How to Revive a Patio Table

I almost died doing this project.  Completely true story.  And by “died” I mean I’m the most stubborn chick on the planet and when I set my mind to doing something it WILL get done and I sometimes end up lifting a 100 pound table over my head like one of those mamas who can bench press an entire car.  Only… I’m not one of those mamas.  And my biceps are the size of Chiclets.

Sheer determination, I’m telling you.  Because this busted, rusted patio table sat in our backyard long before we ever came along.

I have no idea how long, just that the previous owners of our house left it behind, possibly for dead.  Robert and I were ready to haul it to the dump, but then I decided maybe this little forgotten table needed a new lease on life.

So it was the perfect project for this month’s Trash to Treasure Transformation Tuesday.  (If you don’t know what that is, I team up with a few blogger friends once a month to share a thrifty makeover.  You can see theirs at the bottom of this post and all of my past T2T projects here.)

The Little Table That Could just needed a LOT of elbow grease…  I know it’s hard to tell, but that’s a glass table top.  I honestly thought it was solid gray when I first saw it.

But since we really really wanted a table outside to have dinner on warm summer nights by the pool (and patio tables like these go for a couple hundred dollars), it was worth a shot.

I could not BELIEVE it was even the same table after I was done with it!

How to Revive a Patio Table

Supplies Used:  (Some affiliate links are provided below for convenience.)

• Large bowl of hot water
• 1 Tbsp liquid dish soap (I used Mrs. Meyers brand since that’s just what I happened to have already.)
• Scrub sponge
• Garden hose
• Screwdriver
• Drop cloth
• 2 cans of spray primer
• 2 cans of spray paint (I used Rustoleum Painter’s Touch Semi-Gloss in White)

The Steps:

1. To get rid of all of the icky grime and mildew on the glass tabletop, I mixed the liquid dish soap in the large bowl of hot water and scrubbed the top and bottom of the glass top with the scrub sponge.  Then, I just rinsed the whole thing with the hose.

In 5 minutes, the glass was completely good as new! And it even had a pattern on it that I didn’t notice before.

I decided it would be easier to take apart the table for painting the yellowing metal frame, and this is where I nearly killed myself.

(So caution: Enlist the help of a muscular friend or like I should have done… waited for Robert to get home.  There were four letter words flying all over the place as I tried to carry this glass table with my spaghetti arms and fight with its pieces all over our backyard. Grunting at and arguing with this inanimate object. Our neighbors are probably afraid of me now or at least think I’m nuts. I could have easily pulled a disc or shattered the glass everywhere.  In hindsight, I was really dumb.  But… I’m nothing short of committed.)

2. Flip the table over on its top and unscrew the legs and brackets on the base of the table to release the glass top and carefully pick up the glass top to move it out of the way for the next step.

3. I put the metal base pieces on a canvas drop cloth and scrubbed it again with the hot water and dish soap.  Then, let dry.

4. From there, it was just a quick one coat of the spray primer, followed by a coat of the white spray paint once dry.

5. Carefully slide the glass top back into the metal surround and screw the base back into place.  Flip the table back up and ta da!  Brand new table.

I managed to snag this cute black and white awning stripe umbrella at World Market during their outdoor sale to go with it and these white and wood-look resin patio chairs on sale at Wayfair for $39 each.

In the end, still way cheaper than if I’d bought a brand new patio set.  Doesn’t it look brand new anyway?!  I’m completely amazed how much a couple of cans of spray paint and a good scrub can do.

We’ve already initiated it by having 2 big family reunions at our house the past two weekends and dinner out here almost every night since.  I’m going to soak in every bit of it that I can.

What do you think? Amazed?  If you have a shabby patio table sitting around, maybe it has some life left in it after all.  It’s good to know ours will be staying out of the landfill.

You can check out the rest of my Trash to Treasure Transformation crew’s makeovers below.

(Clockwise from top left):  Prodigal Pieces | Girl in the Garage | Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer | Artsy Chicks Rule 

If  you want to save this post for later, you can pin it here: