You will need

• metal item
• metal primer
• paint in the colour of your choice
• paint stripper
• thinners
• paintbrushes
• plastic drop sheet
• paint scraper
• wire brush
• latex gloves
• mutton cloth
• 80-grit sandpaper

1 Place the item on the drop sheet and use a wire brush to remove all the loose paint and/or rust. Now strip off all the old paint by painting on a thick coat of paint stripper. We used Plascon RemovALL All Purpose Paint Remover, which is environment friendly. Apply the stripper according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

2 Leave the item to stand for the necessary time so the paint stripper can react with the paint. You will see the paint begin to peel off.

3 Wear your gloves and use a paint scraper to scrape off the paint that is lifting off the item. Use the wire brush for the difficult areas.

4 Try to scrape or brush off as much of the old paint as possible and leave to dry. Then sand off any remaining paint with 80-grit sandpaper. Wipe down the whole item with thinners on mutton cloth to remove any remaining grime.

5 Paint the item with a metal primer. We used Sentt Anti-Rust Primer in red. Apply the primer following the manufacturer’s instructions precisely.

6 Once the primer is dry you can apply two or three coats of paint in the colour of your choice, leaving each coat to dry before applying the next. We used Dulux Gloss Enamel in Flamingo Fun 1. Replace the glass top or have a new one cut – ours is cut from 5mm-thick glass.

Text and image: Ideas magazine