How to paint outdoor furniture

Projects 031I live in the desert. I had no idea that most states actually STAY green during the summer until I went on the GMC/Habitat for Humanity trip a few weeks ago. The lush green freeways of Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and Alabama were amazing. Southern Utah is beautiful too, don’t get me wrong. But, the rye fields aren’t green this time of year. They are yellow and dry. Because of the heat and dryness around these parts, outdoor furniture gets cooked. You can’t just spray paint outdoor furniture and expect it to last. So, today I’m going to explain how to paint outdoor furniture to last.

First, you need to make sure that your wood is prepped.Projects 030
Sand lightly with 220 grit sand paper.Projects 034Prime with KILZ. Ok, peeps, listen up, this step is NOT optional. I’ve had to talk a few readers off the edge because they skipped this step. You cannot skip it. Their paint is chipping off and on some occasions it is PEELING off. You will be sorry if you choose another brand of primer. I only speak the truth.BlogKilzPrimer1Important step: After your KILZ is dry, sand it with 220 grit sand paper to remove the gritty feel. If you sand off a little bit of the paint, don’t stress. You do not need to re-prime. Just sand until the surface feels smooth by touch.
Then you need to decide on what color you would like to paint your furniture. I LOVE krylon spray paint so if they have a color you like, proceed with spray paint. Unfortunately I wanted this particular table to be the same color as my front door {backstroke by Valspar}. So, I brushed it on. It is a rarity around here to actually BRUSH on any paint. I realize this. But, sometimes weird things happen.Projects 060 Next I made a stencil with my Silhouette machine. It was super easy, and if you would like instructions, check out my post about how to make a stencil.
Then I taped on the stencil and got busy stenciling.
 Projects 153 Projects 166
After the first area dried, I moved the stencil and continued until the entire top was stenciled.
Projects 159 Projects 164 
After the entire top was dry, I brushed on outdoor Minwax satin poly to protect it from the weather. I used the same product for my front door project and it has been great so far. I followed the directions perfectly. I brushed on the poly {with a nice Purdy brush}, let it dry, sanded it with 220 grit sand paper and repeated three times. I bought the poly at Wal-Mart.

Projects 199Projects 193 I’m pretty pumped with the finished product.

Patio TableHere is a reminder of how it looked “before.”Projects 033outdoor furniture   Stenciled furniture 
I LOVE IT! More importantly, my friend {who I painted it for} LOVES it more!

Published on August 16, 2012

7 thoughts on “How to paint outdoor furniture”

Leave a comment!

Keep the conversation going! Your email address will not be published.

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.