Petal Three, Worksheet #1: Story 4

Title: Refinishing

My mom has an old set of rod iron outdoor furniture on her front patio. It’s been there the entirety of my life. Two chairs and a table. Recently, I had the opportunity to house sit for her and my father. This involved taking care of the dogs, watering the plants and all that good stuff. My mother also had no problem suggesting that I refinish that old set up dirty furniture on the front porch. Besides painting the fence around their house, I had little experience with “handy” work, if you will.

My goal was to make this set of chairs and table look new again. I wanted my mother to feel inclined to use them, and maybe even take a load off every now and then.

Steps involved:

1. Research. (Youtube videos mainly)
2. Gather materials. (Go to hardware store for orbital sand paper, wire brush, rustoleum, and a sponge.
3. Start sanding and wire brushing all rust and old paint off.
4. Keep sanding.
5. Keep wire brushing.
6. Clean with sponge and water.
7. Sand some more.
8. Clean some more.
9. Spray with rustoleum.
10. Let dry.
11. Spray again.
12. Position nicely back on front patio.
13. Assess.
14. Notice disease with color choice.
15. Back to hardware store for different color rustoleum.
16. Spray again.
17. Enjoy.

The outcome came in these words from my mother: “How did you do that?! They look brand new. I’ve been wanting someone to do that for 10 years now.” On top of that, I have a new place to sit in the morning, due to my hard work. That feels good. Working hard for stuff, and doing stuff yourself, sure does feel good. I also discovered that I can take on tasks like this. This reminded me that all you have to do is start, somewhere.