When my friend Jan approached me about refinishing her wicker patio set I was excited and nervous at the same time.

I’ve never done a wicker makeover before, and wicker furniture generally has a LOT of nooks and crannies.

Will it need stripping? If I use a paint stripper will it weaken the fibres and ruin the furniture?  Will my paint sprayer be able to get into every little crevice or will I be endlessly hand painting?

But I love Jan, and I love a challenge – so I couldn’t resist trying.

This is the before:

Wicker makeover, wicker patio set, painting wicker, refinishing wicker furniture

This is a gorgeous set – the detailing is beautiful and it’s really well made – but it has seen some weather and wear-and-tear.

Wicker makeover, wicker patio set, painting wicker, refinishing wicker furniture

I wasn’t confident enough to repair or patch the wicker, although there are tutorials available online – but you’ll see that the facelift hides a lot by itself.

I did not strip down any of these pieces, and I did not use a high-pressure pressure washer – both of these would have done more damage to the furniture.  Instead, I used a low-pressure washer and some Krud Kutter® to remove mold, mildew, bird poop and dirt.  An outdoor ENJO cloth helped me to get into every crevice as well as right into the fibres for a thorough clean.  I left the patio set in the sun for a day to thoroughly dry out (very important).

I’ll tell you right now, if you are considering making over your wicker furniture, seriously consider buying or renting a paint sprayer.  Mine is an inexpensive Wagner version and without it I don’t think I could have done this job justice.  It would have taken hours of hand-painting and even then I’m not sure that I would have been able to reach everything.

I watered down my Zinsser® Bulls Eye 1-2-3® latex primer according to the paint sprayer specs and coated every square inch.  The first coat I sprayed in a side-to-side pattern and let dry in the sun for 24 hours.

Wicker makeover, wicker patio set, painting wicker, refinishing wicker furniture

The second coat of Zinsser® primer I tinted slightly – to make certain that I didn’t miss any spots – and used the paint sprayer in an up-and-down pattern.  Again, and because wicker is so fibrous, make sure you let each coat dry totally and completely.

Wicker makeover, wicker patio set, painting wicker, refinishing wicker furniture

Jan chose a gorgeous chocolate brown in a Behr outdoor paint and you can see here that the wicker makeover is pretty spectacular.

Wicker makeover, wicker patio set, painting wicker, refinishing wicker furniture

I painted two coats, with drying time in between, in the same side-to-side, then up-and-down pattern as I did with the primer.  I do think this made a difference as it allowed me to cover just about every angle imaginable.

I almost forgot to take the “after” photo until Jan was about to load it up to take home, so I don’t have any of the patio set ‘set up’ for you.

Wicker makeover, wicker patio set, painting wicker, refinishing wicker furniture

You might be able to catch a glimpse of a fray here and there, but overall the paint hid things well, not to mention that it will add a few more years to the life of the set.

Wicker makeover, wicker patio set, painting wicker, refinishing wicker furniture

Jan sent me photos of her new and improved patio set:

Wicker makeover, wicker patio set, painting wicker, refinishing wicker furniture

Pretty impressive for my first wicker makeover EVER!  (totally tooting my own horn here).

Wicker makeover, wicker patio set, painting wicker, refinishing wicker furniture

One more DIY checked of my “I wonder if I can do this?” list!  Thank you Jan for trusting me.

Just in case you’re wondering – the total number of hours I spent working on this wicker makeover was 7.5.  That includes the cleaning, two coats of primer and two coats of paint – it was just the drying time that stretched the project out to 4 days…

but who says you can’t sit and watch paint dry?  On a sunny day with a cool beverage, it’s just about the greatest pastime of the summer!

Wicker Makeover – what I used:

ENJO outdoor glove 

Have a great one!