I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I painted an old outdoor furniture set and recovered the cushions for our new side porch. And so as promised, here are the details, broken down for you with links where I have them and all the steps I took. I must say, I thought the chairs and couch would look better, but I didn’t know they would look better than new!
The Original Set
I found this set of two chairs and a loveseat size couch at the end of the summer season in 2014 - at an Alberston’s grocery store of all places (one I never go to, even!). It was near our dentist and I needed to run in for something for dinner and there it was - on clearance. I can’t remember the price, but money was tight then, so I’m thinking it was under $150, 50% off. While just a basic poly outdoor fabric, the cushions had zippers and piping and I liked the classic lines of the metal frames. The chairs also rocked, which was nice. They’ve lived in our former cottage’s gazebo and on the farmhouse’s vegetable garden broken concrete patio.
What I never liked? The color. Brown frames and lighter brown cushions. Not too exciting, but it has always blended in. I always thought one day I’d paint the frames since our table was black. Cue more than a decade later…
The time had come. We had removed the concrete patio in the garden to create a new growing bed and the side porch finally had a floor (yay!). These had been piled up behind the garage for a year, but were still in good shape, actually. They only needed a good scrubbing before being ready for paint.
Note: They are completely metal except for where the cushions sit. I just avoided that area since it would never show, though it did receive a bit of overspray
The top photo shows the lichen that was on some of the frame - I was worried they’d be hard to remove, but they came off with a sanding block easily.
Steps:
Sand all metal areas lightly, especially if there are rusty areas.
Spray with strong hose setting (or pressure washer) and let dry.
I used Rust-Oleum Stops Rust Spray Paint in Satin Black that’s good indoors and outdoors. I bought a set of 6 and only needed 2 cans for all three pieces!
HUGE TIP: Get one of these spray paint gun nozzles when doing large jobs like this - they SAVE your hand and I’m so glad I discovered these years ago. Also, use an old glove to protect from overspray.
Spray furniture outdoors where overspray doesn’t matter OR use an old sheet as a drop cloth below and behind.
Use a steady pressure on the nozzle, moving in a slow back-and-forth motion to cover without causing many drips.
I started with the furniture turned upside down, sprayed all the areas that would be seen, let it dry a couple hours and then turned to spray the tops. I came back to touch up as needed and then let the furniture sit for a day or two to fully cure before adding any cushions.
I actually started recovering the cushions before painting the frames, since I knew they would take awhile. The old cushions were shredding (the backs were the least affected, but the bottoms were in tatters), but thankfully I could still pull apart the seams on a few to get patterns for the tops, bottoms, and sides.
I had decided on a couple things to make this potentially expensive and labor-intensive project go quicker and cost less:
I used painter’s cotton canvas drop cloth I already had - one 9×12’ cloth was plenty for the 8 cushions. So ALL the cushions could be recovered for less than $25, and my time of course.
I didn’t reuse the piping on the original cushions - they take more time and material.
I decided to forgo zippers - they were only included on the seat cushions and I removed them exactly zero times in 10 years, lol. I figured I could pressure wash the cushions once or twice a year. We’ll see how it goes!
As for the sewing - I used the cushion patterns I kept to cut out the canvas pieces and sewed the top to the side and then when I sewed the bottom I left a large opening to insert the foam cushions. I do have to say they were challenging to insert, but totally doable.
I did find out even with patterns from the originals that the covers were loose, so I bought some poly batting (since they would be outside) and wrapped the cushions with it after they were inserted, pushing into the areas where they were loosest.
I also had to zig-zag stitch the area I was leaving open after the first cushion shredded a lot when inserting the foam. It just made slip-stitching the opening easier.
The upper photo shows the simple slipstitch (or is it a whipstitch?). I did use a heavy quilting thread for this since I was pulling it tight to get a nice tight cushion.
I forgot to take photos of how I covered the buttons for the back cushions, so I recreated this really nice photo for you, lol. Here’s how I covered and attached them:
I cut a circle about 1/2” bigger than the button, stitched a large gathering stitch around the edge, placed the button in the center and pulled the thread tight, knotting it.
Then I attached a long piece of a heavy twine I had (thin enough to go through, but thicker than thread) and used a long upholstery needle I had - and a thimble, that’s key - to push it through to the other side.
I threaded the needle through the button opening and pulled tight, wrapping the twine around the shank of the button a couple times before tying it off under the button.
I honestly didn’t think that the cotton canvas would look so good with the new black frames, but I love it - way better than the original! It almost looks like it should always have been like this. I think the black brings out the classic lines of the frames nicely, especially against the contrast of the cushions.
I’m thrilled with how it all turned out and I have to say that the cotton cushions are way more comfortable than the poly outdoor fabric was. Would I do cotton if the furniture wasn’t under cover? Probably not - I’d pay more for an outdoor fabric for sure. But I’m glad I didn’t have to make that choice.
We’re out here sitting whenever we can and the weather allows - it’s so nice to have another place to go and enjoy the outdoors at the same time.
But now I don’t think my rusty found tables we added old barn wood to the tops work anymore. Hmmm… I do need storage, maybe I can find a cute storage option that would work for a table too? We’ll see!
