Painting Patio Cushions And What I Learned

My patio chair cushions needed to be refreshed. After sitting in the shed for three years, they were kind of grungy. I tried washing them but they were stained from all the dirt and pollen.

So I decided  I'd try painting them. I figured I had nothing to lose even if it didn't work out - I gathered my supplies...off white homemade chalky paint, black paint, water, paint brush. I dampened the one side of the cushion and then painted on a thin, watered down coat of paint. Let it dry then painted a second coat. The flower pattern was still showing through. It took two more coats of paint.

I liked the way it was going, so the other three cushions got their first two coats painted on too.

After two more coats, I let them all dry before tackling the black stripes I wanted to paint on. A light sanding then I tried to stick tape on the first cushion to mark off my stripes. The first "disaster". The tape wouldn't stick so holding in place, I painted the first stripe followed by the others. Ugh, it was awful looking and I messed up the spacing. Maybe if I added horizontal stripes? Oh, no, I should have left well enough alone! "Disaster #2"!  I didn't want to have to paint over it and try to hide the black. Time for plan B.

Two hours later I had this: four cushions with these pretty new covers.

Yep, I bought fabric and recovered each cushion.  I figure the paint will just make the them more waterproof. Fortunately, the fabric was half off and sewing them didn't take long.

What did I learn? I did learn I could paint fabric but I need a better plan for adding pattern. Stencil perhaps? And painting fabric takes a lot of patience since you have to keep the coats thin which means it takes several coats to cover. Plus you have to let them dry in between coats. Kind of annoying for a two sided cushion you want done quickly.

So next time? I'll probably just get fabric for such a small project.

In other news, yard sprucing up continues. The pups left our test grass alone so Bruce ordered 2 pallets of grass to put down.

Because I'm still taking it easy with my back, I had our son come over and help (bribed him with supper- ha). He and Bruce had it all done in a couple of hours.

I can't tell you how strange it is to walk out and see green grass. After three years, it's a beautiful sight to see.

Now all I have left to do is to repaint the table and chairs, add plants and BBQ art, and spruce up this find from Canton!

It's going to make the perfect barbecue accessory cart.

Hope your week is going well!
Hugs,
Cecilia