Throwback to when I painted outdoor furniture until my arm fell off

Turning indoor furniture outdoor. Oh yeah this is where I learned that a paint sprayer can sometimes be worth its weight in gold. I was really amazed by just how much work it was to hand paint this chair and sofa though I did love how they turned out. I still have the sofa (and the old cushions) out in my garage but, sadly, the chair broke last year. (Who would think that leaving indoor furniture outside might be hard on it? *sarcasm*) Our winters are fierce here in Minnesota and even after all that effort the paint on both the chair and the sofa only lasted a couple of years.

I really still like the sofa so I’m going to give it another makeover and finally recover those cushions too.

And this time I’ll be using a paint sprayer!

Here is the original post from July, 2016:

Hey guys, I’m so excited to share my new outdoor furniture with you today!

I have a lovely and enormous deck that I will tell you all about someday when I finish it (still gotta get those pesky railings done and stain it this fall) so you’re just gonna have to believe me for now when I say its wonderful but its been a waste land since I moved in.

Outdoor furniture is expensive!

And it was NOT in my budget. So, I’ve been keeping an eye and ear out for something I could buy and refinish. Remember when I mentioned scoring a bunch of furniture at an estate sale a couple months ago? Yup I finally finished it for my deck!

This old stuff had SERIOUS scratches from the previous owners’ cats so, when I did end up painting it, I didn’t feel too bad about it. This is one of those situations where someday I’m going to buy myself a paint sprayer and hate myself for not buying it sooner. I did THREE coats of exterior Kilz primer on this stuff and then THREE coats of Valspar Exterior paint in the color Sooty Lashes and then another THREE coats of exterior polyurethane. I hated myself and everything involving paint brushes by the end of this lol! Here is the furniture after the second coat of primer:

Once the furniture was finished drying (on day three of endless painting) I had one major problem to solve. Out door cushions are expensive too! The real shame was that I could not use the cushions that came with the set outside as they were incredibly thick and very comfortable. However, they would become giant sponges in the rain – no go. So I had to  come up with outdoor cushions I could afford. Walmart saved the day. After endless searching on Amazon I ran into the walmart website and could not believe it – these cushions were HALF of the price of anything else I could find online! So I went to my own local walmart and, low and behold, there were four color choices and at only $14.99 a cushion I could afford them. I ended up with the green because I thought it would make an interesting mix with the blue/gray I painted the furniture and it brings out the green in the cushions of our red wicker chairs that now share the deck with this new set of outdoor furniture.

Remember my extra seating/end tables I fixed up with barn wood and spray paint? Yup this was the set of outdoor furniture I needed them for! The missing end table “Be Merry” is not far away with the red wicker chairs. I still have a ways to go on my deck but now I have some great places to sit and enjoy my back yard!