Living in northern California we are blessed with beautiful weather for 8 to 9 months of the year, so we spend a lot of time outdoors. Together my husband and I have created an outdoor space that we can enjoy.
It has been a labor of love, and sore muscles, that has taken us almost 30 years to create, but now we get to sit outside and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
I can no longer ignore the state of our wood patio furniture. The time has come to refinish them. If truth be told, they should have been refinished last year, but I bought some pretty outdoor throw pillows to try and hide their weathered finish, and they were not a good weathered finish. If I didn’t do something the rain and sun would destroy the wood and then there would be no saving them.
We purchased 2 Adirondack chairs and a matching loveseat from an industrious young man in our neighborhood a few years back. One summer, he set up an assembly line in his garage and as he finished each chair he lined them up in his driveway with a “For Sale” sign on each one. He made dozens of them one summer and my husband and I loved the look and quality of them. They are very sturdy, well made pieces and he made us a great deal on 2 chairs and loveseat.
The bones are good, but the finish is on it’s last leg!
I see his work scattered throughout our neighborhood when we go for walks in the evenings. He came up with the design, created templates for each piece he needed to make a chair and then cranked them out. He told us it was his way of making some money before leaving for college. I just loved his entrepreneurial spirit!
They are so comfortable! They are made of solid wood, screwed together, not nailed, and the design he came up with is perfect for setting your glass of wine on the arm; no side table needed! They have held up well in the weather outside for several years but now it’s time to spruce them up!
I wasn’t particularly fond of the color, and the poly finish had yellowed over the years. I decided to go with a much darker finish, something that would blend in with the surroundings. I chose a dark espresso color.
My sweetie helped fill in some of the holes and splits in the wood when I finished sanding so that when I finally stained and sealed them they would have a nice smooth finish.
I spent 3 full days, sanding down each piece, back to bare wood. Yes, you read that right, I spent 24 hours total sanding them down, and I used a belt sander! Now you can understand why I put off this project as long as I could, it was a huge job!
I actually tackled this project during a week I took off from work. Three days of sanding and three days of painting. It didn’t require full days for the painting, but I did three coats and allowed each coat to fully dry overnight before doing the next coat.
I am so pleased with how they turned out!
Guess where you will find me when the weather warms up? Sitting in my Adirondack chair, enjoying my garden with a glass of wine!
Summer can’t get here soon enough!
What big project have you been putting off doing? I encourage you to tackle it. Trust me, it will be worth it! Please share how it turns out. I would love to see your finished project!