Cosy Rocking Chair

One of my favourite purchases ever was a lovely rocking chair I bought just before Thomas was born. Gary and I had just moved into our very first house together, and the first thing we bought was this chair. It came with a rocking foot stool as well.

I used it to rest in whilst pregnant, in my attempts to breast feed my five babies and reading to them before bed one at a time, snuggled in my arms. As they grew older and too big to snuggle, I would still read to them, rocking myself rhythmically back and forth.

Over the past few years, it has been stuffed under the stairs, the foot stool resting atop the chair, rendering it useless as a seat. Its arm-rests and head-rests are long gone. The chair cushions are torn and dirty. The foot stool cushion has almost worn away.

I refuse to get rid of it and have grand dreams that one day it can be resurrected to its former glory. Whatever the case, I shall be keeping it my entire life. My memories exude from its very wood and I see myself making many more with any grandchildren I am blessed to have.

It made me sad though, to see it sit quite desolately under the stairs, without purpose or beauty. I had wracked my brains, trying to find a spot for it in our home where it could be useful once more.

But there was no room anywhere…

Except perhaps the bathroom.

Can one put a rocking chair in a bathroom?!

Our bathroom is bizarrely one of the largest rooms in the house and I figured that, not only would the rocking chair fit but the stool would also fit as well. I mean, it would be slightly in the way for the washing machine, but it is easily moved on a tile floor.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.

I was always looking for somewhere to put my night attire for after my bath…and I always had such hot baths I have to sit on the loo for a good ten minutes afterwards to cool down and not pass out! The idea of relaxing into a rocking chair was bliss.

My family thought I was nuts.

This is no big thing. The thinking of Claire as nuts is a fairly regular occurrence in this home, and to be honest I pay no attention to it. My ideas generally work out well, and often (because I tend to think outside of the box) have proved to be excellent once tried.

So last week I moved my precious rocking chair to the bathroom.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I LOVE it!!

So much!

I have covered it with a quilt and the foot stool with a smaller one – a thrift shop find – and they look (almost) as good as new.

Bath-time is becoming one of my favourite times of the day: an audio book, candles, a hot essential oil bath, iced water and a wonderful cosy rocking chair to sink into before cooling down and getting dressed.

I rock gently and listen to my latest fiction audio book whilst the candle light flickers in the background and I sip my iced water.

Absolute bliss.