Painting Vinyl Chairs

If you follow me on Instagram you saw the before photo of these pink vinyl chairs. Well they're done and I'm absolutely in love with them.

We got these chairs from my husbands Great Aunt who passed away last year. They had been sitting in her storage room not being used when I noticed them and asked if we could have them. We were told she hadn't left them to anyone so I called dibs they were too beautiful to not have. 

I have no idea how long they were in the storage room but they were pretty grimy so I cleaned them with my Thieves Essential Oil Cleaner and just a bit of water to dilute it and all the built up residue came off. And the rest of my prep work included covering the chair legs with painters tape to protect them.

I knew I wanted to paint these chairs a nice bright clean neutral color so instead of going to with plain white I decided to go with Rust-oleum Heirloom White. I made sure to pick up the 2x Paint and Primer because this pink had to be covered up.

To make the job a little easier I picked up this spray nozzle from Rust-oleum to make the job easier. (and to save the manicure I just got the week before.) 

I'm not going to lie. I love to paint with watercolors, and paint walls in my house... but my spray paint experience is lacking big time. Here's what the first chair looked like after the first coat. It's pretty rough I know....I totally blame it on the wind that day.

I didn't do much better on the second chair....

But after putting on the second coat things are looking much better if I do say so myself.

Here is the finished product after 3 coats of paint! I think they look glorious with their new Heirloom White paint. Since we were had a second day of sunshine and glorious weather I let the chairs sit out for another day to air out any fumes before moving them to our master bedroom.

I don't have any photos for you at this time because....that room needs a lot of work and some new paint to show these beauties off. I'm also planning on making some cute pillows for them using my pillow slipcover post Big Comfy Floor Pillows (I'll be making much smaller pillows of course.)

I can also tell you that so far sitting on them for the last two weeks enjoying drinks, conversation, and a little tv and with the hubs and the paint are holding up great!

It only cost four cans of spray paint and a the nozzle which was less than $20 total! Would you be willing to give a vinyl chair a makeover?

Patio and Backyard Design Part 1

    

Hello Spring! So glad you have finally arrived! I've been slacking a bit over here at Upside of Chaos due to warm weather and the start of tee ball season for my oldest little. Do I have stuff to build....yes. Do I have stuff to organize....always. Did I write a to do list and show you all how long it is on Instagram the other day....you bet I did. (By the way that this has more than doubled in size.)

But it's been hard to say no when friends say lets get the kids together and play at the zoo or park or why don't we come over and we'll drink some beer and grill out. Which bring me to our patio and backyard. We have a great space. I'm not going to lie it was the biggest reason we bought this house. 

But it still needs a little work. As you can see the in photo the flower beds are looking a little rough. I have always wanted a beautiful garden section So this year I have vowed to get it started. 

   

Then there is the massive hardscape patio. Last summer I shared my No Sew Outdoor Curtains which really helped the space. But the one thing we've been missing for the last four years is a nice table to eat on. Usually we would pull up chairs to our tiny patio table and hunch over it to eat our food. So I moved the couches and chairs out into the open area around our fire pit. 

The plan now is to build a patio table and benches for under the covered portion of the patio. We love to eat out there every chance we get and we also entertain guest outside every chance we get. 

One of the small projects I have planned is to get this fire pit back into shape. It's rusty from spending 4 summers outside in the rain.

The first thing to get done is finish planting our vegetable garden. A quick run to Home Depot with one sleepy kid and one very eager to help kid and this is what we were able to grab in one of the fastest trips on record for us.

I was able to get the vegetable garden finished pretty quickly while the sleepy one napped and other ran crazy. This year we have our 4 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants, 2 rows of red romaine lettuce, 1 row of spinach, 1 row of kale, 2 rows of red onions, and two rows of carrots. Last year I started to keep our herbs in in pots due to lack of space in our garden. (Plus I think they look great as patio decor.)

With a few of the herbs planted in pots I placed the shrubs in between our existing bushes. The plan is to return to Home Depot today and grab some more plants. I like to save money and buy them a little smaller and let them grow into the space. Yes I know it'll take time for them to really look good. But with the money that I save I can get more planted now and I'll have enough of my budget left over to build a table and benches and add some decor. I have two plans in mind both built by the girls at Shanty 2 Chic. Which do you like better? Outdoor Table and Benches for $125 or this Farmhouse Table for $65?

I'll be sharing with you updates as we finish projects!