Your homes appeal on the inside is great because you hired a maid service so you could have time for other things. One task that should be on your list is improving your outdoor areas. The biggest impact would be the furniture. Nevertheless, you don’t need to buy new furniture to get new furniture. All you need to do is refresh the look of your existing couches, chairs, tables, and/or benches. Yes…that can be done and you will be surprised with the results. Here’s what you do.

Clean the Surfaces

The first step to obtaining your new furniture involves preparation. You need to clean each and every chair, table, bench, and/or other complimentary piece. Depending on the materials, you will need different cleaners or tools. Plastic, vinyl, and fiberglass can use outdoor furniture cleaner, which may also be labeled as outdoor plastics cleaner. Wood can use paint or polyurethane stripper and a scraper to peel off existing paint. Metal can use a paint stripper too, but you may not need it. For metal items, the best way to clean them is to wire brush them or use a drill with a brass wire wheel. Then follow that with a dry cloth to wipe off the remnants and rust dust.

Prepare the Surfaces

Once you have cleaned the surfaces, you need to prepare them for painting or staining. Most paints require either a primer or a roughed surface to apply to. The metal surfaces will already be scuffed from the wire brush cleaning, but the plastic materials may need a wire brush too. Some paint adheres to any condition, but is more costly. However, that would save a lot of time. For paints that require primed surfaces, apply your primer of choice. Wood surfaces will be ready to stain or prime, depending on your preferred application.

Paint or Stain

Now you are ready to refresh your furniture to almost new condition, whether by stain or by paint. For wood materials, stains are available in many tints and offer choices in translucency. You may want to apply a polyurethane coating over the stain to preserve the surface and protect it, unless the outdoor stain used has built in protection or coatings.

For metal surfaces, you can mix colors by using painter’s tape to paint in different areas. There are tons of color choices there too and you can pick your gloss level as well. The higher levels of gloss are generally easier to clean and offer the best protection. However, they can be more prone to cracking in rare cases.

For plastic surfaces, such as vinyl, fiberglass, or even standard plastic; you can select your color or colors and follow the same procedure that you would for metal surfaces. Paint or prime and use tape to mix colors on the surface.

Once you have finished the project you will be amazed with what you have accomplished. It takes patience to get the best results, but it will be well worth the time.