After I painted our faux concrete rug and our penny patio table was finished, I had this crazy desire to paint our patio table umbrella too. My husband's response after I voiced this urge was, "[sigh] Of course you do." That was all the validation I needed to move forward. I used the same paint I had leftover from our refinished outdoor buffet which was the same color used for the faux concrete rug, Araucana Teal.

After laying down a large plastic drop cloth in my living room area, the first step was to clean the umbrella. I used a magic eraser and warm soapy water. After the umbrella dried, I pulled out the same stencil I used for the faux concrete rug, (here), but adjusted the length to fit each panel. With the stencil in place, I used a pencil to mark the outline. I figured since I was painting it, the pencil would either not show up or I could easily clean the markings off later.

Once I had the design outlined, I taped just above the penciled lines with painter's tape. Then I used a small paint brush to simply paint in the areas as evenly as possible. I added a second coat once the first was dry to touch, which did not take long.

After the second coat was completely dry, I removed the tape and gently cleaned up any visible pencil markings with soapy water and a cloth. I was able to use a normal pencil eraser on any marks that did not wipe off. It worked perfectly and did not damage the paint.

The entire project from start to finish took about an entire afternoon. Taping (my least favorite yet most crucial step) took the longest to complete. You must be extra careful the tape is perfectly straight and tight to the material so the paint will not seep or bleed through.

Just a splash of color is all this umbrella needed to complete our outdoor dining area.