Give Your Garden Furniture a Sustainable Refresh: Expert Tips from Thorndown

As more people look to revamp, instead of re-buy, garden furniture, eco paint brand Thorndown is sharing their top tips on how to breathe new life into tired wooden furnishings.

Caroline Thornborough, Thorndown’s Design Director, said: “With the rising cost of living, as well as a huge focus on sustainability, more people are getting ambitious with their home makeovers.”

Thorndown is renowned for its technically-excellent exterior wood paint, which when applied to wood creates a durable, water-repelling coating. What’s more, its VOC-free pigments will ensure colour remains strong – even when faced with the Great British weather.

Here, the team at Thorndown share their advice on how to ensure the perfect makeover, as they transform a timber dining set.

Caroline said: “This Hutton Melrose Dining Set is made from really good quality sustainably sourced softwood timber. The pressure treatment used in this timber protects against rot and insect attack for 15 years, but it needs protecting from the outside elements.

"Wood is a natural product and will absorb water from rain, which could make it warp and split. Water will also stain and discolour the wood.

“Use a good quality exterior wood paint such as Thorndown and maintain when required so it looks great and lasts for decades.”

1. Ensure whatever you are painting is dry. If the moisture content in the timber is too high, the paint won't bond and fix properly to the surface - which could lead to it peeling.

2. Gently remove any surface residue with sandpaper.

3. If the furniture is made of softwood that has not been treated with pressure-treatment or preservative chemicals then you’ll need to paint on two coats of Thorndown Wood Preserver first to protect against rot. Hardwood has natural protection against rot so you wouldn’t need to worry if it was made of oak, teak or any other hardwood.

4. Choose your colour. We love the natural colour of the timber in the Melrose Dining Set so opted for UV Clear. UV rays from the sun will age and grey the timber. The UV blockers in UV Clear will slow down the aging process caused by the sun’s rays so you have the fresh timber look for much longer.

To complement the natural wood, we painted the legs of the table and benches in our Ash translucent Wood Paint and for a full country cottage look, the bench seating was painted with Doulting Stone Wood Paint.

5. Mix paint well with a proper paint stirrer.

6. Start painting by going along the surface with the grain covering a whole stretch at a time so you get a nice smooth patch free coating. You can use a good quality synthetic paint brush or a roller with a medium or smooth pile sleeve. You can also use a sprayer. Make sure you get into all of the grooves and fully coat the sides as well. Leave to dry for 30 minutes to an hour then apply your next coat. Don’t forget to paint the underside of your furnishings.

7. Two coats will protect it for up to 10 years, when you should do a maintenance coat. Three to four coats is always recommended on cut ends, underneath of feet and horizontal surfaces as they suffer from a higher degree of wear and tear and exposure.

TOP TIP

Wipe the rim of the tin when you’ve finished painting otherwise if there’s lots of paint on it when you seal it shut, the lid will stick to the tin and you can damage and bend the lid when trying to prise it back off again.

Thorndown’s Wood Paint is available in 72 colours and a UV Clear, and colour-matching is also available. Wood Paint is priced at £22 for a 750ml tin.

Ends

Editors notes

ABOUT THORNDOWN

Thorndown is an award-winning specialist paint manufacturer that creates technically excellent, eco-friendly water-based wood paints and innovative peelable glass paint, perfect for shading and arts and crafts.

Inspired by the beautiful countryside and heritage of the West Country where the factory is based, the husband-and-wife team behind Thorndown, Ben and Caroline Thornborough, blend their passions for art, design, science and the natural world in their ecologically advanced paints.

Founded on the principles of creating the best possible products with leading ingredients that both respect and work with the natural environment, Thorndown has taken time to source the best raw materials to create cutting-edge water-based eco paints with virtually no VOCs.

Thorndown’s Wood Paint is available in 72 colours and a UV Clear, while the Peelable Glass Paint is available in 24 opaque colours and 14 translucents.

Colour matching is also available along with over 1800 RAL Classic and Design colours, along with 2050 NCS colours, 434 British Standard BS318C BS4800 BS5252F and 924 Pantone C colours.

For more: thorndown.co.uk

Thorndown is represented by homes & interiors PR specialists jwcpr