Wicker Chair Makeover

The Find

I found two of these worn wicker chairs one night. They were lightweight and had a good shape to them, too bad someone put them out with the trash - but good that they were still salvageable!  I really liked the wide armrest and gracious curve of the backrest - nice lines.

Wickerness.

The (Half) Makeover

The white paint on these wicker chairs was cracked, flaking, and overall in really poor condition. In addition, on some of the legs the wrapping was coming undone.  I fixed the loose wrapping with some super glue and clamps - that seemed to do the trick!

Coming undone

Cracked paint

Paint missing on some fibers

It was clear that these chairs had spent some time exposed to the elements.  I've never refinished wicker furniture before, so this was a new process for me.  I decided that the first step was, AS ALWAYS WHEN PAINTING, surface prep!  So I used a stiff scrub brush to scour off the loose paint as best as I could.  Then I used a can of spray paint to try to get into all the nooks and crannies of the wicker.

Ocean Mist spray paint can

The color I used was 'Ocean Mist', a very very pale blue. Wicker has many many nooks and crannies, and I used an entire can of spray paint on one chair without even fully coating it to my satisfaction.  It was maybe 1.5 coats in some spots, but only 1 coat in others.  This resulted in  "uneven" color across the chair.  On some of the chair-front the blue color was much more apparent because that part had received a second coat of spray paint.  I estimated that to spray both chairs and get full coverage with even color would take 3-4 cans of spray paint.  If I were planning to keep these chairs for a long time I would definitely consider that a fair investment in such nice patio furniture.  However, I knew these chairs were only going to be around for a few months, and in peak summer I don't actually spend much time sitting outside. So I stopped at one chair with as much coverage as I could get on the underside and topside.  You can see that the pale aqua color was starting to be visible, but that a few more coats would have helped smooth out the surface.

Ocean Mist - 1 coat

Here is the chair in its home-corner after getting as much spray paint as it was going to get from me.

Sitting pretty

Conclusion

The color-mismatched pair of wicker chairs hung out for a while and the newly spray-painted one held up nicely.  The chair shape was very comfortable, and if I had a larger and more permanent space I would have hung on to these curvaceous beauties!  But alas, they eventually went on to their next home, where I hope they will bring others comfortable repose.  

Happy freestyling - don't be afraid to shift your plans in response to a reality check!

Sitting prettier with a freestyle pillow

Bonanza of Blue Patio Furniture

 The Furniture Finds

One two separate evening walks around the universe I came across a pair of blue patio chairs, and also a metal-frame loveseat with blue cushions.  All of these pieces had seen better days, and I'm guessing they had been sitting outside on a porch or patio for a bit.  But they all seemed intact (no loose legs or fabric rips) and ready to benefit from a good cleaning.

Blue chair pair (stacked)

Not feeling the love...seat

Loveseat, backside

The Cleaning

The two blue chairs were, despite a bit of dirt, in perfect condition. (Thank you curb givers!). So with a little soap + water + brush action they cleaned up nicely.

With the loveseat I was only able to wash the covers and the smaller (upper) cushions in a washing machine.  The seat cushions will have to wait until another solution presents itself, they will just stay as they are since the plan was to keep the piece outside anyway. But again, thank you curb givers for putting this out so it could find a new home.

The Conclusion

I have some friends who just bought a house and mentioned they were looking for patio furniture! 

What coincidence!  I realized that my limited patio space was best used for plants, not for lounge furniture (maybe if this were a large space - but it is not!).  So I offered up the blue beauties (and some orange and white pillows I had found and cleaned) and everyone was happy.

Look at this lovely setup!

Sitting pretty on a new covered porch.

Happy freestyling. Don't be afraid to take something, clean it or fix it up, and then offer it back up to the world as an act of kindness - someone will ALWAYS want it.

The Perfect Patio Set in Boldest Yellow

The Find

With so much time spent at home, and the arrival of spring, I decided it was time to have a proper dining table and pair of chairs on the patio. Naturally I turned to second-hand sites on the internet because I'd rather buy local than have something large and heavy shipped for afar.  The tricky limitation was the size of the available transport vehicle, a small 4-door car.  I was searching for bistro sets when I came across a listing for two metal chairs and a table -- I was over the moon. They were painted bright yellow and so cute! So garden-appropriate (there wasn't much of a patio garden at that point, but that's a story for another post).  I set a pickup time, and the seller sweetened the offer, without any asking on my part, by simply giving it away for free. So lovely!

The Transport

Luckily the pickup was not too far away, but I was still worried about it fitting into a small car. But one of the chairs (So. Heavy.) folds up and fit in the trunk, and somehow the table and other non-folding chair fit into the back seat.  Here is a photo I took from the front seat.
Tip: always bring towels or some sort of padding when you are picking up furniture, you never know where you'll need cushioning!

The Joyous Use
Once the patio set arrived in its new home it got a bath on the lawn to wash away the dust.
















After that all we had to do was let it dry and carry it up to the deck and sit down for a snack to enjoy the new dining space.

Conclusion

Thank you person who gave away this patio set!  Your generosity is appreciated every single day whenever I look out the kitchen window, sit down for a meal, or just step out onto the patio.  I'm still pinching myself at my luck.

Happy freestyling!

Tiny and weathered wooden table

Sometime during the winter months I found a small table and matching chair, clearly patio furniture given the greyed weathered look of them.

I only took the table because the chair, although very solid and clearly well made, was in rougher shape on the surface.  The freestyle not taken, sigh, because sometimes you know you just don't have the space, time, or tools to fix something up.  At least I got a tiny table out of it though.

After floating around in a few spots I realized that the tiny table was a good size for my thrifted silverplate planter that holds a bunch of Haworthia succulents.

 




































So now there is a happy little spot by the window where weathered wood, old silverplate, and plants co-exist in harmony and create a little stair-step effect for one corner of houseplants.

 Happy freestyling.