Garden Furniture Refresh

Rachel | mapleandgrey
by Rachel | mapleandgrey
3 Materials
$10
5 Hours
Easy

This patio set belonged to my grandad and I kept it to go in our garden. A few years and one can of metal paint later it’s looking fresh and ready for summer!

This is the before. The chairs were badly flaking and the table was dark green. I painted the chairs and made a start on the table. However, the table was a little more time consuming due to the pattern and shape of the metal. I ran out of time that summer, and somehow two more summers went by but this year I finally got around to finishing it to match the chairs!

Clean up the metal


The table had been sat around outside for three years. It was dirty and old paint had started flaking off from where it had been left for so long. I gave it a really good clean to start with.

Remove old paint


I then took a wire brush attachment for the drill and went over the entire table to remove all the flaking pieces of paint. I didn’t go back to bare metal as time didn’t allow for that but I made sure there was no loose paint.

Pick paint colour


I then took the can of paint that I had used three years earlier. I had initially planned to buy the spray paint version of this paint but figured I should use up what I had first. However, I had to solve two problems before I could use it! Firstly I couldn’t get the lid off, and then when I finally got into the can it looked like the paint had dried up. It actually had a dried layer over the top which my husband cut out to reveal the remaining half can of paint underneath!

Apply paint


I was going to put the paint in my sprayer to make it easier to apply with the pattern. However, because the directions said not to thin the paint I decided against this. Instead, I took a small sized paint brush and applied the paint using a swirling motion. This allowed the paint to cover the surface easily and I worked around the table following the different layers of the pattern in a circle to avoid missing any areas. The paint goes on really smoothly and doesn’t seem to show brushstrokes which helped since I wasn’t using a particularly neat technique to apply it!

Apply 1-2 more coats


I applied another coat and then a second coat on the legs. The first coat from before had held up well on the legs so they just needed a top up coat.

Leave to dry


The finished result! As you can see the table is a little brighter than the chairs since they were painted earlier. But I am so happy to finally have a table to match that doesn’t just look like it has a coat of primer on it.

I was glad to use up the can of paint that I had sitting in the garage. However, the layer that had dried was fairly thick so wasted quite a bit of paint. I ran out of paint to finish underneath and I would have liked a third coat on the top. So I intend to try the spray version to add a final coat to ensure a really smooth finish.

I love this set and I’m so glad to finally have finished it. I also love that I have a piece of my grandparent’s garden in mine!


To see more of this and other projects follow along on Instagram!


~ Rachel ♡

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  • Gin Gin on Jul 06, 2021

    Looks so good. Are the table and chairs stainless cast aluminum? I’m getting ready to repaint my table and chairs. Originally it was powder coated when I bought it. I’m taking it back to the metal, priming, and paint

    for the last time. The two other paint jobs didn’t hold up even though I sanded, and primed first.

    You did a great 👍 job.

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4 of 34 comments
  • Alicia Lopez Alicia Lopez on Jul 06, 2021

    Thinking of painting mine too. Thank you for sharing. Your table and chairs look beautiful!

  • Suz Roberts Suz Roberts on Jul 06, 2021

    Thanks for sharing. You have more energy than I do... I took the short cut. I washed my set down with the hose and then let it dry. In AZ it takes a minute or two. Then I spray painted the chairs and table red, white and blue for a patriotic theme. My chairs have roses on the back support. So the roses are red and the rest of the chair is blue.

    • Rachel | mapleandgrey Rachel | mapleandgrey on Jul 07, 2021

      Thank you! Spray paint is a good option and a lot easier on this type of piece with all the details!

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