8 Simple Patio Furniture Restoration Hacks to Try This Weekend

While outdoor furniture certainly requires a lot of love and care, for the sake of utter fairness, it also important to acknowledge just how much freakin’ abuse it endures. Although it may be tempting to ditch your worn or damaged goods altogether, your wallet (not to mention Mother Earth) will thank you if you consider trying one of these easy patio furniture restoration hacks first before completely exiling it to “landfill-ville”…

So in typical home-renovation fashion, my DIY outdoor wet bar is taking longer than expected (surprise! surprise!).

With that being said, for those of you who have been following along, my hubby and I are making major progress (which I will be sharing with you at the end of this post).

Still wanting to feel somewhat productive this weekend as I was waiting on the custom order cabinet hinges to arrive, I was tidying up my back deck and noticed just how incredibly dirty and disgusting my white outdoor dining chairs had become thru the winter.

In fact, this discovery was the impetus for today’s post.

With the longing to restore my raggedy a$$ patio furniture in time for entertaining guests next holiday weekend, I was reminded of a DIY tutorial I totally forgot to post on this little blog of mine.

A few years ago, I totally transformed some disgusting outdoor canvas chairs in an embarrassingly easy fashion which I am sharing with you as the first patio furniture restoration hack today ….

1. Transform dingy white outdoor furniture with a cheap homemade cleaning formula-

Using two parts water and one part bleach in a plastic spray bottle, I applied the magical cleaning concoction onto my dingy outdoor fabric chairs- letting them bask in the sun for about thirty minutes.

While the transformation was not entirely perfect (there was still a little bit of discoloration leftover from all the grime) this little hack worked wonders and ultimately saved me from having to invest in entirely new outdoor furniture.

And so…if you have dirty white furniture like me, you may want to give this little cleaning hack a try for yourself.

Just be sure to hose off the bleach mixture once it has had a little time to do its thing.

Tip: If you aren’t seeing impressive enough results from one application, don’t be afraid to increase your bleach ratio and/or incorporate a hard bristle scrub brush into the mix..

2. Replace damaged patio furniture slings yourself –

No doubt about it, outdoor furniture is expensive AF. But with a little thoughtfulness and elbow grease, you can avoid the costs of purchasing brand new patio chairs (despite torn or damaged slings) like Exquisitely Remarkable did.

As you will learn in her full DIY sling replacement tutorial, you can simply order pre-made fabric slings and then install them yourself for a fraction of the cost of a new dining chair set…

3. Refinish rusted metal furniture in a few easy steps-

You don’t need a pricey powder coating professional to restore your rusting metal patio furniture, and Practical Whimsy Designs’ outdoor furniture transformation is proof.

After seeing just how easy it is to restore weather-worn metal furniture, you will be ready to grab a sander and a can of spray paint and try this project out for yourself…

4. Restore weather damaged teak wood pieces-

While teak is a superior wood for outdoor use with its natural water-repelling oils, after a season or two, the oils begin to dry out and the result is often not so pretty.

When this happens, you actually don’t have to spend a fortune on new patio furniture. You just need to restore it following Kaleidoscope Living’s helpful tutorial..

5. Waterproof outdoor furniture for damage prevention preemptively-

Whether naturally water-repellent wood like teak wasn’t in the budget or it simply isn’t your preference, it is still important to protect your new furniture from UV rays and wet weather before the damage has been done – avoiding patio furniture repair costs further down the road.

In this beginner’s friendly guide by Craving Some Creativity, learn multiple methods on how to proactively protect your outdoor wood furniture from the harsh elements…

6. Paint peeling wicker furniture for a fresh new look-

While the paint job on your old furniture make look sad, if the general structure is still in good condition, you can bring new life to your wicker piece with a fresh coat of paint.

Before you go out and buy the spray paint , check out Joyfully Treasured’s detailed tutorial…

7. Easily repair scratched metal furniture-

While incredibly heavy-duty, metal furniture is not entirely impervious to rust or scratches. If the aluminum frames of your chairs or pool loungers still have a few good years left in them but have simply endured a few nicks here and there, you need to check out Green With Decor’s simple hack for repairing scratched furniture…

8. Restore high heat outdoor features like grills and chimeneas using a simple DIY technique-

While outdoor fire places aren’t technically furniture, they are important patio staples that need the occasional TLC too. Where the Smiles Have Been has a great tutorial for how to refinish high heat objects like chimeneas that are, functionally, in great condition, but simply need an aesthetic makeover…

I hope today’s round-up showed you just how much is possible with a little bit of imagination and persistence- no need to rack up debt with a whole new patio set from an expensive, big-box retailer.

And as I promised at the beginning of this post, I am now going to show you a sneak peak of my DIY outdoor bar area..

Within the next week, we will be tackling the DIY countertops ( which I think I have a pretty solid plan for) and sink installation. Once I get the countertops complete, I will figure out what finish I want for the cabinet hardware..

Until then, I hope you are enjoying the longer, warmer days.

It would mean so much to this small business of mine, if you could share this post with a friend or on social media…

Now get out there and design some good vibes along with a fabulous life!