making a patio set

When we moved from Southern California, my hubby said to give away or sell everything and we would get new stuff....  well... it didn't really happen like that.  I gave away and sold a lot of really great furniture pieces, some of which I really miss and regret getting rid of.  Our teeny apartment has no space for a table and chairs... so we really needed a patio set...  so what is a resourceful gal with limited funds to do?  Break out the paint and go to town... 

I am a big fan of the Hazardous Waste Materials Collection Facility in CoCoCounty.  They always have a TON of paint... I found the best day to go is Saturday afternoon.  They get a lot of donations on saturdays.  I got 5 gallons of Kilz primer, 5 gallons of white satin latex interior exterior paint, 6 gallons of various white, blue and green paints, some pre mixed mastic for mosaics, faux patina paint, 20 quarts of various shades of white cream and blue.  I mix all the whites together, all the creams together and the blues I mix with whites and greens to get soft blues and aquas... and the best part of all... it is 100% FREE!!! you can only make one stop there a day for stuff, but you can take as much as you want!  Whenever I go to the bay area with my car, I stop there and get paint.  So see if you have one in your area.  If your community recycles these things like they should, there should be a lot to choose from.  I can say the one here in OC is pretty bad.  Not much stuff.  I think people don't recycle down here as much as they do in Northern California...

I had these 4 wooden folding chairs that my mom gave me.  They were really weathered, so I painted them a couple years ago with a bright green.  The color faded, and I really loved it.  Then I was at the goodwill and found 4 more folding chairs in really great shape for 6.99 each.  So I got all, 4.  I painted them all apple green, and I must say they turned out really cute!

 

I had a table and chairs that was silver and gold.  I spray painted it white and recovered the seats.  A simple process where you turn the chair over, unscrew the seat board, remove the existing fabric and replace with something new.  I saved the cushions, and just recovered it all, stapled it in place with a staple gun and reattached the seats to the chairs.  The fabric I used was a plastic coated fabric that is waterproof for the more wet outdoor weather of northern california.  I had 5 chairs, so I mixed in 4 green folding chairs for a table for 8.  I like the ecclectic look of the mixed wood chairs with the metal ones.  I also love the bright spring colors.  Even in fall in winter the colors are so cheerful and reming me of the warmer weather that I love. 

I would love to hear about a patio or garden makeover project you have done.  Please post a comment and add a link to your blog with some photos.  I love to see what other people come up with.