Patio Furniture on the Cheap

There is no doubt about it, patio furniture is expensive. I can't reconcile shelling out hundreds of dollars for something that will sit out in the rain. Not going to happen. A fellow homeschooler posted that she had some old white wicker furniture she wanted to get out of her house for free. Free is my middle name! I was glad to oblige. She gave me several pieces that were still in good condition. They included two chairs, a computer desk, and a small round end table.

I also ran across a white wicker love seat at a neighborhood garage sale. I think $10.00 was a good buy for this piece. It was in great condition. A word to the wise... make sure you have room in your vehicle to transport a large piece such as this before purchasing it. No, of course I didn't think about it until after I purchased it! We ended up carrying it home on our heads through the neighborhood. We must have been a sight!

This furniture is easy to find and is usually very inexpensive. I see white wicker furniture at garage sales all the time. Also check flea markets and Freecycle. None of my pieces are actually a matching set. It is amazing that a little paint can camouflage that nicely.

I purchased a new wire brush for $1.00 at my local discount store. This is the kind you use for scraping the grill. I put all the furniture outside in the grass and scraped the white wicker furniture down to get off all the loose white paint.

I coated each piece with a light first coat. It is important not to be too heavy handed here or you will end up with drips and not have good definition between the wicker weaving. A light second coat followed after the first had dried in about an hour. I flipped each piece over to get the bottom. I let them dry and my job was complete.

I really liked the Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Gloss in Leather Brown. It was the perfect color for my patio. Black would also be very beautiful. I have had to touch up in a few places on the furniture after a year. But a quick once over with the wire brush and a few squirts of paint did it. I found some pillows on sale last year at our local Garden Ridge store. I spent $34.00 total on the entire set including paint but not including pillows. Now we have an inexpensive and comfortable place to entertain or relax.