Outdoor Furniture Upgrade with Before and After Photos

This is a project I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but things kept getting in the way!  One of the things getting in the way was that the entire apartment community that we live in was repainted in the spring/summer.  This is a story in itself, so I’ll save that for another later.

Anyway, several other things needed to line up perfectly for this project to take place.

First, my best friend, Steven, had to be available because he is the SUPERMAN of all repairmen, handymen, and all around amazingness in general. 

Second, MB had to be available because there is still so much to be said about having two strong, amazing men at my disposal. 

Third, the weather had to cooperate because there is no convenient garage for cover just in case it rained and this brings me to the rain.

Weather tangent:
Everyone, everywhere talks about the weather, posts about the weather… heck I could write about the weather here every day and I’d probably have followers just for the weather updates!  It’s a little boring right now though considering (when I wrote this) we’ve had triple digit 100 degree heat for almost 3 weeks in a row AND without fail every afternoon around 5pm we get a thunderstorm that causes the temperature to drop as much as 25 degrees in a few minutes.  Yup, good old boring weather.

If you live in Texas, you’ll understand how the weather works, if not let me give you a brief description.  It’s bipolar.  There are no true seasons.  Its hot 10 months out of the year and the other 2 months it’s coldish. Everything closes down if there is a hint of ice or heaven forbid, SNOW.  It’s either flooding or there is a drought.  It’s either hotter than hell or it’s not.

Now you understand why the weather had to cooperate.  Then, as if my trivial request had been heard by the weather Gods, the sun began to shine much more consistently.

Sooo, ALL the things that had to fall into place to accomplish this project in June 2016 were finally happening!  Since Steven does get paid for working as a handyman and I couldn’t afford him, we agreed on a few things and one was that this project would count as my birthday present, MB’s birthday present, Christmas, and all other holidays in which I would normally expect presents as part of the agreement.  AND food, I would feed him while he was here.  Not pizza, but fancy pants chicken and homemade dessert!  This is why my chaotic chronic pain had to cooperate too.

What is this project of which I speak?  Why it’s painting furniture of course!!!  The majority of pieces that needed a coat of paint were outside on the balcony, a variety of wood, metal, and rubber, some were older than all of us put together and had been painted with lead based paint in another life time and others just needed a new color, some needed to be thrown out.  I figured the ones that needed to be thrown out could be salvaged another few years with spray paint after all, spray paint is like glue, right?!  Well, take a look at all the photos and let me know what you think!

Looking for recipes? Find the list of links below all the photos.

Don't you love before and after photos?!
Let's see them!!!

Steven getting everything just right

because he's a perfectionist like me!

THANK YOU STEVEN!

Here's my Sweet MB helping with prep work!

This table has such amazing texture 

so I didn't sand off all the old paint!

After all the work and good food, it's time to dress it all up!  I've been adding some new plants, re-potting old ones, and propagating too.  

Of course I'll be sharing those adventures 

with all of you in an upcoming edition here on Kristina's Chronicles.

There is so much left to do and it's been so hot we've only been able to enjoy a few evenings outside. We'll be out there much more when it begins to cool off a little bit.

For now, an ice cold glass of my sweet tea helps keep us chill!

We used Rust-Oleum ^^^^

BROWN for WOOD products
LIGHT BLUE for the WOOD table
BRONZE/METALLIC for the iron shelves
RED for WOOD and the metal step ladder

The materials that were painted were first washed with a mild solution of soapy water, rinsed and dried for a few days.
Then, we sanded most all of the pieces in preparation either with sand paper or a wire brush and wiped them down with a clean cloth before painting. They were all dry overnight although I let them sit for over a week before I put any items on the tables or shelves.

It's been a couple of months since this project has been completed and everything has held up nicely. Even the outside tables and shelves that have been exposed to the heat and moisture still look great.

If you have any questions, leave me a comment!


RECIPE LIST:
FANCY PANTS CHICKEN WITH BACON

COCONUT CHESS PIE

CROCK POT LASAGNA
TURTLE POKE CAKE