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Patio Progress:: My $36 Adirondack Chairs

Good morning, and happy Monday to you! I hope you had a fantastic weekend!

I spent my weekend working on some things for “my” patio. Now for those of you who are new around here, let me explain that I live in a condo. And as the owner of a condo, that means that I don’t actually own any outside space. However, just outside our front door is a patio area that hasn’t been used in the almost-six years that we’ve lived here. So this year, Matt and I decided that we would fix up the area and get some use out of it.

The last time I showed it to you, it looked like this…

Since then, our neighbors moved away and took their chairs, table, and plants.  So basically we had a patio with two elevated garden beds and two concrete benches.

I’ve been on the lookout for some inexpensive chairs, and was pretty excited when I spotted these Adirondack chairs at Home Depot for $36 each.

They came in nine pieces, and were really quite simple to assemble.

Then it was on to deciding how to finish them.  Of course, I had endless choices.  I could have painted them in any color imaginable, stained them in any number of colors, but in the end, I decided to go with a standard brown stain…

I know…it’s a little predictable and unexciting for me, right?  But don’t worry.  I have plans for lots of fun color for this patio, and I think the dark brown Adirondack chairs will keep it from looking too much like a kids space.

These chairs took stain really well, but there were a few places on each one that evidently had some sort of glue that kept the stain from sinking in.

Unfortunately, I didn’t catch that one in time, but on the other areas, I just gave them a good sanding before staining, and they turned out much better.

These chairs do take FOREVER to stain, but I love how they turned out.  I certainly don’t think they look like cheap $36 chairs!

As you can see, I also got the matching side table, which was $14.  I decided to give it a dash of color with some apple green spray paint.

I still need to seal the chairs, but I’ve had a hard time finding just the right thing to use.  I picked up some spray spar varnish yesterday, but after using one can on one of the chairs, I decided that wasn’t really the route I wanted to go.  With chairs that are going to be out in the elements, I’d feel much better using a brush-on product so that I know I’m getting a really good coating on there, and so I can also be sure that it gets down into the nooks and crannies.  So I’m on the hunt again for the perfect sealer.  I need to find something today, though!  Rain is on the way tomorrow!

So that’s my progress so far.  It’s not much, I know.  But it’s a start!  I have lots more plans for this patio, and I’ll definitely be adding color.  I purchased some bright outdoor canvas to make pillows for my chairs, and I also want to add a rug of some sort.  I’ll keep you posted!

 

 

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21 Comments

  1. Looks great…I too have a patio re-do in mind this season…I do have an unrelated question that I hope you can answer…I subscribe to follow you through email, but have not been getting your updates…in fact I havent been getting alot of my blog updates from feedburner…I have tried to contact them but have been unable to find a contact email – any ideas as to why this might be happening…I’m hoping that those of you who put so much effort in creating such great blogs arent losing viewers because of this.

    1. Gwen, they do seem sturdy. I kind of wish that I had used wood glue during assembly, that way they would be super sturdy, but since I knew I was going to stain the chairs, I didn’t want to risk getting wood glue on the wood. Anyway, I think I read somewhere that they’ll hold up to 400 pounds…so I guess I can sit out there and eat ice cream all summer long with no problems. 😀

    1. Bobi, my raised gardens are doing pretty well. This is my first gardening attempt, so it’s a lot of trial and error. 🙂 Hopefully we’ll actually be able to eat some of it!

  2. those are fantastic! could you provide a little explanation about what you used to stain it, how long it took, and what you ended up selecting for your sealant? i have no experience with outside furniture, so I am also wondering if you stained it before or after you put it together? if you did it after, how did you get the stain down in between each slat? thanks!

  3. I am so excited! I saw these at home depot last year, but couldn’t get up close to them as they were bolted up high and I swore they were going to be tiny (as in not for real grown ups). I have to get some now! Yay!

  4. I think your choice to use a dark stain was perfect! You can add color through plants and pillows and still have an outdoor feel with the dark wood tones. I use the brush on wood sealer for my Fremont tables and so far, so good. Can’t wait to see how you put it all together. What a great place to catch a few minutes of down time!

  5. It’s really coming along. I think the classic stain will hold up well. Good choice =) The lil’ apple green table is a Qt too!! You are making great strides on your space!!

  6. I use the brush on wood sealer for my Fremont tables and so far, so good. Thanks for sharing..

  7. We had a basic cheap brown patio set that I picked up just to have something when our patio was done. We still have it, it started to fall apart after a few years but no funds for new, so now lime and yellow. That is a TOTAL departure from my normally non-color filled life, but I seem to be getting pretty good mileage out of the set.

    ~Bliss~

  8. I like where you’re headed with this project. The darker stain really does make the chairs look fabulous. And you are so right, a pop of color on them and elsewhere and you’ve got a party!
    {Several years ago we purchased some ADK chairs from the supermarket. It was a kit where the two chairs were supposed to be attached together with a table between. We ditched the table and got 2 chairs with curved backs and knee area for just $78. Pretty exciting. And they’ve held up well!}

  9. it is so much fun to follow your thinking process as you work through a project. You explain it well and I learn so much!
    Thanks

  10. Those chairs look great and at $36 each they are quite a bargain. Hope you find the sealer you want and that you and your hubby enjoy your patio a lot this summer.

  11. I loved wooden chair. I have quiet few at home but this one you’ve got is such a great one. I really hats off with your creativity my dear. Cheers 🙂 I am hook with your blog. I am looking around for more windows decoration you have here and of what window and door hardware you are using.

    Stay Cool!