Sit and stay awhile....
I have a thing about chairs and sitting areas...even outdoors. In my yard I have two swing pergolas, two large chairs on the patio, a table and chairs and a wicker settee on the deck, a chair on the little deck outside my bedroom door, and chairs stacked and ready for company.
Funny thing is, I am constantly buzzing around doing something so I rarely just "sit" for long. And it's not like we entertain a lot....
Last month I scored 3 old metal lawn chairs at an auction...I love those things. I have one I bought at a flea market a few years ago and have always wanted a few more. Two of the three are in pretty good shape...minimal rust and still sturdy. One has some "issues" with rust so I didn't do anything with it. And naturally I didn't take "before" pictures of all of them, but this is a picture of the one that I didn't redo....
Even in good condition, these old metal chairs can be a booger to refinish properly. Usually they have been painted a time or two, so you have to sand them pretty aggressively to get rid of all the layers...and drips! They also have rust and that has to be delt with or it will destroy the chair.
I used my little mouse sander with a 40 grit paper, then hand sanded it with a 120 to strip as much old paint and rust as I could.
After sanding and wiping them down with tack cloth, I primed them with automotive primer. I figure if it is good enough for a metal car, it will be great for metal chairs. It is also specifically formulated to stop rust! May be overkill, but might as well use the best! You can buy cans of metal and automobile primer in the spray paint sections at Lowes.
After priming, I hit them again with 220 grit paper and tack cloth. Then I painted the arms and legs with a Rust-oleum satin white and the seats with a really pretty Valspar "peacock blue" color.
I really debated what color to paint the chairs. I love the different greens but my entire yard is green and I try to infuse as many annuals as possible to get color...so I knew I wanted "color."
I like the Peacock Blue. It's pretty....
And while I am showing off my yard, here is a before and after of the area I resodded AGAIN this year. The first two times I put down bermuda but it just didn't do well....too much shade!
It is a little difficult to tell from this photo (my stinking photography skills!) but this area is pretty much dirt with a few blades of grass here and there...and that is after I put down bermuda sod last spring! The rest of the yard is thick, lush grass! (Thanks to weed control and fertilizer by Fairways and lots of water)
So this year I decided to try something different. Zoysia sod. It is SUPPOSE to do better in partial shade areas. I have fescue in an area of my yard that doesn't get a lot of sun and I don't like it because it doesn't go dormant like bermuda...so I have this big green patch in my yard all winter. Zoysia is suppose to go dormant. It can't be any worse than it was. I've decided if this doesn't work I am going to paint the dirt green!
So for now, I have nice grass in our sitting area...and it is a perfect back drop for my pretty new peacock chairs!
This is Molly, my old kitty. She turned 16 this week too! She loves all the "lounging" areas in the yard and loves being outside...as long as it is above 75 degrees!
Someday I will post pictures of all my animals...I think I have already posted one of Simon, but I also have Ms. Kitty (she is a rather cranky, unfriendly calico) and Finley (he is my autistic kitty...another long haired Siamese mix) And then there is Ginger, my old black lab.
