DIY Macramé Beach Chair Makeover

This has got to be one of my favourite projects to date! I upcycled a pair of old beach chairs to give them a colourful makeover using spray paint and some easy macramé knotting techniques, bringing instant summer vibes to my backyard. Read on to learn how you can create a pair of these woven beauties for yourself!

I was inspired by some vintage craft books I found on Etsy to create these beach chairs. I roughly followed patterns from these books to create my design with some small modifications of my own. I encourage you to try your hand at designing your own pattern, it’s super fun!

I found my chairs on Facebook Marketplace

Testing out potential colour combos for my chairs

You will need

An old folding beach chair (or two!)
2 balls of 6mm macramé cord in different colours, approximately 90 metres in length per chair
2 large 16mm crochet hooks
Coloured spray paint in different colour combos
Painter’s masking tape
Sandpaper
Scissors

I used Rust-o-leum spray paint, which is available at many hardware stores. The Ultra Cover range is a paint and primer in one, so you won’t have to prime any plastic or metal surfaces first.

For the macramé I used Bonnie Craft Cord for this project. It’s a polyester cord that is more durable (and waterproof!) than cotton cord.

Prepare the chairs
To get your chairs ready to paint, you’ll need to first remove any existing strapping on the chairs. Once the frames are empty, use sandpaper to buff the entire frame and armrests, as well as any rusty spots. To paint the chairs in 2 colours, first mask off the armrests and spray the frame. Once this is completely dry (refer to the dry time suggestions for your specific spray paint brand), mask or cover the frame and spray the armrests with a different colour.

Time to weave!
When deciding on what pattern you’re going to use for your weave there’s a couple of different options. You can either create your own design (I would suggest mapping it out on some grid paper), or, you can use a design that already exists. I found some fantastic vintage craft books on Etsy in digital PDF form which I purchased as a guide. Here’s the shop I found mine from, but I’m sure there’s many more. A quick Google or Etsy search will bring up lots of options!

Here’s one of the vintage craft books I found for this project.

I chose this diamond pattern to work from.

When you’ve got your pattern sorted and you’re ready to start weaving, follow the steps in the video below! Each section is woven from one continuous length of cord. I love this because it means if you ever need to re-weave your chair or change colours completely, you’ll be able to efficiently reuse the full length of cord and reduce waste.

I truly feel that this is the most stunning outdoor decor project ever! I just love the colour combos together, don’t you? So, if you love upcycling and you want to add a splash of colour to your backyard (or beach trip), why not give these a go? For anyone wondering how long it takes to make these beach chairs, it took me about 2 days in total to spray the frames (including drying time), and about 4 hours to weave each, although I wasn’t rushing! I hope you love this project as much as I did making it. If you try it, let me know. Tag me on Instagram @kitiyapalaskas! I’d love to see what you create!