Gelato setting

Take to the furniture – whether it be wood or metal – with a wire brush and sandpaper, and finish off with paint. Include the garden umbrella in the revamp with fun polka-dot additions to its cover, and scatter matching cushions on chairs and benches. With your outdoor setting looking its absolute best for summer, you can reward yourself – with a gelato, of course!

Table

Gather your supplies

* Slat timber outdoor table

• Tarpaulin

• Wire brush

• Electric sander with 120-grit sandpaper

• Dulux Weathershield Low Sheen Acrylic in White, Featherbed (light blue), Passion Flower (pink), Cream Cake (cream), Vision (mauve) and Spatial Spirit (light green)

• Spray gun

• Safety gear

• Paintbrush

STEP 1
Lie your table on tarpaulin and sweep away cobwebs and dust. Then use wire brush to remove any flaking paint.

STEP 2
Working in direction of grain, sand top, bottom and legs of table with electric sander. When table is smooth, wipe away dust and it’s ready to be painted.

STEP 3
Dilute white paint by adding 100ml water per litre of paint. Fill spray gun bottle with diluted paint. Wearing safety gear, spray entire table surface. Let dry.

STEP 4
Working with outdoor paint in gelato-like colours and using a colour sequence of your choice, brush a different colour onto each slat. Let dry. Apply a second coat of paint.

Umbrella

Gather your supplies

* Old outdoor umbrella

• 120-grit sandpaper and sanding block

• Tarpaulin

• White rust-resistant spray paint

• Safety gear

• Assorted cups, bowls and plates

• Polka-dot cotton fabric

• Fray Stop

• Scissors

• Fabric glue

• Pencil

• Lint-free cloth

STEP 1
Carefully remove umbrella cover and set aside. Working on tarpaulin, sand smooth umbrella arms and pole. Dust off then lightly spray-paint arms and pole white. Let dry.

STEP 2
Draw several circles of different sizes onto wrong side of polka-dot fabric. The easiest way to do this is to use a pencil to trace around various cups, bowls and plates.

STEP 3
To prevent raw edges of fabric from fraying, run a thin line of Fray Stop around pencil outline of each circle. Let dry, then use sharp pair of scissors to cut out each circle.

STEP 4
Re-fit cover on frame. Arrange circles on cover to your liking. Working with 1 circle (wrong-side up) at a time, run glue just inside fabric edge. Position circle (right-side up) on cover.

Cushions

Whip up matching cushions, too. Just stitch two 42cm fabric squares, right-sides together, leaving a gap for filling. Turn right-side out, insert cushion and stitch gap closed. Easy!