I'd been wanting a couch or sectional for our back patio for a while now; our toddler loves spending time in the back yard, so we spend tons of time out there with him. We have a dining table and a couple of wicker chairs on the patio, but a couch seems so much more comfortable! I started shopping around online and realized that patio furniture is NOT cheap - especially couches and sectionals since the cushions really add up in addition to the cost of the furniture itself! On the low end, IKEA outdoor couches and sectionals start at $400-500, and more mid-priced options are well over $1,000-1,500.
Enter a secondhand sectional! I LOVE Facebook garage sale/resale pages - the one in our neighborhood is especially active and great deals can be scored on there all the time! I like that our page is local (meaning we won't have to drive too far to pick up), and it feels less shady than buying off Craigslist (since you have to know someone personally to get into the group and I can check out our mutual friends before buying).
One of my friends from the neighborhood bunco group posted her Pottery Barn Chatham sectional for only $50 - it was in good shape but they're changing their patio setup to accommodate a dining table and needed it gone! It's still sold at Pottery Barn - for the configuration she was selling (including coffee table and cushions), it costs a whopping $2,381 new (plus over $500 in shipping and taxes). Although it needed some TLC, I was willing to risk $50 on a $3,000 outdoor sectional!
The cushions were a natural "canvas" color but had some mildew/mold from being left outside in the elements all winter. The sectional and coffee table themselves are wood (mahogany) but had some slight fading from the sun (the coffee table worse than the sectional). Overall, though, the cushions were still firm, there were no holes or rips in the fabric, and the wood was very sturdy. My father-in-law came over last weekend with his pickup truck to help us pick it up, and then we went to town giving it a little refresh!
Luckily, the cushion covers zip off! I ran them through the washer with a hefty dose of Oxiclean, which got rid of many of the stains. For the tougher mold/mildew stains, I tried Oxiclean spray, soaking in Oxiclean and hot water, and borax, which all helped some but didn't do the job completely. Finally (I wish I had started here), I mixed up a solution of 1 part bleach to 8 parts water in a spray bottle. The fabric care instructions say not to use non-chlorine bleach, but I tested the colorfastness on a hidden part of the fabric and it didn't change the color, so I decided to go ahead.
The bleach spray worked great and got rid of EVERY trace of mold or mildew that was on the covers! They look brand new! I was thrilled with this since new cushions alone run over $500 (before shipping or tax!) Since the inserts were in good shape, once the covers were clean, they were good to go! We plan to bring them inside (or store in a deck box) when not in use to keep them from getting so mildew-y again, since I am not sure what the effects of continued bleaching might be (plus they are a hassle to zip on and off).
As for the sectional and coffee table wood, the stain was still in pretty good shape, but there was some sun bleaching and the wood was looking a little dry. Since the Pottery Barn website says they are made from mahogany and the wood wasn't heavily varnished, we refreshed the wood using this teak oil. We applied a couple of coats using rags (my husband's old hole-y undershirts). It took less than an hour for the two of us to do the entire sectional plus the coffee table. The sectional looks SO much better! The coffee table was in worse shape so it looks better but still not perfect (it probably needs to be sanded and restained but we didn't want to hassle with trying to match the stain on the sectional right now). We let the wood dry outside for a couple of days before putting the cushions back on.
Overall, we are thrilled with how it turned out - especially considering it was only a $60 investment ($50 for the furniture and $10 for the teak oil).
No comments:
Post a Comment