DIY: Kid's Table & Chair Makeover

My favorite DIY to date: this kid's table and chairs makeover on a budget!

This year one of our biggest goals is to update our outside living space. We have a small screened in porch connected to a patio and a small deck. We have lived in our house almost seven years and our outside living space has been riding the struggle bus for most of those years, if any of my neighbors are reading this, we know - we are getting our act together!


Recently, my in-laws were cleaning out their house and they came across two kid's metal folding chairs and a wood side table they didn't have a need for any longer. My Father-In-Law sent me a picture of the chairs and table to see if we wanted them before they tossed them, umm...yes please! I immediately knew what I wanted to do with them and where it would go. Free outside seating for the boys, score!

As you can see, every thing was mismatched; but, they all had good bones. The little three leg wood side table was a perfect height to work as a table for the two folding chairs.

Supplies were simple:

• Outdoor Fabric
• staple gun 
• staples
• spray paint

We didn't have the spray paint or the fabric on hand, so this DIY wasn't completely free. We used a primer and paint in one that could cover metal and wood, I opted for the color satin granite. I didn't want a gloss paint since it will live outside a majority of the time.  I found this outdoor fabric at JoAnn Fabrics during a 50% off sale and it was perfect. I thought it was boyish and neutral enough to fit into my vision for my screened in porch. This fabric is from SMC Designs and it's an outdoor canvas fabric called Cosmic Bramlett Fresco, it is normally $21.99/yd if not on sale. We bought a yard and a half for a little over $16 and the spray paint was a little over $3. Under $20 and the boys have a modern custom table and chairs set that we all love.

Weston wanted to help so bad, so he was my little side kick. He had the job  of removing the seat cushions and the back cushions. He kept calling the screw driver his sword and then didn't want to give it back when he was done! After he removed the cushions I put him to work by wiping everything down with some dish soap and water just to get the dirt and dust off of them. It didn't have to be perfect but he did a great job.

While Weston worked on the little chairs, I worked on this nightmare! These staples almost did me in. Every time I thought I had all the staples out, I found five more. 

My other assistant was my wonderful husband, who normally always gets pulled into my DIY projects, he handled all the spray painting. He did lightly sand the chairs but he said it wasn't necessary. We only paint the legs of the table and the chairs so one can of spray paint was more than enough. While Brian spray painted, Weston and I returned inside the house and we started wrapping the table top and cushions with fabric.

I don't have any pictures to show this process because Weston couldn't be trusted around the staple gun, not even for a split second. Boys! For the table top and cushions, I literally cut the fabric to size and then tightly wrapped it around and stapled it to get a tight fit on the back side. It was super simple.

The most time consuming part about the entire project was letting the paint dry to secure all the cushions and table top back into place. We were able to get everything else done in a little under three hours, during Lennox's afternoon nap. It was a nice sunny day in Indy on this day so we were able to set the chairs and table legs out in sun to dry. The following day after work we screwed the table legs and the cushions back in and viola! Perfection!

I LOVE IT! I couldn't be more happier with how it turned it. I literally am walking around my house looking to see what I can paint and wrap in fabric next. I have my eye on my kitchen table and chairs!

I am in love with the fabric! It is absolutely perfect and exactly what I had in mind. I have just enough fabric leftover I might get an accent pillow or two out of it. I just need to learn to sew. So, yeah - that may not ever happen.

Weston's new favorite place to eat or play is this little table, I caught him in mid thought right here. As you can see in the background, the weather and wind has really beat up our wood trim outside; repainting it is one of the many projects on our outside list to complete this year. The whole plan for our outside space is still in the works, but this little table and chairs set makes me want to get it done tomorrow.

How is your outside living area? Do you love it or is it a work in progress?