When I was at my favorite antique/consignment store last weekend picking up chairs for the brewery, there was a deliciously retro rocking chair for sale that was definitely in my price range at $15. It had lovely curvy lines. Cane back and seat. And even though the cane seat is ripped and needs replacing, I knew the chair was something awesome. But I left without it. And kicked myself for that all week, especially after I saw  the same one in this design post. I couldn’t get the picture to embed, but if you want to take a look, it’s the 21st picture in the post (I counted two vertical pictures side-by-side as one photo for my counting purposes).

I thought surely at that price the lovely rocker would be gone in no time flat. So imagine my great joy when I went back this weekend and there was my rocker! I snatched it up at once.

Isn’t it awesome? I think it’s pretty spectacular. And for $15? Steal. Most of the chairs like it I found with a quick Google search turned up chairs selling for $70-$150.

As you can see the cane seat is in rough shape. I haven’t decided yet if I am going to try to reinforce it from underneath or if I’ll remove the cane seat and build a cushion instead.

Initially I thought I would paint it a bright color like red. I think it would make a great accent piece for our living room. But my husband said he thinks it should remain stained wood. If we keep it stained wood I will sand the current stain down and re-stain it to get rid of the dings and scratches that are most visible. I think we’ll wait to do anything with it for a month or two to give it time to percolate in our brains so we make the right decision.

And if we can’t save the cane seat, well, the rest of the chair has great bones. I am sure it will look beautiful no matter what we do with it!

P.S. Yep, you got it, my bookshelves are not styled. We have so many books (and I like it that way), there’s no room for styling!