Bench presses and buckets of fun
Sometimes even the prettiest of gardens appear a little drab. Old garden furniture just looks a little tatty and aged, having lost its lustre through the winter months. Last year's tubs and planters can look overgrown and out of date and as a result the whole garden can look a little past its prime!
But everything's still fully functional, so you don't want to replace anything. So here are some ideas to spruce up the garden and create the perfect patio, with a little help from International paint.
The extreme cold and frost of the last winter will have given old garden furniture a real battering. First it was pelted by winter rain and then the frost arrived. All this weathering makes most garden items look a pale immitation of their former glory. For old hardwood tables, chairs and benches, you can create a complete reversal in fortune by simply giving them a coat of paint. It's important to choose a specialist exterior paint like 10 Year Exterior, in Gloss or Satin finish, because it will protect the wooden surface. Its special formulation is also designed to maintain its good looks for many years to come.
To finish off the smart new glossy look, you don't have to break the bank at the garden centre buying lots of expensive new containers. Go for the value option at the local hardware store, where you can pick up some bargain plain old buckets for a song. These can be easily transformed using the paint you've got left over from beautifying your old benches!
Many hardwood garden benches come in kit form and if you're lucky, you can dismantle them and then attack the job a piece at a time. If not, a logical approach of front and back, top and bottom will give you just a good a result. Remember, the beauty of using paint is that you can mix and match colours. After priming the seat with High Performance Exterior Wood Primer, we chose to create a smart blue and white scheme painting the upright back of bench in blue and the rest of the frame in white.
Paint isn't just pretty, it's practical too. The good news is that 10 Year Exterior is specially formulated first and foremost to protect exterior surfaces. Wood, metal and plastic all suffer from being exposed to sunshine, rain, frost and temperature extremes. The good news is you can give them a helping hand if you use a specialist paint that is designed to be durable. Always apply a primer suited to the surface for best results. Luckily, International paint has over 50 specialist paints, including primers for UPVC, Special Metals and Exterior Wood. Each primer and topcoat is designed to meet the challenge of performing properly while looking pretty whether it's protecting a functional drainpipe or transforming fashionable patio furniture.
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