Outdoor Furniture Looking a Little Dull?

If you’re one of those people who love to Do It Yourself, then you won’t hesitate to tackle those sad looking pieces of outdoor furniture that have faded with the passing of time and the harshness of the sunlight.

A lot of you will own wood furniture. While it looks great, this material is unfortunately one of the first to lose its sheen.

So how do you bring it back to its former glory? Well, you’ll first need to buy a few things (or check to see if you have them in your shed). Tools like paint scrapers, sandpaper, primer and paint or wood stain will be inherently useful and can all be picked up at Altadena Hardware.

Once your shopping list is complete, you’ll want to begin by stripping away any existing paint. Ensure that the surface you’re working on is covered up so you don’t ruin the floor, patio or grass.

Remove paint or stain with a paint scraper. If this is taking too long, you can always try a belt sander to sand it away but be careful not to push too hard.

Then take some medium-grit sandpaper and get to work removing any leftover paint. This procedure will also allow you to get rid of any imperfections in the wood, leaving you with a smooth piece of wooden furniture.

Now, you have two options. You can either choose to paint your furniture or stain it. If going for the former, use a primer first and leave to dry for a couple of hours. Then paint another coat of primer, leaving that for an entire day.

Afterwards, you can begin to paint the furniture with a high-quality brush. Go in the direction of the wood grain to leave a nice smooth finish.

Staining is pretty much the same. Paint on a thin coat and leave to dry. If you want your furniture to have a darker look, apply multiple coats. Otherwise one will suffice.

A handy tip is to lightly sand the furniture between coats with fine-grit sandpaper so that the grain of the wood remains where it should be. Again, you can pick this up at Altadena Hardware.

So there you have it. This process may take you a couple of days but it’ll save you having to go and buy a whole new set of outdoor furniture.

Altadena Hardware is located at 849 E Mariposa St, in Altadena. For more information call (626) 794-4393 or visit http://www.altadenahardware.com.