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This project has been a long time coming. Like about 10 years coming. (If I would have left it any longer, this post may have taken about the same time too!) I finally got the motivation to makeover my lovely Kwila timber outdoor setting and it only cost me $20, the price of an el cheapo can of timber stain/varnish.
My (now) ex-husband and I didn’t buy much furniture when we first moved into our house together as we both had a lot but we didn’t have any outdoor furniture. This 8-seater Kwila timber setting was probably over $1,000 around 15 years ago, which was probably a lot of money at the time but with a double income and no children we thought it was quite affordable.
It’s been a really versatile piece of furniture and has seen many significant birthdays, a wedding, christenings, morning teas and many, many children’s birthday parties. It soon became a great outdoor craft space for the children which meant it copped a fair bit of wear and tear over the years. I wish I had a dollar for every time I told the kids “ONLY DRAW ON PAPER”.
I decided at the start of summer this was going to be the year I was going to give it a good clean up and set to putting out the 8 chairs for a good scrub with some soapy water and a stiff brush then a rinse off with the hose.
As you can see by the grass, our summer started off very dry as the grass is near dead. That’s been fixed now with lashings of rain and wet weather for most of January and February plus Cyclone Marcia unleashed her fury on us last weekend, sending even more rain our way. Let’s just say everything is looking very green. (If it weren’t for the flooding we received, twice, in the last 3 weeks I may have been able to show you a more decorated outdoor space but all of the contents from the flooded area are now in our outdoor patio area.)
After a visit to my local
hardware store, I picked up a cheap 4 litre can of timber varnish/stain combined for only $20 and thought it was just as good as the more expensive brands. As you can see from the state of the ‘before’ chair above, the timber was very ‘thirsty’ and took two coats of the varnish. I had enough for eight chairs and the large table with still some leftover. I left them to dry in the sun and they were done.
The poor table was in a lot worse condition as you can see with rings left from cold drinks and coffee cups plus heaven knows what else had been glued/painted on it. My abilities with electrical tools leaves a lot to be desired but I only just manage with my trusty little sander and gave it a light sand which got most of those marks off. Again, two coats of varnish/stain was all it needed to bring the table back to it’s former glory.
We have our outdoor space back again, ready for entertaining but that also means we need mosquito repellent and all the pest control products we can get our hands on if we’re going to be staying outside. Australia’s number one enemies in the great outdoors, flies and mosquitos, like to think they can invite themselves along to any party but Mortein have our best interests in mind with the NaturGard Auto Protect (Outdoor) Insect Control System with plant-based active ingredients. This battery operated system sprays just the right amount of repellent into the air protecting us against all the nasties. The NaturGard system lasts up to 30 hours and will automatically turn off after 3 hours. We can enjoy our newly madeover outdoor setting and the great outdoors knowing we’re protected from the bugs. Summer is nearly over but we’ll have at least another three months of warm weather here in my home town so the NaturGard System will be getting a good workout!
No need for hanging cork hats in this Aussie backyard!
Disclaimer: I received products and payment for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
