Repainting My Outdoor Metal Furniture
A new coat of paint can totally refresh and transform a piece of outdoor furniture.
Now that it's summer and we're able to do a lot more entertaining at home, I decided to have some of the crew work on a rather large project - repainting a number of outdoor metal furniture pieces one uniform color, Bedford Gray. Some of the items were old, weathered, and in need of attention, while others were simply the wrong shade or color. The first step was to designate a safe painting space. Then, the furniture pieces needed to be primed, dried, and finally painted with an oil-based enamel finish. This project took several days to complete, but I am happy with the final results and every piece looks great.
Enjoy these photos.
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- All the furniture to be painted was brought to the driveway in front of my Winter House carport. These pieces are fine, but I wanted them all finished in my signature color, Bedford Gray.
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- Some pieces were mismatched and in their original colors from when they were purchased.
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- And some of the pieces were a bit rusted and timeworn.
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- In one corner of the driveway, we put up a pergola from one of my previous outdoor collections and covered it with plastic sheeting. These plastic drop cloths come in a range of sizes and are available at most hardware stores.
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- Here’s Fernando securing the plastic to the frame using spring clamps. At the bottom, Fernando weighted the plastic covers with bricks.
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- Meanwhile, Carlos cleans all the furniture with a damp cloth, so the paint can be applied smoothly. Fortunately, the week’s weather forecast was perfect for this project. Ideally, temperatures should be between 50 degrees and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and relative humidity below 85 percent.
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- Pete begins to prime the first chair. It’s important to coat the furniture with a good quality metal primer and to coat everything completely as bare metal rusts quickly. It’s also a good idea to practice on a piece of scrap cardboard first to get the vertical and horizontal spraying movements consistent before painting the real piece.
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- Pete puts several chairs together so as to conserve the primer and allow the spray to coat more than one chair at a time. Always spray the object using an even side-to-side motion with each pass overlapping the spray pattern by about one-third.
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- For this job, we needed a strong air compressor. Air compressors work by forcing air into a container and pressurizing it and then pushing it out though the tank and the paint sprayer.
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- The inside of this trough needed to be sanded first to create a smooth surface for better adhesion.
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- Here’s one chair all primed – in Bedford Gray.
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- By afternoon, most of the pieces were also primed. The primer dries very fast.
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- Next – paint. It’s crucial to use a high-quality oil-based spray paint specifically designed for outdoor use to prevent rust.
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- Fernando pours the paint into the sprayer’s reservoir. The color is just right.
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- And then one by one each piece is sprayed. Always use a mask even when working outdoors. When spray painting indoors, always ventilate the room well by opening windows and doors.
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- When spray painting, use thin, multiple coats instead of one thick coat to get the best result.
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- Look how smooth this chair seat is after painting.
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- And here’s the trough all finished. It looks so much better.
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- The furniture is left to dry completely inside the carport for at least 24 hours.
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- And once it’s dry, it’s ready to be used. Here are two newly painted benches in front of my Flower Room just around the corner from my carport. I think they look great in this space. I am excited to place all the furniture out for the season. Old pieces made to look like new… it’s a good thing!
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