Summer hits Humboldt county a little bit later than other places—our grey cloudy summer has dissolved into some glorious days that have our neglected backyard begging for us to give it attention. In honor of the emergence of the sun, I took on a project that has been waiting in the wings since the end of last summer.

At a garage sale last year, we picked up this rather unappealing backyard bar for ten bucks. I have never liked that "yard furniture green" color that seems to be the ubiquitous shade of all things made for your outdoor spaces, so I knew this thing would need a complete makeover.

First I removed the green fabric wrapped around the outside of this monster. Having clearly suffered many rainy seasons in Northern California, the green painted metal beneath was rusty and flaking. I attacked the rust and flake with small sand paper pads and then rinsed the entire piece with a sponge and water.

To repaint the bar I ran to the hardware store to investiage my spray painting options. Normally, I prefer to shop for spray paint at a local graffiti-friendly art gallery, but because this project involved leaving the finished piece out in the elements, I wanted to be certain the paint I used was tested to weather the rain and sun. At the hardware store, I found a brand that claims to help stop rust and prevent it from returning. I grabbed both primer and a red paint.

I always prime something before I paint it to ensure that the color is as bright as possible and that the paint will stick to the surface I am covering. I primed the piece in two rounds, being certain to turn the bar upside down to cover all possible areas.

Once the primer was dry I used the same method to apply the paint.

Now that I had a red bar, it was time to replace that icky green fabric that I pulled off. Using the original fabric as a pattern, I cut out a replacement from some colorful oil cloth.

Oil cloth offers a great variety of colors and patterns and the slick plastic-i-ness of it makes it ideal for use outdoors. If you are not crazy about finishing edges on sewing projects oil cloth can also be ideal—it will not fray or unravel if it is left unhemmed. I am too crazy to leave an edge unfinished, so I went ahead and folded and stitched around the border.

Once the sewing was finished it just took a bit of reassembly to get the new fabric in place. Voila! A new backyard bar for our end of the summer gatherings.

What can't you give a new a life with a little spray paint and oil cloth?

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