How to Refinish Outdoor Furniture: Step-by-Step Guide

Phew, talk about a GLOW UP. This patio set has been taunting me for more than a year now with its greyed-out wood grain, old stained cushions and cute design that I just knew had potential if I put any effort at all into it to learn how to refinish outdoor furniture.

To backtrack, this set was left behind at our house by the previous owners so it was free to us.

She actually had moved out-of-state before selling and had a whole assortment of random stuff in the shed and attic that I assumed she didn’t want to bother to come back for like a lawnmower, wheelbarrow, Christmas lights, and a random decorative deer head. It was like thrift store shopping at my own house which is obviously the dream.

Anyway, back to the patio set. As you know by now if you’ve been following along, we’re selling our house. We’re actually under contract as I write this, so are kind of stuck in DIY limbo not wanting to change anything that a buyer has already seen and not wanting to create anything new we’re going to need to haul three states away.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emma | Home & DIY (@shoemakesnew)

As we’ve discovered, though, we’re antsy people and need projects to tinker with, so cue the patio set makeover.

This was so easy and surprisingly cheaper than I would’ve expected considering what a difference it made, coming in at about $25 in supplies.

On This Page

Tools & Materials

- Outdoor stain and sealer – this Varathane Cedar natural tone is the exact one I used
- Paintbrush – I just used a cheap one like these
- Paper towel (to wipe stain)
Sander
Sandpaper (80 grit and 220 grit)
Tack cloth (optional, but makes a big difference in surface prep)

How to refinish outdoor furniture

Assuming you’ve got a rickety old, neglected piece of outdoor furniture like I did, you’ll start by giving it all a rough sanding down with 80 grit sandpaper.

A quick note on sandpaper to use when you refinish outdoor furniture: The grit number refers to how rough or fine a finish you’ll have, so a lower number like 60 or 80 is good for removing anything caked on like wood filler or removing stubborn stain, whereas a higher number like 220 is better for a fine finish on furniture before painting for example.

Now, I have never been someone that uses different sandpaper and goes over projects multiple times for a smooth finish. It’s something I actually hate about myself because I always get to the end and wish I would’ve just taken my time and not cut corners, but this project may have just swayed me to the attentive side.

The 80-grit sandpaper took off a lot of the faded finish from years of rain and sun damage and left a really pretty natural wood color. All the crevices were such a pain to get into and in all honesty there are some parts, like between the slats on the top of the table, that were just impossible to access, so it is what it is.

Sand again

After using the 80-grit it was a totally different color which shocked me because we’d already pressure-washed this set a while back and it revealed a more wood-toned color that we thought was the natural color, but then sanding revealed an even better wood color. This thing is like an onion, I guess.

Anyway, the 80-grit did a great job at really cutting down to the wood, but then I came back for a quick once-over with the 220-grit that made the beautiful, smooth finish that you want when you refinish outdoor furniture.

Prep for staining

I gave it all a good wipe down with paper towel, because we all know the Sahara Desert your workspace becomes when you bust out the sander. For an extra-prepped finish, I went over it with tack cloth. This stuff kind of feels like beeswax and picks up all the tiny dust particles that paper towel or a rag won’t, and it just ensures the best possible surface to start staining on.

Start your staining

We used Varathane’s outdoor stain and sealer product in Natural Cedar. This isn’t sponsored or anything, we just loved the product when we used it recently for our outdoor table, though this time we used a different color.

When I first opened the tin, it looked so orange and I was a little concerned because I loved the natural wood look I’d just exposed with the sanding and didn’t want to ruin it.

One tip I learned last time is to give it a good mix before you start, because the color tends to settle on the bottom. I’d say it took five minutes of constant stirring to get it all uniform, which is important on a big piece like furniture especially because you don’t want it getting splotchy when you refinish outdoor furniture.

Work in small sections

Another thing I learned last time is to work in small sections. This product seems to go on thicker than most stains and it dries very quickly, so I only did about two square feet at a time then went back and wiped over it almost right away which helped to dull that too-orange color I was worried about and revealed a nice, fresh cedar color.

I used a 3-inch brush and didn’t worry too much about the quality of the brush, at least not as much as I would if I was cutting in on a wall or if I was using paint, for example. I’ve found stain is a lot more forgiving because you usually wipe it down to eliminate any brush strokes, anyway.

Let dry

The thing I loved the most about using this particular stain is that it’s also a sealer. I tend to get lazy at the end of projects and want to skip the sealing step because it already looks good, but it’s a trap! With this, though, I can be lazy since I was already sealing as I went.

You’ve just got to leave it to dry at least four hours and it’s ready and waterproof right away (according to the directions).

The best part is, I only used about a third of the quart-sized tin we bought for the entire patio set, which works out to like $5 worth of product for such a big makeover.

Admire your handiwork

I broke this project up over a few different afternoons as we battled the Louisiana summer heat, baby duties, inspection showings and work, but if you’ve got time it’s easily a one-day project.
I’ve still got to get some replacement outdoor cushions, but I think I’ll wait on that until we have a setup at the new house and I can figure out a vibe for our outdoor area.

In the meantime, we’ll definitely be enjoying a few sunset margs under the string lights on what feels like a totally new patio set!