A few months ago, I was looking at my dreary backyard, so ready for spring to get here. I wanted some life and color back there, and I knew it would be a while before our blooms and plants were in full swing. My eyes rested on a little conversation area I had created the year before. Two old, worn plastic adirondack chairs, a rusty and faded metal table (complete with imprints of all signs of the zodiac) and then two cute kid-sized plastic chairs.
As the rest of the garden springing to life, I knew something had to be done with those chairs. Given they were almost 10 years old, I knew I could have easily donated them and purchased some new ones. But I was up for a challenge and went and purchased a few cans of spray paint that would work on plastic (Krylon Fusion is the brand I used).
To prep the chairs, I just hosed them off with my nozzle set on jet, wiped them dry and allowed them to finish drying in the sun for about 20 minutes. I completely ignored the specific prepping instructions on the can – I figured the worst that could happen is I would have to buy new chairs.
I used 3 cans of paint per chair, and just a half can for the table. A lot of paint was wasted with the chairs due to the spaces in between the slats. My plastic tarp (and my toes) were covered in red when I was done. Krylon now has a brush-on version of their Fusion line in a can, but every store I went to only had the spray paint. In retrospect, I might have saved some money and paint if I had searched for the brush-on version, but oh well! I wanted to test them out right away, but I kept everything on my porch for a full week to allow the paint to cure (yes, I followed that part of the instructions!).
The chairs now sit in our back bed, right next to the trampoline and water table. It is the perfect spot to relax and watch the kiddos at play. Overall, it was a pretty easy project. I had a sore forefinger for a few days, but that is to be expected. It probably would have been easier (and even cheaper) to just buy new chairs, but I’m glad I didn’t. The end result is exactly what I wanted.
