Refurbished Garden Furniture

Andrea from Andrea's Attic found these chairs on Craigslist for $50. Wow! She must have seen their hidden potential, because I would have run the other way. Sure enough, they look awesome with a fresh coat of paint and new cushions. I also love the personalized Mr & Mrs pillows! Check out her blog: Andrea'sAttic,especially if you are considering painting wicker, as she offers some great tips. Tips that would have come in handy.

Here is what they looked like at the previous owners house. They were beachy and bright and fun. They were cute, but not really my style.

I googled "how to paint wicker" and found out that it was best to primer a couple coats and then use an oil based paint, not latex like I normally use. E was sweet enough to take care of the painting portion (he bought a new spray gun and likes to play with it) for me. I will tell you this much...I will never again hand paint anything that can be sprayed! That little gun is awesome (we got the kind that hooks up to an air compressor).

I bought some fabric to recover the existing cushions because there was nothing wrong with them and I'm cheap and super picky about fabric and generally all things. My Mama was kind enough to come over and sew these new cushion slip covers for me and even had the bright idea to velcro one end so I could change them out and wash them as necessary. She is a genius!

(The after picture is coming, just hold your horses!) I decided it needed a bit of flair and personalization. I bought pre formed pillows at a local craft shop for $2 each and covered them with burlap and tied the edges with ribbon. The finished product looked like this:

I then decided to add a cute "Mr. & Mrs." to the pillows. I cut out a stencil, taped it to the pillow and **dabbed** on black paint. I stay dabbed because you really don't want to paint burlap or it will seep.

This is sideways, but you get the idea ( I hope)