Painting sheds and garden furniture

A garden shed, a children's playhouse, a greenhouse, a pergola, a bench or a garden table: painted, they become part of the garden rather than accidents in it. All four of our Multi-Surface paints, Dead Matt (5%), Eggshell (15%), Satin (40%) and Gloss (85%), are recommended on garden wood and metal, over our Multi-Surface Primer; for wood you simply want to protect while keeping its grain, look instead at the stains and oils in our wood care range.

The secret of a successful shed is to lose it in the green: Blueprint, Market Green, Damp Leaf or Forest vanish behind a hedge, where orange-toned timber leapt out. Furniture, on the other hand, can afford colour: a Dulwich Red bench, a Lambeth Walk table, Beaufort Gardens chairs under a cherry tree.

Recommended finishes

Sheds & furniture

Multi-Surface Dead Matt Multi-Surface Eggshell Multi-Surface Satin Multi-Surface Gloss

Primer

Multi-Surface Primer

Our advice

A shed or a garden bench, done well

Clean, dry garden timber, undercoat on the bare wood, and two coats in fine weather: the garden changes face in a weekend.

Brushed, dried, undercoated: the garden timber is ready.

Prepare

Clean, dry, moss-free wood

Stiff-brush the shed to remove moss, lichen and greyed wood, treat with a fungicidal wash if needed, and let it dry through two days of fine weather: garden timber must be dry to the core. Scrape off flaking stain or paint, sand planed wood with 120 grit; rough-sawn timber is only brushed. Replace rotten boards.

A wooden bench or table is washed with degreaser and sanded with 180 grit; an iron piece is wire-brushed clean of rust. On bare wood, board ends and brushed metal, apply our Multi-Surface Primer in the tint matched to the colour, a dark tint under Blueprint or Forest, white under Lambeth Walk.

Blueprint on the shed, Hawksmoor on the windows, Dulwich Red on the bench.

Paint

Along the boards, in fine weather

A dry weekend, between 10 and 25 °C, following the shade around the shed. Paint with a 75 mm brush along the boards, working into the overlaps and ends, or with a long-pile roller on large cladding, laid off with a brush. Two coats of Multi-Surface Dead Matt, Eggshell or Satin, 3–4 hours apart; windows, doors and bargeboards in a lighter tone.

For furniture, two thin coats by brush, the piece turned over to paint the underside of the legs; let it harden for a week before sitting on it or storing it. A Blueprint shed with Hawksmoor joinery, a Dulwich Red bench in front: the garden looks designed.