Wooden Porch Swing Restoration

How To Paint A Wood Porch Swing

Even though my focus is on Interior design, it does extend to other areas too. I am an avid gardener. I love spending time outdoors. Tending my flowerbeds while barefoot in the grass is my happy place. Which leads me to my summer diy project. It was time to paint my wood porch swing.

If you follow me on instagram (@inspireddecorator) then you may already be familiar with my swing makeover project.

The Before picture of this porch swing transformation — *Before: This porch swing has seen better days but is still in great shape. Check out its restoration!*

My father-in-law built this swing many years ago. It is still strong and secure. It also fits in sweetly with my backyard oasis. A few years ago, my husband and I bought his family home and moved in.

You may also be interested in my post on Selling Your Home Quickly here!

It had been a few years since the swing was painted, and it was ready for some attention. The paint was flaking and peeling. The bare wood was exposed in spots, and I knew I needed to tackle refinishing it this year before any rot set in.

I may be addicted to DIY projects seeing as we had barely finished this Console Table Project before I was getting supplies for the wood swing. This is one project though that I was eager to see the change and how it would affect my yard.

I Asked, You Answered

There was a poll on my social media regarding paint colors. I had two choices that I loved and thought would work great in that corner of the yard. Secretly, I was already head over heels for one of the choices but wanted to hear your thoughts too.

Green versus Blue paint colors for the porch swing restoration project — *I did a poll on instagram and facebook to see which color you would like to see on this porch swing. The results are in!*

The decision was pretty unanimous, Blue it was! And I couldn’t agree more! I ended up switching paint brands to go with my favorite company, Benjamin Moore. The winning color is Benjamin Moore Pool Blue 2052-50. The staff at the Benjamin Moore paint store were great and they ended up doing a custom color for me too. The color I liked the most was going to look too washed out in the sun, so they doubled the tint doses for me. This gave me the truest form of the Pool Blue outdoors.

*Benjamin Moore Pool Blue 2052-50 was used for the porch swing restoration. The paint was double tinted to appear brighter while outdoors in the natural light.*

This is a relatively unknown idea, but most paint shops are willing to work with you to get you the color you want. I have had colors done in a 50% tint because I loved the color and the undertones were just right, but I needed it to be lighter. Also, if you have bought paint for a project, but had to delay it, you can take it back to where you purchased it and get them to shake it up for you again. This way you have a well-blended paint to start your project off right.

Stain Vs Paint

The other reason I went to my local Benjamin Moore shop is that the staff are knowledgeable. We discussed the virtues of doing a colored stain versus painting the swing. Benjamin Moore can tint their stains to match the paint chips, which is freaking awesome, and its coverage is amazing. We used a stain on the wood gables of our previous house and it turned out amazing. You don’t need to sand anything beforehand, although a good wipe down is often best, and a coat or two is all you need. Plus it lasts forever, we’re talking 10-15 years without refinishing! The downside is that it only comes in 1 gallon pails so I had lots left over.

A quart of Aura Exterior Paint is all the swing required — *Benjamin Moore is my preferred paint brand. The Aura Exterior Paint line was used for the porch swing.*

I did end up using the Aura exterior paint. I only needed a quart of paint for the swing, but I’ll seal up the container and see what other projects may come up. The paint should be fine for 5+ years though before I need to do touch-ups on the swing.

Steps to Paint the Wood Porch Swing

Prep

I like to take the time to properly prep a project before getting into the nitty-gritty of it. That means sanding. I washed down the swing and then started sanding away the chipped paint.

That’s when my husband’s sander died.

I made a quick trip to my local hardware store and came home with a new sander! This one is mine, my husband will have to ask to borrow it. This Black and Decker sander is great and has a few neat features. You use the heel of your palm to push down on the activating button, which feels very natural when you are already putting weight on your heel while sanding. The shape of it is generic so you don’t need to buy expensive, shape-specific sandpaper. And finally, it has a filter on it!

Black & Decker electric sander — *My new Black & Decker Sander came to my project- prep rescue!*

It took me a full hour to sand the swing all down. There were a few rough patches in the wood that I smoothed out.

Paint

Then I used an old paintbrush to dab the new paint color into the grooves and nail heads. Those hard to reach spots were where I started. This way I didn’t have to worry about wrecking paint lines by trying to get full paint coverage in the grooves.

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate how cool the roughly painted blue looks on the aged wood!

A beautiful distressed wood finish appears when the new paint is first applied to the old paint — *The combination of old and new paint make for a gorgeous distressed finish. It gives me an idea for a future project.*

The top of the bench is what I painted next. After being left to dry for an hour, the swing was flipped over and the backside was painted as well. This also helped to smooth out some paint drips that happened when I was covering the grooves. Once again, leave it to dry for a bit. Refer to the drying instructions on your paint can.

This partially painted swing is to show you that once the details are painted, go back and paint the flat surfaces smooth — *After doing a quick and dirty paint of the detailed areas, go back and paint the flat surfaces. This will smooth out your brush strokes too.*

I did this twice so that there are two coats of paint on every part of the swing. The third layer of paint was done on the seat since that is going to see the most wear.

Set

The swing was left to dry for a few days before we hung it back up again. I wanted to make sure the finish was no longer tacky, so no leaves or dirt would imprint themselves into the finish. There were some rainy days too which could have compromised the life of the new paint finish if the swing had been out too soon. Since we had the space, it was worthwhile to leave it and let the paint fully cure before moving it back outside.

This wooden porch swing was painted with Benjamin Moore's Pool Blue. This swing restoration project involved refinishing this old wood porch swing so it would last for many more years to come. — *A beautiful diy restoration of this porch swing! The color is Benjamin Moore Pool Blue 2052-50.*

I am in love with this swing all over again! Doesn’t it bring the space to life? It no longer blends into its surroundings. I can just imagine how beautiful it is going to look this winter with the white snow all around it. The color is just gorgeous! And it received my in-laws approval! Bonus!

I had leftover paint and used it for some more projects! You can see how I used it to add a distressed finish to an outdoor chair in my post Tips for Creating a Distressed Wood Finish!

Sara-Lynn, founder of The Inspired Decorator

Pin It For Later: Wood Porch Swing

The porch swing was given a DIY makeover to brighten up the backyard! This DIY porch swing restoration was done with Benjamin Moore Pool Blue paint. What a bright addition to this outdoor space! inspireddecorator.com

Porch Swing DIY Restoration. This swing project was done using Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior Paint in Pool Blue. It adds color to the backyard. inspireddecorator.com

Comments

Mindy says

January 17, 2019 at 8:21 PM

Love your color choice. What a great way to brighten up a backyard.

- Sara-Lynn Houk says
  
  January 17, 2019 at 9:15 PM
  
  Thanks! It’s such an uplifting color, especially during the winter when everything else is white, grey or brown, then BAM! Pool Blue!