New patio furniture can be prohibitively expensive, but the good news is that if you're on a budget, it's easy to find old stuff at thrift stores and flea markets. Although it may have seen better days, don't write it off. You may be able to rescue it using one or more of these techniques.
- Clean it. Because outdoor furniture is left to the elements for long period of time, it can get pretty grimy. Use a deep-cleaning product like BioWash or Oxyclean on dull or dirty plastic furniture.
- Buff it with steel wool. If you have unpainted metal furniture that's looking a little rusty, scrubbing it with steel wool can be an effective way to remove rust and bring out the shine underneath.
- Spray paint it. Quick, easy, and cheap, spray paint works well on metal and wood. You can also buy special spray paint for plastic furniture.
- Take it to an auto body shop. A professional auto paint job works well if you're looking for a very durable, high-gloss finish. Not all places will service furniture, so call in advance to make sure your local shop is up for the job.
- Add new fabric or cushions. It's an inexpensive way to make a dramatic transformation. Use oilcloth or a tablecloth to cover an old table, or add new cushions to a seat.
(Re-edited from a post originally published on 6.09.2010 - CM)
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Can anyone tell me the source of those cute round cushions? I am having a hard time locating cute small to medium size round cushions or pillows?
I have white wicker patio chairs...over a yr old. Can anyone give me ideas on how to clean them? Also is there a way to paint them a different color...?
There's a used furniture store selling a yellow patio set exactly like that near my house. I keep passing it up, because it's one of those "so ugly it's cute" kinda things out of context. Looks really cute here, though! I may have to reconsider.
The round cushions in the photo I bought at Ikea a couple summers ago.
And I suggest some really good spray paint for your wicker chairs vinithra. The wicker set above I spray painted because it was an ugly dark green. (And then I had to throw the whole set out last summer because the rain did it in).
i really dont want to be snarky, but it seems lame to repost content from two years ago. is AT running out of ideas that badly?
@ littlemouse. It's not lame. Not everyone has been reading AT for that long and isn't going to delve back over two years of back posts to find the info.
I don't think it's lame to repost after a couple of years on occasion... if every post was a repost, that would be different, but in this case the content is relevant to the season and I'm sure there are plenty of new members to AT (or people that didn't catch the original post) that would appreciate this and find the info useful.
I agree that the reposting is fine -- I mean, @littlemouse, have you come up with radical new innovations in fixing patio furniture in the past two years? If so, please share. If not, then I don't see why reposting perfectly useful info is a problem.
I got really lucky; the previous owners of my house left their old patio furniture behind. It was pretty tuckered out (metal chairs, metal and glass table, faded cushions, and for some reason they took the umbrella. I bought a new umbrella and bright cushions at Target, along with a few cans of white spray paint. (The metal was unpainted before, and the cushions had been maybe a tan and pink floral but were faded to bleah. New look: White, green, brown and navy stripes, navy umbrella, white metal.) Now everybody raves about the "new patio set."
Vinithra - use a dishbrush and some soapy water to clean them and spray paint if you want to paint them a different colour.
Don't forget the power of a pressure washer... My parents trash-dug a set of four plastic adirondack chairs in baby blue, that looked absolutely horrid. We were planning on washing+spray painting, but the pressure washer made them look brand-new! A neighbor's loss was our gain for 2 hours worth of hosing them down. (the only downside: still being mortally embarrassed that my parents have no qualms picking things out of the trash!)
Wow!!!!from old ones transform into new look,I will just follow the 5 ways to update my old patio...Thanks!