Showing posts with label refinish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label refinish. Show all posts

Friday, May 20, 2016

How to Refinish Wrought Iron Patio Furniture


Wrought iron patio furniture has a timeless style.... IF you maintain its finish. The good news is that it is super easy and inexpensive to refinish your wrought iron!  And if you are like me, refinishing is the perfect opportunity to add bright color to your backyard!

We have had our wrought iron furniture for 7+ years--all of which was in humid climates.  It has held up remarkably well, but the time had definitely come for a new coat of paint. 




All you need to make your wrought iron like new is: 
  • Wire brush
  • Sandpaper
  • Rust-resistant Spray Paint I used 7 cans to cover 1 large round table and 5 chairs. I bought mine at a local store for about $4/can.  I already had the other materials, so my entire cost was $30. Pretty awesome!
         
  • Old cloth rag or towel
  • Drop Cloths/ tarps/ or large sheets of paper 


Directions: 

1. Use the wire brush and sand paper to remove old flaky paint and rust from your furniture. The wire brush worked especially well on all the welded joints. The sandpaper was great on the flat surfaces. This will not only give your finished product a smooth finish, but it will ensure that the new paint sticks well. 

2. Using an old cloth rag, wipe down the furniture to remove dust. 

3. Lay out drop cloths. I have a ton of drafting paper, so I used sheets of that as my drop cloths. Place furniture on cloths.

4. Spray about 10-12 inches from the metal using short back and forth sweeps. Don't spend too much time in one area to avoid drips forming. Let dry according to directions on the can. 


My table top was easy to remove from the legs with a pair of pliers. Just 4 little hex nuts to take off. Be sure to allow plenty of room for over-spray when you lay out your drop cloths--especially if it's windy. 

Here are my legs all laid out. I painted one side in the morning and the other side in the afternoon. I did the same for my chairs--allowing 8-10 hrs before turning them. 
This also shows how dirty your wiping cloth will get. Be sure it's one you don't care about!

The paint I used mostly covered in one coat. I went back over it to do touch ups, but a full second coat wasn't required. 

I LOVE looking out my back window at bright colors! I have always loved color, but I think I crave it even more now that I live in the Pacific Northwest where it is so often cloudy!






Hardware Close-ups: 




Thursday, November 13, 2014

$20 Dining Chair Up-scale



My dear husband asked me to make a birthday and Christmas list a couple of weeks ago. Since they only fall about 1 month apart from each other, he said he likes to get a list in mind so he can plan in advance. I'm glad I married a planner. :)

One of the items I put on the list was a set of two padded dining chairs to be at each end of our dining table. Our table is large enough to seat 8+, but we only had 6 chairs. I had my eye on some at Ikea that are about $100/each. They were the right colors for the room, and would dress up the whole set a bit. 

A few days after telling my husband about the Ikea chairs, he told me about some chairs he saw at Goodwill for $8/each. He even took a picture. I decided to go check them out. To my pleasant surprise, they were sturdy and had a simple slip cover over the back. The seat cover was just wrapped and stapled. So I bought them.


As you can see, they are UGLY. Awful colors, stained. icky. But I liked their modern lines. And their simple (read: simple to change) construction.

Obviously I took this after I re-covered them, but this shows the construction of the chair. Four screws hold the frame to the seat. Three (Alan wrench) bolts hold the seat's frame to the back. Easy to disassemble and reassemble. 

The back was just a big sleeve. I traced the one it came with to make a pattern, then cut out and sewed the new slip covers from that. 

As you can see, the bottom just required a good staple gun and some elbow grease. I did go over the edges of the seat cover with my serger. A simple hem or zig-zag stitch would suffice, as well.  

The third chair was for our bedroom. We were constantly dragging a dining chair upstairs to our bedroom and bathroom for hair-dos, computer use, etc. Now we have one that can stay up there. And it looks pretty! 

And here is my colorful dining room. Before, I had the turquoise chairs on the ends. Now I have more substantial chairs for the "heads" of the table, and they really bring the room together with my tree painting and the rug. I love it! 

Here's the breakdown of the cost: 

3 chairs @ $8.00 each + tax:                                                         $26.16
1 yard Richloom Paget Stripe Slub Midnight fabric (Fabric.com): $ 7.63
2 yards Richloom Marman Slub Spring (Fabric.com):                  $19.96
Shipping:                                                                                           $ 3.00
Total:                                                                                                 $56.75

Add in thread and staples (which are hard to quantify), and these are less than $20 dining chairs! I love a bargain--especially when I get to make it!