Disposing of Old Outdoor Furniture

No matter how much you love your outdoor furniture, there will come a time when it just looks… tired. Shabby. Outdated. Before you toss it out, however, consider freshening it up. You’d be surprised by what a few little tweaks to your garden furniture can do to make it look almost brand new. However, if you do decide to buy a beautiful new set of garden furniture from Outdoor Furniture Ideas, then if possible, recycle the old.

Refresh Your Garden Furniture

Don’t dispose of your old outdoor furniture until you’ve thought about refreshing it. Something as small as new cushions or a coat of paint can totally transform outdoor furniture that’s faded, scratched or just plain ugly. Metal furniture is easily painted, and even some plastic and resin furniture can be refreshed with special paints designed for adhering to those surfaces.

Just adding new cushions to sun loungers and dining or lounge chairs can make a world of difference, especially to wicker furniture, which rarely goes out of style, but often outlasts its cushions and pads. Mix it up by trying colours and patterns you never thought of together, such as navy blue on brown, pastels on black, or a couple of bright prints on white.

Of course, you can reuse the wood in timber furniture any way you want, if it’s not in terrible condition.

Reuse Your Garden Furniture

Do you love your outdoor dining setting’s table, but hate the chairs? Love your outdoor dining setting but don’t have enough chairs? Love your sun lounges, but need to add a few more? Don’t just discard the old garden furniture you’ve outgrown -- reuse or repurpose it. Coordinate the colours and styles, and you can add new pieces to your old outdoor settings in such a way that even the old pieces look new again. Two older white sun lounges that are still in good condition, for instance, will look great with two new black ones.

Alternatively, consider giving your old garden furniture to a friend, family member or neighbour, or passing it along to a charity.

Recycle Your Garden Furniture

Sometimes your old outdoor furniture is past saving. If it’s cracked, warped, broken or otherwise damaged, you’re better off replacing it than trying to make it safe, useful and attractive. The good news is, most garden furniture, including plastic, metal and wood pieces, can be recycled. Call your local recycling centre to find out how to recycle your old garden furniture.

 

When you’re buying new outdoor furniture pieces, keep in mind what you’ll do with them once they’re past their best. Buy metal, resin or PE wicker or rattan pieces that are easily recyclable so that when the time comes to replace them, you know they won’t end up in a landfill, but can be recycled to create all new items.