I have SIX dark green heavy plastic chairs that are about 14 yrs old . They were spray painted by me a few years ago to make them look better. I sure didn't think of using a brush and regular paint. Wow...a great idea. My chairs are quite heavy . I am looking forward to exploring the colors/paint options available. Thank you O for posting your great artistic endeavors . c

Thanks, Trailrunner! I loved learning that because it really widens our options. When I asked on the paint forum, I was told that it takes many cans of spray paint so gets quite expensive. I already had an outdoor primer and exterior paint, and the wallpaper I cut up, so all I bought was a sheet of butterflies at Michaels. Otherwise this makeover was free.

You wouldn't have to decoupage but if you do you could get quite creative. I just did it for a touch of whimsy, something I love in decorating. If you can't get brave with old plastic chairs, what can you get brave with? I think the above chairs are at least 20 years old and have had paint and stain dripped on them. They were hideous even before I sanded them.

Oh, step one is to wash them with a good detergent to get rid of any possible grease. Step two is to sand them IF they have an unsmooth/damaged surface, such as dripped paint or actual erosion of the plastic. It's way easier to sand these than I would have imagined. Takes very little elbow grease.

Have fun with your project. I hope you take befores and afters to share with us here. The thing that's really cool about this technique is you aren't limited in colors. You can have any color you want. Best to use a gloss. I used semi-gloss but the spar varnish was gloss and they looked much better with a shine on them.

Thank you for saying they're great! I'm just messing around and having a little fun. I highly recommend that.

I always want to see your projects!

Your chairs are super-cute and look brand new.

I know what you're saying about plastic chairs. I have a white plastic Adirondack chair I always sit in even though we put out big $$$ this spring for Lane Venture chairs for our new area. My plastic one is easy to move around the patio while I have to remove the cover from a good one to sit down, and then replace the cover when I'm done. Too much...

Thanks for sharing.
Dee

Super cute. I spray painted my plastic Adirondack chairs a few years back and are up for a redo. Thanks for the idea.

Awesome! I would love to paint the chairs we have since they are in about as good of condition as your before pics. I will have plenty of purple exterior paint left over from the shed. We also have lots of exterior primer from the deck. I love foam rollers!

What type of sandpaper grit did you use?

Thanks, Dee! You're so sweet. Yeah, I guess we're not supposed to admit we love them but we do. They appeal to our *practical* side. To me, make it practical/useful and then make it pretty. Also, the older I get the more I appreciate feather weight things.

Denali, thanks, and you're welcome. What color are they? What color do you want to paint them? I hope you share pics.

Gsciencechick, glad I could inspire you. Hmm... one of my sanding blocks says 320 Fine and that's the one I used the most. The other one is coarser and I was using it to try to remove old paint drips. If I had it to do over I should have tried to remove the drips with a sharp kitchen knife. You don't need to sand at all if your surface is smooth to the touch and the eye. If you only buy one block, buy the fine. The plastic is so soft you'll be amazed at how fast you can smooth it.

A word about spar varnish -- be aware that it can yellow over time. You don't need it if you don't decoupage. But you might want it if the paint you already have on hand isn't shiny.

Also, the gals who told me how to do this didn't mention sanding their chairs at all. If your chair is in good shape, just prime and paint. On my chairs, though, especially where your hands and the backs of your knees hit when sitting, the plastic was layering slightly and I didn't think much of it with the first chair -- but after priming and painting it still showed.

Warning: Do NOT sand the chairs -- other than very, very lightly to remove a little bump between coats -- after you have paint on them. That's where I screwed up, and ended up unable to blend a smooth edge (so I decoupaged). If you've ever sanded latex paint and ended up with it peeling up in rubbery sheets, you know what I mean.

Terrific idea....I have some of those that I hate to use because they look so awful, but they are useful...think I'll put painting them on the project list!

Great, Annie! Hope you take befores and afters to share with us.

One more thing -- I had noticed that the chairs collected water in the seats, something that bothered me especially around mosquito breeding season as I always scope out the yard to get rid of standing water about July or so. There was only one teensy hole in the center of the seat, so before I did this job I got out my drill and enlarged that hole, then put two more holes, one on either side of that one in each seat for better drainage. I smoothed the hole insides with a little sandpaper wrapped around my finger (the Dremel was too big to fit in the holes). I think the newer chairs drain better but mine were some of the first plastic yard furniture made and didn't have adequate drain holes.

"If you've ever sanded latex paint and ended up with it peeling up in rubbery sheets, you know what I mean. "

Good point, Oceanna. If latex paint dries in an uninterrupted sheet, it actually becomes one big molecule. That is what my first husband, the Chemical Engineer, used to tell me.

This is a really nifty project and you didn't let the rough spots get in your way and had the decoupage solution there to handle them. I also liked how you fixed the water issue.

I read the other thread about your trim color, and my neighbor did her house with this color trim. It got old after a while. But with your house, there is a creamy house color to go with it, which I like better than her white. I also note that your house is larger and trim smaller, so it is not as overwhelming as it was on my neighbor's house. But looking at your deck, I see that your deck railing is all blue. You may want to make the interior vertical spindles the same creamy color as the house. That could look too "precious" or "cute" to some, though. Just some ideas. I like your creativity!

Hi Nancy. Thanks for your kind comments on the chairs. I enjoyed doing them with a bit of whimsy. There's always CraigsList or land fill if I get tired of them.

I take your point about the deck rail. It's easily changed any time I want. Nobody's house overlooks my deck so nobody sees it but me. It needs professional painting next summer anyway, so I figured I'd reassess then. It's suicidally grey and rainy here 9 months of the year. Seeing that blue reminds me of blue skies and ocean, and lifts my spirits, so I'm enjoying it immensely for now.

Had I painted more in blue on the house front it might have been too much, so that's why I left so much of it white, and that's why it works. The main bulk of the house is a nice neutral, which is very flexible, and the trim is easy to change quickly and inexpensively.

For now I'm enjoying it and the neighbors have all said they really like it. The wonderful thing about paint is "it's only paint."

I have a plastic lounge chair I like to sit and read in- but I usually only manage the time for this 3-4 times a summer. It's getting discolored and grungy looking, but I don't want to buy another one.

How do the painted chairs feel? Smooth like plastic or different?

I love this idea. I'd always looked at these chairs and thought, "eh. They get so ugly and look so cheap." I always, secretly, though, thought they were very comfortable. You've opened up my possibilities!

I experimented with the Krylon spray paints 2-3 years ago, which are supposed to bond with plastic. I did pots.

Well, they bonded until they peeled. I like your idea better. I'm also wondering if I could clean and paint the inside of terra cotta paints to prevent the water from leaching out of the soil into the pot.

My mind is twirling, twirling with possibilities.

CEFreeman, my dad used to paint his cement garden fountains with drylox - which is a paint product that seals, say, concrete basement walls. It doesn't last forever, but it gives some extra seasons before you have the whole freeze/thaw cycle that eventually demolishes terra cotta and cement garden doodads.

And oceanna, cute chair project!

Sonicmom - The chairs feel like they did before they were painted. If you want smooth, start with a smooth chair (sanded if necessary) and apply maybe three thin coats of paint. If you want to decoupage, there will be raised areas and how raised depends on the thickness of your cutouts. If they're wallpaper they will be a little thicker but if they're tissue paper or napkins they will be thinner.

CEFreeman, I have three terracotta pots I fill in the summer and keep in the garage in the winter. I did latex and spar varnish inside and out and they've lasted for years. The decorations on them I used acrylic craft paints.

These were something I just threw together fast just to get some color on my porch steps. I'm thinking these would be a great Girl Scouts project for Mother's Day! The checks were done with a flat brush and the dots were done with a q-tip.

I quit using the saucers because when it rained or I sprinkled they held water and were drowning the plants.

Then I have two matching ones I painted the same and I think I did not coat the insides all the way -- trying to remember. They stay out all the time. They got wet and then froze, then thawed, then started to disintegrate. :( I need to replace them now but they each have plants in them and they're not small pots.

The other mistake I made was hand painting a small detailed design on them. You can't see it from the street. Duh me.

Anyone know what I should replace them with? I'm thinking plastic is what will endure the weather. Does this cracking up happen to all terracotta pots?

I love that your creativity is going. Be sure to post pictures!

Grlwprls - My neighbor lost her bird bath in the same winter I lost my pots. I'll tell her about your dad's secret, thanks! Thanks about the chairs, too.

Very cute and how cheerful is that blue?? Enjoy while the weather holds out. :)

Thanks, Loribee. Yes it's SW Reflecting Pool, a blue that leans turquoise. I'm probably the only one, but at night when it's raining I like to sit out on the deck for a few minutes. It's got about a 3' roof overhang so I don't get wet. It's just so peaceful out there.

Great projects Oceanna, I love your sense of whimsical !

Thanks, Mitchdesj!

Not to discourage anyone wanting to paint... Clorox outdoor did a great job of cleaning awful messes off my plastic chairs.

Sprayed it on, left them out in the sun, lightly scrubbed them off. Amazing! I'm not sure I wouldn't try it first even if I wanted to paint them, that film on the plastic could kill any good paint job.