How to Fix Faded Rattan Furniture (Without Stripping!)
Is it possible? I honestly didn’t think it was. Until now, I’ve always passed by damaged rattan furniture or painted it to hide the faded colors. But, I’m a true sucker for the original yellow stained color of rattan. I was so excited to find a way to restore this rattan coffee table I found in the trash. I didn’t want to manually sand off all of the old color. I also didn’t want to strip off the original finish. This technique worked flawlessly and didn’t take much time or effort.
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This picture just about sums up how I expected this project to go. But, believe it or not… after less than 2 hours of work, I was done!
So, without further ado, here are the steps I took to achieve this look. If you prefer videos, you can find the TikTok here or the Instagram reel here.
1. Clean the furniture. I use Krud Kutter ($13.49 on Amazon, but probably cheaper in stores). This removes the dirt, grease, and grime. Of course, Windex works fine for the glass.
2. Trim off the broken pieces of rattan. Wire cutters may help you get closer than large scissors can.
3. Gently sand with 120 grit sandpaper. With rattan, I recommend sanding very gently by hand. I fold up a sheet of sandpaper and scuff sand. No need to remove the original color for this technique!
4. Cut a piece of paper and fold it to be the same width as the missing cane strip. I used hot glue to keep it from coming unfolded. You can also use a plastic straw, piece of tape… get creative!
5. Hot glue the folded paper strip (other options may be pieces of straws, cardboard, plastic, or really anything that matches the texture of the furniture) into the missing spot. I recommend a cordless hot glue gun which makes it easier to reach all of the necessary spots. Here’s one for $20 on Amazon!
6. Clean and paint. I did not prime this piece, because I wanted some of the original color to show underneath the paint. I painted with Tobacco Brown ONE from Melange Paints (promo code MAGGIE10 saves 10% on your Melange Paints order). Rattan furniture is not flawless, so it’s okay to have some areas of discoloration. You may want to slightly water down the paint for a “whitewash” technique if you’d like it to have depth. Real rattan doesn’t have a solid color, so I preferred it to look slightly worn.
7. Rattan furniture has a shine to it. So the eggshell finish of Melange Paints wasn’t going to cut it. I used Clear Gloss Polycrylic from Minwax. I applied 2 coats with a sponge brush, but I should have used a small paintbrush to get all the grooves. You can also use a sprayer. Bonus: this topcoat also protects the paint!
The top arrow shows the finish before sealing. The bottom arrow shows the shine the Polycrylic provided.
8. Let it dry, touch up spots of paint/Polycrylic as needed, and you’re done! Look at that transformation!
Any questions? What do you want to learn from me next? My furniture flipping e-course is a great place to learn everything you need to know— whether you’re reselling or keeping it for your own home.
