Sandy and painty

I've been pondering buying a new outdoor setting for my alfresco area for a year; the current six-person glass-topped setting is looking a little worn out and the weather has taken a toll on its overall finish. It was a cheap setting at only around $500 Australian dollars twelve years ago so it's been cost-effective and changing it over seems viable...but I'm unconvinced.

I went to a furniture store to price up alternatives; I knew what I'd find though, and knew I'd revert to an alternative solution; I'd get no change from $3,000 dollars for a "cheap setting" and the one I liked was over $4,500 and that's just not going to happen.

The alternative was much cheaper, a rejuvenation of the existing setting.

It would involve some DIY which I like and am good at and some effort which I'm happy to inject because I'm not a fucken lazy bastard, and a little money for supplies too. I got sandy and painty and gave my outdoor setting a new lease on life. I'll not get another twelve-plus years out of it, I'll be happy with two which will give me time to squirrel money away for its replacement though.

The rejuvenation has cost under $200 for materials and I think that's a pretty good saving.

I won't pretend it was a difficult DIY job because it was pretty simple, it just took time.

I stripped off the cushions, which were thoroughly washed prior to being reinstalled, took sandpaper and a wire brush and began to sand back the surface rust from the arms, backs and legs of each chair and the table frame. I decided not to do the metal frame supporting the glass table-top as whenever I use the outdoor setting it has a tablecloth over it although I did the edge around the glass; I was reluctant to demount the glass as breaking or chipping it would mean a new setting.

After a good wipe over to remove dust I applied a primer which helps the topcoat to stick to the pre-coated metal and let it cure.

The top coat (two of them) went on next and I decided to go with white to give the outdoor setting a different look instead of the heritage green colour. I could have left it green which would hide a multitude of problems moving forward and maybe extend its life a little, but a different look felt right and it came out pretty well; no it's not perfect, but nothing ever is.

I don't like wastage, it just doesn't feel right, a legacy from growing up in a family in which money was tight. We had to make things last and get full-value from the things we made or purchased and I've carried that forward.

That's what made rejuvenating this outdoor setting time-worthy. I have the money to replace it, that's not an issue, it just doesn't feel right to buy something new when I can extend the life of something I already have. It feels good from the DIY enjoyment-factor, the planet-responsibility factor and satisfies my need over want ethos I learned as a kid.

Eventually I'll get a new one and this one will get recycled however it's good-to-go for a while yet and when I'm out in my alfresco area having a barbeque, enjoying breakfast and coffee or entertaining friends I'll feel happy knowing I put a little effort into extending its life and making it look a little nicer.

Have you done the same? What DIY projects have you done to save money or extend the life of an item? Have you repurposed/rejuvenated a usable item or do you prefer to throw things away and replace with new ones? Feel free to comment below, I'd be pleased to hear from you.