The Back Porch Makeover – The Final Project

Our covered back porch is one of my favorite places in our home. Today is the final reveal of this back porch project.

I had been scouring a few stores, Craigslist, and a few online sites for two wrought iron chairs for the back patio. The other day I was looking at Facebook and a link popped up for Facebook Marketplace. So I decided to try my luck. Sure enough, someone had posted a love seat and chair in black rod iron just nine minutes before. The good news? The cost was $75. The bad news? They were about 90 minutes away. Each. Way.

I decided to make the drive and I am so happy I did! The chairs were in great condition and very similar to the rusty wrought iron couch I had purchased a year earlier. Of course, they were black but that didn’t matter since I was going to paint them anyway.

I made my first trip to Home Depot and got the supplies I needed:

• Rust-oleum Satin (for rust) – 2 cans
• Medium grade steel wool
• Medium grade sand paper

I cleaned the chairs with steel wool and sandpaper. The black ones were pretty easy. Removing the rust from the couch was an awful project! After two hours of sanding, I gave up and decided I would just paint over the remaining rust. My only error was estimating how much paint I would need.

Turns out the two cans of spray paint I thought I would need, turned into twelve.  My estimate was just a bit off! It only took me four separate trips to Home Depot to finally figure that out. I sprayed and sprayed. It took me the entire day because the coats had to dry and I kept turning the chairs while painting. Then I flipped them and sprayed with more paint. And then I did the same thing again. (One thing I should mention. Spray paint travels in the air. Like everywhere. Even if you think you have no hairs in your nose, always check your entire body before you go out in public if you are using spray paint …)

After twelve cans of paint, the furniture looked pretty darn good. I managed to find more cushions at Pier One (can you believe they fit?) but had to order the back cushions online.

I moved some wrought iron black plant holders to the covered back porch and ended up spray painting those white as well (they’re black in some photos, white in others)!

The last challenge was to find a coffee table for our covered back porch. I mean, where does the cup of coffee or vodka lemonade drink go? I found these pieces in my studio and decided to use them short term. Although I really like them! Maybe they can stay here permanently.

It’s amazing what you can do with two old windows and a few wire baskets.

There is still a bit of work to do. I would love to get an old metal piece to sit behind the sofa. But until then, my covered back porch is my new happy place!