Porch and patio season is officially open, and it should be our modus operandi for the next three months. If you haven’t dusted off your outdoor furniture, swept out the porch cobwebs, and fired up your citronella candles, the time is nigh.
As we cleaned out our porch last weekend, we decided our plant stands needed a little pick-me-up. We gave them a refresh with a favorite paint color, our Wagner paint sprayer, and a new potted plant. Read on to learn how to do this easy project this weekend (and how to win a paint sprayer of your own)!
Adding a coat of fresh paint to patio furniture is a great way to revive even the most worn piece. In my case, I wanted to add a little more interest to a basic plant stand I picked up at Target earlier this spring. It was simple, with nice lines, and flat black finish, and I wanted to give it a softer, more feminine touch.
I looked for a soft peachy-pink in several spray paint aisles, and couldn’t find one I liked. So, I did a little research, picked up a quart of the very color I was dreaming of (Sherwin-William’s Spun Sugar – SW 6337), and applied it with our Wagner FLEXiO 590 Paint Sprayer.
Painting wicker, wood, or metal by hand can be very time-consuming. If you’ve got a piece that has lots of small, intricate parts, trying to paint it with a brush can be a real chore.
Here’s the how-to:
Materials
- A plant stand, or any other piece of patio/porch furniture in need of a little spiff
- Wagner Paint Sprayer. We love the FLEXiO sprayer because it’s compact, easy to use, doesn’t require a noisy air compressor, and it’s easy to clean up and store.
- Medium-grit sandpaper
- Paint (we only needed a quart for this project … follow the coverage intructions if using a sprayer)
- Wagner Paint Easy paint additive/thinner
- Leather cording
- A potted plant you love
Step
Wipe down your piece to remove all dust and dirt. If it has a smooth or glossy finish, rough it up a bit with some medium-grit sandpaper (this gives the paint a better surface to bond to)
Step
Fill Pour your paint into the FLEXiO 590 paint cup and add the Paint Easy additive as inidicated in the directions. A paint additive is not strictly required (you can use the sprayer without it), but I’ve found that it makes the paint flow much better, and gives my projects a better, more even finish.
Step
Do a test spray before adding paint to your piece. The paint sprayer is more powerful than a can of spray paint (it’s also a lot cleaner to use; no spray-painted finger tips involved). If you’ve never used one before, it takes a couple of passes to get the hang of it. Definitely do this project in a well-ventilated area, and use eye and respiratory protection (goggles and a mask).
Step
Evenly coat your piece in long strokes until the whole piece is covered. Because I was painting a plant stand with lots of weird angles and lines, I did a first coat that covered most of the stand, and then I let it dry. Once dry, I flipped it over and did a second coat to cover any areas I missed (e.g. the bottom of the stand’s tray). As with any sprayed paint application, you’re better off going for many light passes, rather than one very heavy pass.
- Mind the overspray. Give your self plenty of clearance from anything you dont want to get paint on. Overspray is a fine mist that you don’t notice until it hits something.
- Use safety gear for eyes and lungs. With tiny paint particles flying around, you want to be sure you keep yourself healthy.
- Start and finish each stroke off the piece (e.g. on your backdrop).
- Use many light coats, instead of a few heavy ones. Heavy coats tend to drip.
- If possible, build a simple spray ‘booth’ from cardboard or foamboard (as we did) to contain the spray.
Step
Once dry, wrap the base of each plant stand leg in leather cording. This step is quite easy and adds a pretty boot detail to the plant stands. Simply wrap the cording around its own tail to secure it. I used two colors (carmel and black). To weave the second color into the mix, wrap it’s tail with a few rounds of your first color. Clear as mud? In this case, hopefully the pictures do a better job of illustrating the process.
Step
Add your potted plant to your freshly painted, newly footed stand and enjoy the fruits of your (very little) labor.
Here’s a final look at our plant stand in our brand-spanking-new studio space!
This post was sponsored by Wagner. All images, thoughts, and words are mine alone. Thanks for supporting the brands that support Curbly!