Spraypainted Patio Furniture Redo...

{Trash-picked patio...} 

I'm a trash-picker...it's just the honest truth.  My kids know that if I slam on my brakes it has nothing to do with the car in front of me, but the garbage on the sidewalk!

My husband is also a trash-picker....we make a good pair!

A couple of years ago we were on vacation in Ocean City.....separately, we both rode our bikes past 5 porch chairs sitting in the garbage.  Knowing how little (ABSOLUTELY NO!!) extra space we had in our car, I didn't even want to ask....but then he said..."Did you see those...?" 

He didn't even need to finish his sentence before I yelled...."CHAIRS!?!"

So, amidst the 5 bikes, suitcases, bedding, food coolers (because I never buy food at the shore...it's TOO expensive), boogie boards, miscellaneous sand toys and 3 children in a 5 seater car, we added 5 lawn chairs!  It wasn't pretty!

At that point, the chairs looked like this...

Now, I know that some of you are asking yourselves..."She made her children ride 2 1/2 hours home with boogie boards on their heads and suitcases on their laps for those???"

That's because you don't see their potential!

But....to be perfectly honest, they continued to look like that for 2 whole YEARS!!  I tried some spraypaint last summer, but it look HORRID!  It wasn't the spraypaint's fault....it was mine.  I didn't know how to prep a rusty metal surface for spraypainting!

I had essentially given up hope.  In fact I was literally browsing online at Walmart and Target for patio furniture when I stumbled across this TUTORIAL at West Furniture Revival!!  Her finished product was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!  (and she "found" her chairs in the neighbor's garbage!)

Do you see this little $3.00 brush??

This was what I was missing!  If you are dealing with rust...you need one!  They are cheap, made of wire and will take off a finger if you're not careful!!  You put them right onto your drill....and poof! they get rid of rust!!  (They are also fun because they make sparks when you sand the metal!)

I wanted a quality spraypaint that would last, so my True Value paint guy who is becoming a good friend because of all my trips there recommended this Rustoleum brand....

You need to use the Rust Reformer first...and he informed me that you needed to have some rust left for it to adhere to...HA!  I told him no problem, basically all I had left was rust!

I then decided on a textured spraypaint....the rust damage was so extensive, I knew that I'd never get a smooth surface to work with!

I picked this from Rustoleum...it feels neat and was rough enough to hide all my horrid surfaces like this...

I was amazed by the transformation!  Take a look...

Can you believe it is the same chair??? (Well, actually it wasn't...but they were all rusty!)  It completely covered the ugly!!

I got a little bold and even sprayed the plastic back...we'll see how it holds up!

 I got my cushions at The Christmas Tree Shoppe and a $30.00 umbrella to match!  I'd love to show you my deck all pretty with flowers and sunshine, but sunshine seems to have left the state of Pennsylvania.....we only have rain...so no cute pictures!  Maybe I'll update next week when it's supposed to stop raining....

Cost Breakdown:

Cushions:  5@ $12.99 from Christmas Tree Shoppes

Spraypaint:  2 cans @$4.00/can.  I will eventually need about 3 sets of those cans.

Wire Brush:  $3.00

Total projected cost:  (Since I still have some chairs to do.) $92.00!!

~Compare that to at least $300.00 for a set that would have come with only 4 chairs!

What have you trash-picked lately?

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