Before & After: Decking Out the Deck on a Budget
Spring has (maybe? hopefully!) sprung and now is the time to get outdoors. Natalie and her boyfriend recently moved in together and found themselves with a spare table that was a little worse for wear. Rather than toss it and buy all new deck furniture, they had the bright idea to give what they had a colorful upgrade and now they have a lovely outdoor space without breaking the bank.
This old table had been in storage and was showing its age- stained, chipped and scratched. The surface also had a 1970s/80s “flecked” paint job on top of the beautiful stain and solid wood- which really ruined the surface. We debated sanding everything down to the original (beautiful) wood- but there were so many large chunks of wood missing we decided to make it an outdoor table.
My boyfriend and I recently moved in together, this had been his table previously and we didn’t need two tables…BUT we did just move into a house that has an amazingly large porch, so we needed some outdoor furniture. Being on a budget, we used what we had.
We accomplished the project in about three weekends- first weekend was prepping (sanding, removing cushions, buying fabric and paint, etc). Second weekend was primer and chairs, last weekend was the table and last coats of gloss/enamel topcoat. I didn’t buy enough fabric (we were about 5″ short) and I thought it would be a snap to order more online, only to find out the pattern had been discontinued. Luckily, my boyfriend works in a hospital with a bunch of nurses and one of them has a husband in the “industry” and located eight more yards through back channels!! Whew! Our back-up plan was to paint two of the chairs a teal blue and give them different fabric for a mix and match feel…
Since we’re renting the house we can’t really do anything to the porch, and while it’s huge and amazing, the porch itself is pretty dark brown and lacks personality. I think the table and chairs bring a pop of much needed color and brightness to our outdoor space and I can’t wait to have brunches and dinner parties out there!
Natalie’s word of wisdom: We didn’t prime the chairs and that was a huge mistake, they took so many more coats of paint than the table and legs! PRIMER is real y’all!
Thank you, Natalie!