable to Identify and attend any possible damage such as rust, rot or mold, before starting the whole process.

Once the outdoor rocker is sealed, it will be hard to stop rust or rotting if it has not been completely eliminated and treated before. The affected part will retain some humidity if you do not eliminate it and continue to deteriorate.

Applying high protective coatings makes the damaged areas much more apparent since they will contrast new looking ones.

Remove Affected Parts

If your rocking chair has rusted or rotten areas you should roughly sand them. In the case the damaged area is relatively profound we advise to remove as much damaged material as possible. This scenario implies applying fillers on a wooden rocking chair.

Rusted areas require heavier work and tools, more on how to remove rust from metal furniture. You will then need to give the desired shape and wait for it to dry completely. Finally sand the repaired area with same grit as the rest of the chair.

Apply Outdoor Furniture Sealers and Finish

Try to get a good quality sealer, specialized in water resistance, as it affects wood the most. Apply at least two coatings. As you will not need much quantity, you can buy higher priced products if you really want long lasting protection.

There are different types of finish for outdoor wooden furnitures, including of course paints. Choosing the right one will depend on the desired looks, intended use and degree of water exposure.

Final Recommendation and Key Tips

If you plan on pursuing other DIY furniture painting, and you should because it’s awesome!, it would be wise to buy key equipment to make your life easier and get amazing results.

Consider a good set of paint brushes, a paint sprayer and shelter and a small sanding machine.

Make sure to use the chosen paint type and utensil adequately in order to achieve the expected results.

At this point consider if you need to reupholster your rocker and thus hit two targets with one shot. So what are you waiting for? get your new painted rocking chair you’ll love it!