Patio furniture: Before & After

As a wedding gift, we received a patio set from World Market. It looked great when we first set it up, but after three years in the lovely Pacific Northwest climate, it had seen better days (although I admit some of this damage was probably caused by user error). 

I had been lusting after more all-weather patio furniture from Ballard Designs and Pottery Barn. I love the idea of weather-resistant aluminum instead of wood like our current set. But I don't love the idea of spending $2,000 on something I can only really enjoy three months out of the year. 

So I decided a fresh coat of stain and some new pillows would be good enough to get the look I was going for without the huge price tag and bought a can of the darkest wood stain I could find at Home Depot and a new brush for about $50. 

Here are some before shots. This stuff was a mess. 

And the after shots. It's amazing what a difference a can of stain and some pillows can make. 

 

P.S. Brent gets all the credit for the manual labor involved with this project. Not only did he do all of the staining, he also did it over a weekend I was out of town and surprised me when I came home (with flowers, too). He got major points. Major.