Have you ever stumbled upon an item that someone has thrown away and think “I can do something with this!”. When you see beyond the ugliness to only the potential beauty? That overwhelming feeling you get of excitement and surprise at your own good fortune? Well that exact feeling happened to me earlier this month as I was walking through my neighborhood.
I came across some pretty hideous looking patio chairs sitting alongside the curb. And with an open mind, I tentatively approached the set (not wanting my neighbors to notice me looking through someone’s garbage) and to my delight I discovered that the chairs were made of solid iron. The iron chair frames were still in great condition although only slightly rusting in spots. The upholstered seat, on the other hand, was moldy, gaudy and worn. Immediately I thought I had hit the jackpot! I urged the kids to pick up the pace (as fast as their little legs could take them) and head home so I could quickly return with my van to load up the great find.
All the chairs needed was a simple makeover. With an upcycled design plan in place I began the transformation. I decided to repurpose the chair frames into a fun holder for potted flowers and place one of them in my garden. And the other one, I will give to my sister of course! I chose a lovely shade of pink paint (“Wildfire” Dulux Metalclad Gloss Alkyd) that matched to a potted geranium I had sitting on my porch.
And I couldn’t be happier with the results!
How to Paint Iron Patio Furniture:
- Quart of paint in your choice of colour
- Small bristle brush or foam brush (to get into the corners of the chair frames)
- Small paint roller and tray
To start, I gave the chairs a good cleaning with soap and water and left them to air dry.
Once dry, I placed them on top of old newspapers and began applying thin even coats of paint. Several coats of paint were required in order to get full coverage. I allowed enough time to dry in between coats and then flipped the chairs upside down and repeat on the undersides.
Once dry, I found a compatible sized pot to fit inside the seat. I planted some beautiful annuals inside the pot and positioned the new garden accessory into my garden.
To think someone actually thought these chairs were trash?! I guess it’s true what they say, “one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure”.
What trash have you turned into treasure lately?
What a great upcycle! The chairs look great as planters.
Thank you so much Beverly! Am looking forward to having this bit of colour in the garden in the winter.
We love the projects you ladies have on your site, particularly your recent coffee table makeover (http://www.acrosstheblvd.com/table-makeover-with-annie-sloan-old-white/).
Thank you for stopping by!
This is a fantastic idea! I’ve been looking for some fun ways to display some planters for container gardening, and I think you just solved my conundrum of not finding the right display. I’ll save this one for next year and I’ll be hitting up the garage sales like a mad woman 😉 Thanks for linking up to the Sunshine Life link up again this week! You have some fantastic ideas! I can’t wait to see what next week offers!
Thank you for stopping by Mary! Good luck on your hunt in the spring!
You girls have the BEST craft instincts! This is beautiful. It’s been great hosting the #homemattersparty with you through the month of July. Can’t believe the month is coming to a close.
Craft instincts! Love it! Thank you Amanda 🙂
The time has flown by- we can’t believe we’re into August already. Co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty with you has been great!
Wow, this turned into a cute, fun planter! Thanks for sharing another of your clever ideas! Love co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty with you!
Thank you Sarena! We are enjoying our time at the #HomeMattersParty with you as well.
It’s always fun to repurpose something (especially when you have an excuse to paint it a bright fun color) isn’t it?
It’s been great fun co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty with you
It really is Amanda! This was a bit of a departure for me (Jane) as I tend to stick with more classic, neutral colours. But am so happy how this turned out!
Looking forward to another month of the #HomeMattersParty.
I absolutely love this! Pinned and tweeted. Thank you so much for bringing such a masterpiece to our party. I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm. We can’t wait to party with you! Lou Lou Girls
Thank you so much for stopping by! We’ll see you at your Fab Party!
I love this. I am all about upcycling patio chairs.
Thank you Melissa. It’s especially great when they’re free!
Thank you for stopping by and being such a great co-host at the #HomeMattersParty.
Thank you so much for sharing your Upcycled Patio Chairs with us over at #WasteNotWednesday! They turned out so amazing!! Love the colour that you used! We are excited to be featuring your awesome chairs this week! Look forward to seeing what you bring to the party this week 🙂