I have been so busy. This past weekend--is it Tuesday already?--I spent most of my time cleaning and painting lawn furniture. Of course, since I am a dweeb, I managed to get the spray lacquer in my hair and on my legs. Honest, I thought it would just wash out!
Here are a few pieces of the furniture that I have been painting. They were all rusty but now they are as good as new.
I will also be getting new cushions and/or cushion covers for all the seating. The current cushions are about 10 years old and have faded and ripped. The reason why I am recovering them instead of buying brand new is for both environmental and economic reasons. A new patio sofa set (seating for 4) is running upwards of $1000. I have seen some sets where they want more than $3000! I can repaint the metal and get custom new cushions for a fraction of that.
The other issue is the metal. The world has finite supplies to create metal, and currently, it is believed there is more metal in landfills than there is available in the ground for commercial extraction. So why throw away perfectly good metal furniture?
Here is a back view of my garden swing. These swings are the worst because they are increasingly expensive and the fabric canopy always rips after 2 or 3 years. The garden swing cartel makes sure it is impossible to buy a replacement canopy so many people throw their garden swings away after just a few years. My husband LOVES this swing, though, so I am getting new cushions and a new canopy.
Overall, I am rather excited because this is like getting all new patio furniture, and I am doing it at a fraction of the cost to buy new. Even better, I am saving all this old furniture from the landfill.