Patio Progress: Painting Furniture

I've been hard at work on my patio and I'm just waiting on my last toss pillow to come in.  Mr. 3 and I have really been enjoying sitting outside, so much so that when the temperature drops we just put more layers on before we go outside.  I'm hoping we will have one or two more warm weekends where we can have people over and convince them to sit outside with us without the aid of a parka.

As I mentioned in my last patio post, my color scheme is black, green, pink and champagne gold.  I wanted room to seat four people comfortably and also have a coffee table for eating.  My priority was to make the space comfortable but colorful without breaking the bank.  I found two chairs and a coffee table on clearance at Walmart.com.  I got free shipping by taking advantage of their site to store program (you have to wait slightly longer, but the savings are totally worth it).  I also purchased using Ebates, so I got another 2% cash back, which while small is certainly better than nothing.

Cosco Outdoor Folding Metal Slat Table
$29
Image Source: Walmart.com

Cocso Outdoor Folding Metal Slat Lounge Chair
$34
Image Source: Walmart.com

Upsides? I liked these chairs and table because the can be folded up and put away in our storage closet once winter really gets going.  The chairs are also really great because they have a nice wide seat and sit lower to the ground which makes them way more comfortable than sitting on a outdoor dining chair (which would be a few inches higher up and narrower).  Also, I really couldn't beat the price.  I was a bit shocked to find out how much outdoor furniture costs.  I knew places like Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware were really expensive, but I had no idea that places like Kmart and Target would charge over $100 for a chair!

Downsides? The color.  If you'll notice, sandy brown was not included in my color scheme list.  However, champagne gold was!

I grabbed my can of leftover Rustoleum from my bathroom hook project as well as 4 more from Home Depot and went to work on spraying them down....on my 80 sq. foot patio...while trying not to paint anything else like the sliding glass doors and the railing.  Things got pretty trashy looking pretty quickly.  I took some of our many moving boxes and cut them down to make barriers.  I lay down packing paper to cover up any cracks. I also took some plastic tarp we used during our move to cover up our daybed (more on the daybed later).

Sandy Brown Furniture & Packing Materials

I spent a lot of time maneuvering all the furniture around to be sprayed.  Because it rained for a solid week and I had to make trips for extra gold spray paint, it took me about 3 weeks to get it all done.

Post gold coating it looked like this:

I had chosen Rustoleum because I loved the color, it's meant for indoor and outdoor use, and many other blogs have used it before for outdoor projects.  I tried to do many quick light coats and allow for drying time in between.  The project wasn't without its casualties.  I got a bit of paint on the doors and I have a drip mark on one of the chairs. Whoopsies.

                           

The paint also hasn't held up well against scratches.  I've got a number of small nicks on both the table and chairs.  They aren't super noticeable probably to anyone but me; however, we will have to be extra careful to keep it that way.

Patio Cost Break Down

Coffee Table: $29

Lounge Chairs: $34 x 2 = $68

Spray Paint: $6.76 x 4 = $27 (I didn't count the leftover can from the bathroom hook project)

Painting Barriers: $0

Total Cost of Coffee Table & Chairs: about $124

Despite the scratches, I'm overall very pleased with how this turned out.  Worse case scenario, I'll repaint next summer!

What do you think?  Have I made you a believer in the power of champagne gold?