Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Salvaging Porch Furniture



My sister wanted to toss her porch furniture because the cushions had fallen apart and the metal frames were pitted and rusted. Connie wanted new furniture despite my explaining it was salvageable.


My husband and I couldn’t bear to see it trashed. We hauled the couch, coffee table, and two rocking chairs home from her house. I got to work on it right away—you can do this, too, if your metal furniture is showing wear and tear.


The cushions were indeed beyond redemption. My husband replaced them with some found at Home Depot. I eventually plan to make new cushions myself, but these will work for a couple of years.


After scrubbing everything clean, the corroded metal was dealt with by sanding every single inch using a metal sanding tool made by Black & Decker which attaches to a drill.


Once all metal pieces were smooth and rust-free, I primed everything and then painted each framework piece a soft fern green twice. I protected the glass section of the coffee table with newspaper and masking tape.



It’s all done now and ready for summer. Connie is not getting this furniture back.

22 comments:

* elizabeth * said...

My mother has that same furniture and same silver-y cushions. I was disappointed at how short they lasted. I like your stripes much better. great job.

Anonymous said...

Looks awesome! Great job. I inherited some really ugly wicker furniture with our house. Last summer I spray-painted it from white to green (and blogged about it) and this summer I am recovering the seat cushions from some ugly pink and blue mess to sunflowers. Feels good, hey?

Bobbi said...

I love to see new furniture come to life. And what a great deal for you and your family!

a pink-bee said...

Such a wonderful project ! I need to do this with out outdoor furniture ~ thanks for the incentive :)
crystal :)

Kristi said...

Great idea and great job. I am so into reusing and recycling these days. I am very impressed!

Sue said...

Wow, great job! I'm impressed. I'm going to keep my eyes open on Free Cycle. Maybe with some elbow grease I can get some new outdoor furniture.

Rosemary said...

I love it!!
That's what I would have done too!!
You know now that your sister will be jealous.
You two did a great job.
Rosemary

Rosie's Whimsy said...

Oh I bet your sister wishes she could reclaim them! You did a fantastic job! I love the choice of colors and cushions. :-) Rosie

JuliaB said...

LoL!.. I misread the last line of your post as "connie can now have it back" and I thought "how kind - I would keep it after all that hard work"!! It is very lovely. Unfortunately, here in the UK, it doesn't look like we're going to have much need for that sort of furniture ever again! I wish it would warm up and stop raining!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Great job June and Dub! That was much too pretty outdoor furniture to dispose of without trying to salvage it!
Now I bet Connie wishes she had your ingenuity! I guess you can treat her to a nice Barbeque in your backyard so she can still enjoy it! :-)

Hugs, Pat

Thimbleanna said...

But I'll bet Connie wants that furniture back! What a great job! I need new cushions for my patio furniture but when I price new ones I want to throw up -- they'll cost almost as much as the entire set cost. So, I've thought about just recovering the ones I have, but don't know how I'd possibly stitch all the way across them where they fold. Quite the dilemma! I need you to come and work your Junie Moon magic!!!

Yummers! said...

Your new furniture looks lovely!! There's such satisfaction in remaking something old to something new. Enjoy good times on your patio!
Joni
Jenny Craig yesterday... 9.9 lbs so far. Yea!! 8 weeks to the wedding.

rohanknitter said...

Great job! We need to do some work like that on our deck furniture.

kari and kijsa said...

Looks fabulous! Wonderful job...We know she wants it back!!!

blessings,
kari & kijsa

Leslie said...

Your new-to-you furniture turned out beautiful! I really appreciate your example of love and care for your home. You are a blessing! ~Leslie

Anonymous said...

Now I know what to do with a garden memorial sign that is rusted out in my gardens. It is a memorial for my best friend who died two years ago tomorrow. Glad I found your blog. You did a great job with your furniture. After all that, I wouldn't give it back either!
Brenda

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous redo !
mary
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homespun living said...

Beautiful job, June! I hate to see things thrown away that still have a lot of 'life' in them. Much of my porch furniture has come from yard sales & flea markets.

Deb

Unknown said...

June! That's beautiful!!! I love the green color, and more than anything, I love that you saved all of that from the landfill. Beautiful!

Unknown said...

great Job!

Gumbo Lily said...

Good for you! New (old) furniture! It looks terrific! I need to look mine over and see if it needs a good sanding and repainting.

Jody

Unknown said...

Simple restoration to an old and seemingly-irrecoverable furniture will lead to the said item to be reverted to its former glory. With that in mind, we can save a lot of money in making old stuff new again. That is why I regularly check if there was rust and corrosion on the hand forged iron fireplace accessories and the hand forged iron hooks that I had for many years now.