As soon as the weather gets warmer, we all pull out our patio chairs into the backyard or out of the shed at the cottage. Often, outdoor furniture doesn’t “winter” well and starts to look weathered after a season or two. We are teaching you how to paint outdoor furniture with Fusion Mineral Paint today. The information shared in this blog post is going to help you to makeover your outdoor furniture set, give your chairs or table a new lease on life and save you a load of money!

Most exterior or outdoor furniture is made of plastic or wood. Plastic patio chairs are everywhere these days and easy on the bank account. What we often find with plastic outdoor patio chairs is that they fade in the sunlight over time and then when we go to set them out again after a long winter, they look horrible. Then sometimes you just take them out and wonder, “Why did I buy this colour chair again?”. Maybe you were into red two years ago but not this year.

Time for an outdoor furniture makeover courtesy of Fusion Mineral Paint. Although we are sharing how to paint a plastic outdoor chair with Fusion Mineral Paint, this tutorial is the same for outdoor wood furniture as well! Two for one guys!

 

The before! A basic red plastic Adirondack – or as well call them in Canada, a Muskoka chair! A cottage classic.

Whatever your reason for wanting to improve or change the look of your outdoor furniture, instead of buying brand exterior furniture, why not update it with Fusion Mineral Paint? It’s super easy to create a new look, and yes, you can absolutely paint plastic with Fusion Mineral Paint. We get that question A LOT in Paint It Beautiful.  You can also paint metal, glass and other hard-to-paint surfaces.  This tutorial gives you a quick and simple way to give your exterior furniture a fresh look in hours.

What you’ll need to paint your outdoor furniture:

• Fusion Mineral Paint in the color of your choice (we used Inglenook on this plastic chair)
• A Staalmeester paint brush
• TSP
• Lint-free cleaning cloths/pad
• A plastic container for your TSP mix (instructions on the label)

Step 1 – Prep Your Outdoor Furniture – Clean 

Clean your chairs or table OR BOTH! Get rid of the dust, dirt and any debris that is on it. In our case, the chair was really dirty as it had been left outside all winter. You can use our TSP to give it a good wash down and prep the surface for paint. Any painting project is only as good as your prep so making sure your surface is clean before painting is a must. Please follow the instructions on the TSP to use it correctly. Although it is not necessary to wash the chair with water after cleaning with your TSP solution, it doesn’t hurt to give it a quick rinse with just water after. Let it dry completely before moving to the next step.

Jennylyn gave this old chair a quick clean in the sunshine with a small amount of water with a little TSP mixed in.

Step 2 – Paint your outdoor furniture 

Get ready to paint! Always paint in the direction of the grain of the chair or table (even with plastic) and remember the cardinal rule of painting with Fusion Mineral Paint – thin coats are better than thick coats. So apply one thin coat, let dry completely and go over a second time if needed. We suggest waiting at least a few hours before doing the second coat.

You will find that Fusion Mineral Paint goes on really easily as it is a self-levelling paint. As you can see from the photo below, that finish is so smooth! Look how amazing this chair is already looking!!! Totally transformed from faded red to a modern farmhouse.

Step 3 – let your outdoor furniture dry and prepare to apply a second coat if needed

Let dry and apply a second coat or touch-ups where needed. Depending on what colour you are going from, one coat may be all you need. This was one coat with some touch-ups in spots! Inglenook has amazing coverage. Coverage with different colours changes due to the pigments and makeup of each colour so it varies from colour to colour.

Step 4 – prepare to fall in love with your patio set, outdoor chairs or table all over again!

You’re done! And you have yourself a gorgeous new chair, in a custom colour of your choice!

One of the best things about Fusion Mineral Paint is that it is an excellent paint for outdoor furniture. It is waterproof and the color lasts a very long time due to the mineral pigments being used. We washed down the chair a couple of days later without any issues. And you do not need to use Ultra Grip prior to painting. Fusion Mineral Paint will work just great for this project on its own! We do recommend not leaving your Fusion painted outdoor furniture outside in harsh conditions to prolong the lifespan of the item. So if you can, store indoors during the winter or at least have the items covered. 

We filmed a great Live Facebook Video about how to paint outdoor furniture

If you have any outdoor chair makeovers, by all means, please share them with us in our Paint it Beautiful group on Facebook!

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