Spray Paint Mesh Metal Outdoor Patio Furniture
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Spray paint metal outdoor furniture for a quick update. I used Rustoleum All In One Spray Paint with Primer, color Oil Rubbed Bronze. A good quality spray paint works wonders.
Today is themed furniture day, and the theme is “outdoor furniture”. Not only is my project super simple…..it’s budget-friendly. Gotta love that.
We have a set of outdoor furniture, including a large round table and two of the original four swivel rocking chairs. The set is 20+ years old, and it was pretty expensive when new back in the early 90s….it was made to last.
The metal frames are heavy, and that’s a plus. The chairs are super comfortable, and they swivel and rock. The original mesh in the seats gave out several years ago. At the time, I decided to redo the seats. Boy, was that a job.
I searched the fabric stores for outdoor fabric to match the 90’s blue color of the frame. I found one design at the time, and when I looked for similar fabric recently, I didn’t have any luck.
Removing the original fabric from the tubing and replacing it with the new fabric was very, very, difficult. I’m sure there is a special tool just for this type of project, but I love doing things the hard way.
When the replacement fabric on two of the chairs gave out, we tossed the chairs. I know…..bad. Sometimes, you have to say, “I’m done.”
The paint on the chairs and table is faded and a little grungy. Well, guess what….I painted over it all….no cleaning…..who has time for that? You would never know all that grunge is under the new coat of paint.
I tested the spray paint on the fabric to be sure it was fabric-friendly and wouldn’t become hard or flake off. The fabric is plastic or Teflon coated…. or something.
I checked the fabric the next day, and the paint adhered just fine, and it didn’t make the fabric feel funny. I decided the project was a go.
The chair turned out beautifully. I love RustOleum spray paint. It sprays evenly and covers so well. I painted that chair in about 15 minutes, top to bottom and back to front!
It took one can of spray paint to cover the chair. You may be able to get by with less. I tend to go a little nuts with spray paint….overkill for sure. Since replacement chairs cost much more than a can of spray paint, it’s a win-win.
Now I need to paint the other chair and the table. We have two hard plastic outdoor chairs that are a really dark gray/black and the oil rubbed bronze color matches those chairs pretty well. So we have a set of four chairs for the table.
Bonus outdoor chair makeover…….
I bought new outdoor cushions for my chairs, and now I need to paint them, right? I even had spray paint in my stash that matched the new floral cushion fabric. How perfect is that?
I started with just one chair and may paint the remaining furniture a different color. Who knows. The green wrought iron chair came from my favorite junk shop.
The cushions have a variety of colors, and I could have gone in several different directions, but I love the paint I finally decided on. The spray paint is by Krylon and the color is Scarlet. The finish is chalky so it doesn’t have an in-your-face shine to it.
How pretty is that fabric? You just have to smile. I didn’t get any photos of me spray painting the chair. I can tell you it was a simple process and took less than an hour. That’s counting drying time on each side so I could turn the chair upside down and sideways!
The spray paint dries really, really fast. The name of the color is scarlet but it’s more coral than red. I always think of scarlet as being red. And that’s it for outdoor chair number two!
Do you have wood furniture to paint? My video tutorial below has all the details on priming furniture for painting….
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”xdv3CVgh” upload-date=”2019-05-15T00:42:29.000Z” name=”How To Prime Furniture Video Tutorial ” description=”How to prime furniture and choose the right primer. Details on how, why, and when to use primer on vintage furniture.”]
Furniture Priming Tutorial
I painted a vintage glider recently. You have to see it and the color I chose. Click here….Vintage Metal Glider.
Find my favorite Rustoleum Metallic Paint Colors Here.
Time to take the “Outdoor” tour. Click the photos below. Let me know which is your fav makeover. Have a great day and I’ll see you next week!
It did eventually flake off but took several years.
Hello,
The furniture looks great, could you tell me if the paint peeled or cracked on the fabric from the flexing up people sitting in it?
Our chairs were out in the rain and the paint did come off eventually over years. I don’t think the paint would stain your clothes but can’t say for sure. Oh and the paint only wore off of the mesh part not the metal part.
Hi, can I ask you if the paint on the chair comes off if this was by the pool? Do you leave the chairs outside in the rain? I want to spray paint my chairs but would hate to see the chairs stain our clothes or wet bathing suits. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.
Beautiful! Did one coat cover or did you need to do two? I’m doing this tomorrow!
I didn’t apply a sealer and they are holding up fine!
How are these chairs holding up? I’m considering doing this with mine. Did you need a top coat?
Oh Kathy- this looks fabulous.
I can’t even imagine how hard it was to replace the ‘fabric’.
Thank you for sharing this at Thoughts of Home.
We are so glad you are here.
Laura
White Spray Paint
It turned out great. I love Rust-oleum products too. Your chair turned out great! Thanks for sharing with us at Merry Monday.
Hi Sue, My table also has a glass top and when it gets cool enough outside (if ever) I’m going to tape that sucker off and paint it with the glass in place. Hope this helps. Thank you for the sweet comment!
I have a green metal outdoor table I want to paint, but I am hesitant because it has a glass top. I am trying to figure if I should just tape and cover or take off the glass, any ideas.
Love your site.
It’s good to know the paint will cover the mesh fabric. I had wondered about using it on a fabric like that. Thanks for testing it out! It looks great!
Hahaha… I tend to go crazy with spray paint too. Thankfully it’s not expensive! I love the new dark look on your chair. I’m sure when the rest of the set is finished it will look fabulous all together. <3
Don’t you love spray paint! I would not have thought to spray the fabric too. Genius and so pretty! Super save my friend:)
I think you’re right, that was a win-win!!! Chair looks great and how nice not to have to mess with the fabric again! Good Job!
The Rustoleum ORB paint is one of my favorites as well. It did wonders for your chair and I’m sure you will love it even more when you finish the entire set!
Looks great, not ready for the trash pile yet!
What a great save! I updated my glider rocker in the front and my outdoor patio set in the back the same way at the beginning of the Summer and they look brand new! Spray paint is magical, and I commend you for even trying to replace the fabric! XO
It does match. I have to paint my table now. It’s a large round one. It will go easy…after I get the glass top taped off!!
what a difference great job
you are so talented and such an eye
Kathy,
My table matches your chair. Great minds think alike. I love the paint you chose too. I would love to share a ice cold glass of lemonade with you this summer sitting in your freshly painted chair. Fabulous!
Happy Creating Darlin’,
Karen Marie
Looks like a new chair! Love it! It is always fun to see how much a little paint can transform something!
I used to have chairs similar to that and gave them to my son. I’m definitely showing him how he can refresh them in a new color that works better with his new house. They don’t make them like that anymore so it’s worth the refresh rather than replacing them. Gotta love Rust-oleum spray paint – it’s my go-to paint as well!
What a difference! It looks so much better now! Great job as always!
Hugs,
Karin
Shane, I replaced the fabric years ago….way before I started this blog. It was very time consuming and hard to get the fabric in the channels and stretched really tight. The best I remember it involved sewing the fabric around the piece that fits in the channel and then feeding the two pieces into each side. Wish I did have a tutorial for you. I bet you can find one on Google!
Bravo! I have done the same to my glider swing and patio furniture and it lasts for years. Cheap and easy fixes are the best!
I would love a tutorial on how to change the fabric on the chairs and where to find the fabric! We have the same chairs and one of ours tore in the seat! Yikes! I’d love to re-do and save some money! I’m thinking I will paint our chairs too! Love this idea! I had no idea you could paint the fabric and it would stay! Bonus!
Ok so I can’t just choose 1 because I love them all !
I’ve used this paint before. It works great, but my only complaint would be that the colors it comes in are so limited. Great project!
What an improvement! Spray paint works wonders, doesn’t it?
The seats on our outdoor chairs are wearing out and I’ve got to figure out how to replace them. I’m kind of bummed that you know from experience that it isn’t an easy job.