Spray paint mesh metal outdoor patio furniture. It's easy with Rustoleum spray paint, color oil rubbed bronze. A good quality spray paint works wonders. We have a set of outdoor furniture that includes 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 90’s….it was made to last. The metal frames are heavy and that's a plus.
Paint Mesh Metal Outdoor Patio Furniture
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.
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 project but I love doing things the hard way. Once…..never again.
When the replacement fabric on two of the chairs gave out we tossed the chairs. I know…..bad. Sometimes you just 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.
The miracle worker is RustOleum Metallic Spray Paint. It’s a paint and primer in one and the color is Oil Rubbed Bronze (Amazon affiliate link, read the disclosure here).
Project - Paint Metal Patio Furniture
I tested the 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 had that chair painted 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 in this post! I bought new outdoor cushions for my chairs and now I needed to paint them, right. I even had spray paint in my stash that matched the new floral cushion fabric. How perfect is that.
spray paint and outdoor cushions
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.
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.
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....
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!
Angie
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?
Kathy Owen
It did eventually flake off but took several years.
Cristina
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.
Kathy Owen
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.
Sandra
Beautiful! Did one coat cover or did you need to do two? I'm doing this tomorrow!
Christin
How are these chairs holding up? I’m considering doing this with mine. Did you need a top coat?
Kathy Owen
I didn't apply a sealer and they are holding up fine!
Laura
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
Shirley Wood
It turned out great. I love Rust-oleum products too. Your chair turned out great! Thanks for sharing with us at Merry Monday.
Sue Dorfman
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.
Kathy Owen
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!
Lisa
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!
Jen @ Girl in the Garage
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
[email protected]
Don't you love spray paint! I would not have thought to spray the fabric too. Genius and so pretty! Super save my friend:)
Kim Jones
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!
Tami @ Curb Alert!
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!
Bliss
Looks great, not ready for the trash pile yet!
[email protected] of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer
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
Linda Kaplan
what a difference great job
Linda Kaplan
you are so talented and such an eye
Karen Marie Kedzuch
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
Kathy Owen
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!!
Lindsay Eidahl
Looks like a new chair! Love it! It is always fun to see how much a little paint can transform something!
Marie, The Interior Frugalista
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!
Karin Chudy (ART IS BEAUTY)
What a difference! It looks so much better now! Great job as always!
Hugs,
Karin
Larissa ~ Prodigal Pieces`
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!
Shane
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!
Kathy Owen
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!
Angie Walsh
Ok so I can't just choose 1 because I love them all !
Angie
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!
Paula
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.