Thrifty Thursday: Patio Set Redux

“Some mulch and some spray paint!”

That was my enthusiastic reply full of smiles when my mom asked me,”What’d ya get for Mothers Day?”

When it comes to spray paint, I’m a bit of a hoarder. If it’s on sale, I want it. If it’s bright, I want it. If I think that maybe just maybe I may, in the near or far future, acquire something, anything, everything, ALL THE THINGS which may require customization and revamping of any and all kinds? I want that can of spray paint. Give it.

So when a friend of ours said “You can have this patio set for free from the golf course, but it’s in bad shape, you’ll have to repaint it” he knew exactly what he was getting us in to. He knows me well enough to know nothing could have sold me more. (thanks Shaen!) And boy was he not kiddin. Boy howdy this table set needed some TLC.

structurally awesome. and that's it.

Whomp. Super boring.

But fear not, people of the internet! Such a drab piece of furniture would not be allowed to live in such a state at my house, nosireebob. Enter: spray paint wheeeeeeeeee! But first? Fuckin sandpaper…dammit.

Mother’s Day was gorgeous outside, so like any mother worth her salt…we banished the children indoors while we scraped what was likely asbestos-lidden paint off of six chairs and a humungo table. We also drank beer. Because it was hot and the work sucked and we like beer. Sanding is the devil’s work, I swear it. JUST LET ME GET TO THE PAINT AND THE PRETTIES ALREADY!!! But alas, I would have been heartbroken if the new colours chipped off with the old and so it had to be done. For the record, I got through one chair of sanding while Ryan moved on to number three. Call it inefficient work if you want, I call it dedication. Either way, we started out with a pretty low grit sandpaper, figuring the paint was so old and weather-worn that it would simply chip right off with a little resistance. Bwahahahaha…we moved on to the flathead screwdriver in almost no time flat and took out some aggression on the poor inanimate objects. It took little effort but was extremely time consuming. We didn’t much care what the underside of the table looked like since we’re not planning on selling our creation, so we mostly just chipped off the parts that were already lifting and wouldn’t take the new layer of spray paint.

later, he took his shirt off. Happy Mothers Day, self;)

What I’m saying/showing you is that this was a lot of work, but we figured since we’re kind of broke in the dollars department, when you get a structurally terrific table set for free, you can make $50 worth of spray paint really work to your advantage. And that’s just what we did.

Wouldn’t you know it- all this work was completely, 100% worth it. Check out this customized no-one-else-on-the-planet-has-this-set-eat-your-heart-out Higgy Patio Goodness:

Ta-motherhumping-Da

I contemplated Oil Rubbed Bronze so it would “go with anything,” and then I remembered that I’m not not a goes-with-anything kind of girl and since it was Mothers Day and all, I let the family pick out their favourite colour to put on a chair. That chair would be theirs, I didn’t care what colour they picked. I got two chairs since there were six and it was my day. Plus I’m selfish and a little pushy. Here’s the breakdown:

 All paints are from the Rustoleum Multi Purpose Painter’s Touch Gloss aerosol cans. (some have a 2Xs cover, which we didn’t use, but I would recommend for the lighter colours as they took a few coats.)

Annika: Berry Pink

Isabella: Deep Blue (we don’t know why either, but she loves it. she wins because we all love that colour the best)

Dad: Colonial Red…obvious reasons are obvious

Maëlle: Sun Yellow (we might have picked for her, but she nodded)

Mom: Orange

Table: Key Lime

For the record, we had some pallets laying around under our deck and were able to prop up the chairs & the table for easy spraying. I recommend it. You could probably find some sitting out by the road, or ask at a local drug store or building materials store if they’re looking to get rid of any for free. We can only very recently recycle spray paint cans in my city, check your local recycle guidelines to see how to properly dispose of used aerosol cans.

I’m completely in love with it. We ate on it yesterday for the very first time and it’s awesome. I can’t even imagine covering up the bright chairs with cushions, but I’ll have to see what the hot sun does to my bum before I make the call not to. The umbrella leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s just the leftover one from the old set who’s table busted into one gajillion pieces of glass one stormy morning, it’ll work for now.

BEFORE: Lame Plain Jane

AFTER: Wicked Awesome

I’m pleased as punch to look outside in the backyard and always see such bright, vibrant colours. The table even pretty much glows in the dark it’s so bright! And it makes up for what my garden lacks in colour right now.

Super fun! Grab some spray paint, bitches! But mind the trigger finger, cause dayum my hand hurt for like three full days after all that painting. Find yourself something to paint, I can almost guarantee you’ll love what you’ve made!

Tagged as: bright spray paint colours, redoing a patio table, rustoleum painters touch, spray paint, spray paint on metal, spray painting patio table, spray painting tips, thrifting