By Albert Huang
When it comes to outdoor furniture restoration and retainment, Patty’s Portico has 25 years of experience in a game that has attracted some big names, most recently, Martha Stewart.
On June 22nd, Stewart featured Patty’s Portico on her blog “up close & personal,” after purchasing a set of rusted and worn vintage patio furniture that she wanted to restore and recolor for upcoming summer gatherings.
“According to Martha, she had a neighbor who recommended me,” said Patty DeFelice, the founder of Patty’s Portico. “I guess Martha had a lot of neighbors because they are coming in!”
DeFelice said Stewart brought in two truckloads of iron furniture that she wanted changed into her signature “Bedford Gray,” coloring.
“She was very pleased and kept bringing in more pieces,” said DeFelice.
On top of furniture sets, Stewart brought extra items to Patty including an old rusted metal baker’s table base. Step one, especially for the rusty pieces, is stripping by sandblasting. DeFelice said after stripping the pieces down to the metal base, they coat the pieces in a zinc-rich primer that adds to the durability of each piece due to it’s corrosion-resistant properties.
After the primer sets, it’s time to do the powder coating which is where DeFelice was an innovator.
“I was one of the first in the area to do powder coating,” said DeFelice. “I wanted a more durable, less caustic way of recoating metal.”
DeFelice started Patty’s Portico in 1995 after working at her father’s automotive body shop. She said she only started helping out at the shop after her father had a heart attack. However, she ended up staying for 30 years.
After years of working at the body shop, DeFelice said she had an old customer come to her and ask her, “Would you please paint my patio furniture with car paint?”
DeFelice said this first job inspired her to do more with restoring and repainting metal works. She said she later put an ad out in the newspaper and started getting customers who wanted their outdoor furniture redone.
Ever since starting the business in Greenwich, the popularity of the service has grown DeFelice said she has since outgrown her space in Greenwich and expanded her business to Port Chester. DeFelice says even now Patty’s Portico is branching out into new directions, working with restoring car parts, boat parts, and different types of metalworking.
“[Martha Stewart is] really quite nice to work with and I’ve been following her forever,” said DeFelice. “Businesswoman to businesswoman, we get along great!”
DeFelice commented on Stewart’s blog post, “I love what we do, bringing new life into old treasures.”
With her set of fresh looking furniture, ready for guests, Stewart ended Patty’s Portico feature saying, she is “looking forward to lots of entertaining here this summer.”
