Decked up!

Our deck has two areas on it.  We have our "dining" area and our "living" area.  We got rid of our inside dining room last year when we knocked down the kitchen wall, but this is actually like our dining room, just outside, since we usually have our company eat outside anyway! Here in Southern California, we literally eat out here 11 months out of the year - the only time we can't eat out there is if it's raining or SUPER windy, since we have heaters and fans.





Well, we've had this outdoor set for probably 8 or 9 years.  I am still trying to figure out when exactly we got it, but I think it was before my 7 year old was born.  I remember getting it for a birthday, too! It was from Kmart - Martha Stewart's patio furniture. I decided to go with wrought iron because it was timeless and you could easily make it look nice again with a coat of paint.

  I used my favorite spray paint!



I hosed off the table and chairs the night before, then just wiped down with all purpose cleaner.  I used a little steel wool on a couple of rusty areas, but otherwise I just wiped everything.  Pretty easy.  Here is what one coat of this paint looks like {before on left, after on right}:



  A few more before and after shots:

Backs of the chairs

The table:







Now it's all ready for company again! I love wrought-iron because it's timeless and easy to fix up.  Next I worked on my outdoor couch.  It was a disaster! I got this set from Walmart about four years ago. The cushions never were that firm or great, but the whole set was half the cost of any other outdoor couch I could find - even delivered!

First thing, my hubby cut a board to put under the cushions - which were beginning to sag quite a bit from lots of people sitting on them! But sadly, the cushion still just looked awful! I can't wash the cushions as the covers don't come off! My plan was to purchase new foam and reupholster them.  You can see below, on the left, that I attempted to clean the cushions...but I just gave up on the rest of them!

The cost was going to be more than half of what I paid for the entire set to begin with....but, when I visited my parents this summer, their Walmart had their outdoor cushions on clearance! The bad news: they were red! The good news: they were cheap and pretty, and I was willing to overlook that!


  Look how thick they are! I decided that even though everything on my outdoor area was blue, I could live with the red for awhile longer...and maybe next year buy the fabric to recover them.  They went with the "back" cushions {which were in good shape still}...I spray painted the couch frame and plywood that went under the cushions in the ORB {Oil Rubbed Bronze}. I scotch-guarded the living daylights out of the new and old "back" cushions, too!

By the way, hubby routered the edge of the plywood so no one would get sliced up! So it's nice and smooth.  Here is the whole thing put together with all the mis-matched cushions behind my outdoor buffet. Everything actually looks pretty good considering that none if it is supposed to go together! It's so comfortable now.  This couch faces our outdoor fireplace and is fantastic at night!


  What kind of patio furniture do you have?  Do you use it a lot?