Welcome to Week Two of the $100 Room Challenge
Click on the links below to navigate through all four weeks of this challenge.
How To Replace a Patio Chair Sling
This week I’m going to show you how to replace a patio chair sling. And it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
Disassembling
In order to refresh the furniture, I had to disassemble it. I wasn’t too sure how easy this was going to be, but figured it could be done. If not, I guess I would have gone to plan B, which would be painting the fabric.
I decided to start with one of the foot stools, just in case something went wrong, or I couldn’t get them apart. But it worked!!
Here is my starting point:
First remove all of the plastic screw covers. Keep all of those pieces in a small snack ziplock bag, so they don’t go missing.
Next unscrew all of the screws. I used an power screwdriver, you just need a longer hex drill bit. So much easier than undoing all of these by hand!

Good thing Greg has a lot of tools and had the hexagonal drill bit I needed, instead of doing these by hand with an allen key!
Getting the fabric out of the track was a bit more difficult. I used a long machine screw and tapped it out with a hammer. Once the screw was tapped all the way in, I just used pliers to pull out the plastic wire.
Now onto the other 4 pieces!
The chairs were a bit tougher to get apart than the foot stools were. I had to cut the fabric off of the chairs first, in order to get the plastic guide wire out. I used a utility knife (with a fresh sharp blade). And I had to get help from Greg to remove the plastic cable. it was in there good! Ok, so the chairs are shredded and I am now officially all the way in! Onward…
Sanding
Once all of the pieces had been dismantled, I sanded off the areas that had rust, and then wiped them down well (paint doesn’t stick well to dusty/dirty surfaces). To do the sanding, I used a sanding attachment on my handy dandy Multi-Tool.

My favourite presents are always tools! This was a Christmas present. Now I just need a garage to put all my tools in.
Painting

Rustoleum – LOVE this paint. If you didn’t know I was Canadian before, now you can tell, because I photographed the French side of the label. Danger extreme! 🙂
Originally, I tried a textured finish paint, but it was crappy to spray and went on gloppy. So, I went with this Rust-Oleum paint in Dark Walnut
Love the colour! It’s the perfect compromise between brown and black. And it is SUPER NICE to paint with. It went on smooth and dried really fast. The trick with spray paint is to paint in short passes. If you just hold the button down, you will end up with runs and drips. Plus you will go through a lot more paint. So remember, short quick bursts 🙂
Here is the before and after on the chair arm.
I used a large plastic tarp, to protect my deck. I always buy my tarps at the dollar store. 4′ x 10′ painter’s non slip tarp – $4!
I multitasked my way through this painting project. I would go outside and paint, and then go back in and do some housework, then after about 15 minutes I would head back out on the deck, and paint some more. It worked well, and I didn’t feel guilty about working on projects instead of keeping the house clean 🙂 This paint covers well and dries really fast. But use it in a well ventilated area, as it’s a bit strong.
Once all of the furniture was painted, I just cleaned off the plastic wicker pieces (in the bathtub) and then put as much of it back together as possible without having the fabric pieces done.
US Exchange 🙂
One of the other Canadians doing the challenge mentioned that she was converting her costs to U.S. dollars. And you know the more I think about it the more I agree with her. If you buy the paint that I used at Amazon .ca it costs $8.37/ can and the same paint on Amazon.com costs $4.09/can. So, I’m okay with doing US exchange on my costs, because my $100 Cdn isn’t going to go very far! Im using a rate of $.75 Canadian to $1 U.S. Here is what I have spent so far:
Costs:
- Tarp: Dollar store $4
- Paint: Lowes $9 x 2=$18
Total to date: $22 Cdn x .75 = $16.50 U.S.
Note: This post contains affiliate links. You don’t pay more, I just may make a small commission. See here for my here for my full discolsure. Thanks for helping us pay the blog bills 🙂
Click over to Week 3 and Week 4 for the rest of this tutorial on how to replace a patio chair sling
Check in and see what all the other bloggers are up to in Week 2!An InLinkz Link-up
Wow that looks like a big difference! You are very patient to disassemble everything like that! It’s going to look awesome!
It’s not patience, it’s a sickness. I also LOVE putting together IKEA furniture. No one else is allowed to help!! ha ha.
Multi-tools are my best friend. Can’t wait to see how it turns out, it’s looking great!
I love tools!!! I have a Dremel type tool that I also love, and it has saved my bacon a few times. I just need somewhere to put them all. My spare bedroom closet is my garage (for now) 🙂
Oh awesome! We spray painted our patio furniture years ago and it was a game changer. Can’t wait to see this space all done!
Me too! I just hope I have enough cash left to buy a few accessories!
spray paint makes such a difference! I love this transformation!
Thanks Morgan. This stuff was also very nice to work with, I’ll use it again.
The paint is going to make such a difference! I’m glad you agree with me on the US $ vs CAD $. The difference is so obvious when looking at the prices on Amazon!
Thanks Natalie, I never would have thought of doing US exchange. But our dollar just doesn’t go very far, so it seems fair. Paint fixes everything… paint and duct tape 🙂
Wow!! Those look so much better!! I can not wait to see what fabric you use!!
Thanks Sheena.Hopefully I have enough budget left to get a few other things for the space.
Looks like new! Thank goodness for paint.
I agree, 100 CAD doesn’t go too far.
No it sure doesn’t. Man, you can do so much with just paint. And based on the US exchange, I’m not going to Hawaii anytime soon either 🙁
Just that little sneak peek of the before and after looks like things are coming along nicely. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
Thanks Erin. It’s keeping me busy for sure!
Wow, I would not have believed this was possible! Thanks for the detailed pictures. I’ve got some patio furniture I need to try this on, and wouldn’t have had the guts before now.
Yay!! You are sooooo welcome. If I possibly inspired you to do something, then I have succeeded. That makes me so happy!!
I love your detailed how to on this! I cannot wait to see the finished product!
Love what you are doing here….it’s truly amazing what a difference paint can make! I can’t wait to see your painted patio furniture!
I can’t wait to see how those chairs turn out!
You don’t have too much longer to wait Emy! Im lucky we are having a crazy hot extended summer here in BC.
Can’t wait to see how the chairs turn out! Amazing how much difference a little paint can make.
Hi Maria, I’m getting there. I’m lucky the set was very sturdy, and only needed cosmetic upgrades.
Can’t wait to see it all done. I LOVE the power of spray paint!!
I know right? Paint is for sure the best bang for your buck!!
I can’t wait to see the end result! And I had no idea you can get tarps at the dollar store!! I’m definitely checking around here to see if I can score some. You are extremely patient to tackle those chairs!
Hey Melissa,
Not just tarps, but really great tarps! Used to be just plastic tarps, but now they stock no slip painting tarps, and honestly they are awesome!Go get some!!!