How to Update Old Patio Furniture

Do you have old outdoor furniture that functions perfectly well but is ugly? That you’d hate to throw away, but aren’t sure how to update? I am going to share how to update old patio furniture. These tips will help you with any patio furniture update!

tools

• Outdoor Spray Paint- white
• Black and White Stripe Outdoor Fabric
• Pillow Insert
• outdoor pillow cover (no longer available)
• 6″ wood board (no longer available)
• 2″ wood board (no longer available)
• miter box
• nail gun
• liquid nails
• measuring tape
• hammer
• pliers
• white deck paint
• clear coat spray paint

paint

Step one is paint. Paint is the cheapest way to upgrade the look on anything. We bought outdoor quality spray paint and gave the whole set a face lift.

recover your cushions

If you have cushions on your outdoor furniture, getting new covers will give your set a new look. There are TONS of adorable outdoor fabric options so you have the opportunity to show your personality. I use this gorgeous black and white striped outdoor fabric from Amazon. If you know how to sew, you can easily make them yourself! I show you how here. If you don’t know how to sew, you can hire someone on Etsy to make them for you.

Another option if you hate your chair cushions is to paint them. I know it sounds crazy, but I have an easy to follow tutorial here.

add outdoor pillows

I also made the pillows that was a super easy project (more details here). If you’d like to buy ready-made outdoor pillow covers, there are lots of great options on Etsy and Amazon. Here is an outdoor pillow cover (no longer available) made of the same fabric that I used. Just fill with a pillow insert.

update glass top tables

There was one thing left though, the amber colored glass in the end table. I have always hated the glass because it never is clean! You spill one drop of water and it looks awful- which is super impractical for outdoor furniture. So I thought and thought about how I could cover it. I thought about tiling it with pennies or tile. I thought about painting the glass of covering it with contact paper. And then I saw this pin and I knew we had a winner!

inspiration

source

Beautiful right?! So if you have a glass top, I love the idea of covering it with a homemade wood top. I headed to Lowes and bought $11 worth of lumber. I got 6″ boards for the top and 2″ boards for the sides. My idea is that I would construct an upside down tray for the end table so I can take it on and off whenever. There will be no damage to the table and in the winter I can store it in the garage. The edges of my table are rounded, but I decided to make a square topper for both ease of construction and I like that I will have more space when we have dinner out there. Plus, I think squaring off the sides updates the look a bit too.

lay out the wood

cut

I used my trusty miter box and cut the “trim” pieces to size.

I then gathered my supplies so that I could construct the top. Supplies used are a nail gun, liquid nails, measuring tape, a hammer, and pliers.

nail

I added a bead of liquid nails and then used the nail gun to attach the wood pieces. I messed up a few times and had to use the pliers to pull out the rouge nails. It took me about an hour to put the top together and I wanted to quit a few times- haha! Getting it square and the spacing correct and level was a little hard. I used the hammer to put the nails in all the way for the few that weren’t.

It isn’t perfect, but it turned out good enough.

paint

I painted the whole thing with white deck paint. It will match our railing and hopefully protect the table topper a bit from the elements. I finished with a clear coat spray paint for a little extra protection.

Here’s the before of the ugly amber glass one more time:

I put the top on the table and was thrilled with the result! Of course, the first thing I had to do was put the accessories I have been hording for the deck.

lantern (no longer available) / polka dot pot I painted / cactus from Ikea / West Elm vase (no longer available)

I had fun styling the deck with pretty accessories while Don ate his morning snack, and my props 🙂

conclusion

And there you have it! An inexpensive way to update your old patio furniture! Isn’t it amazing what paint, fabric, and wood will do for updating and refreshing something?! Best of luck with your project!

Shop this post:

Check back next Monday for my deck’s newest progress post! If you would like a daily sneak peek, I am posting a photo a day on Facebook of the deck so you can better follow along.

If you missed any of the past deck posts, here is the deck plan

and here is the first week’s progress (and embarrassing mistakes)

The pillow and rug reveal

The lighting I did on a budget

I DIYed a play kitchen for the Deck out of a thrift store piece of furniture

My tips for how you can style your outdoor space (and a sneak peek of the accessories I am using)

Thanks for following along!

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