DIY Patio Chairs and Updating Private Panels

A new summer is around the corner and it's time to update the patio. You want friends and co-workers to come over and be impressed, not shun in disgust because your chairs have rusted over the winter season. I know mine have. I don't mind the metal chairs though since I can re-use them almost ever summer. I would love to have wicker but I have learned over time, wicker is prickly. When I sit in other people's wicker chairs, I remember exactly why I don't like them during the summer; however, in winter, I think they are great because you're wearing jeans to cover your skin from being poked around.

I have four (4) metal chairs, (1) table and (1) side table that is used for drinks. It would be great to find a circular tray to seal to the surface but I will have to keep an eye open for any ideas on how to make it more accessible.

Here are the photos of today's spray-paint job. I am using Rustoleum Gloss Enamel in "Smoke Gray".

The others are still in progress. 

As for my private panels..I don't really like them but there's not much I want to really do to them right now since I have no image in my mind of what they should look like. However, I did decide that since I had one too many fake plants, I am trimming them with wire cutters and placing them in and out of the panels; the way vines would look if they were growing on them. Below you can see the before and after image. I am also putting my christmas white lights within the vines so at night we have some extra patio light (since it is super nice out lately!). 

The bottom planters will either be sanded and stained or sanded and painted a certain color, possibly light blue to match the patio decor. Not sure yet. I stained the bottom planters (3/25/2013 update) and they look like this but I realized that I had not actually used the colored stain in the bottle as the stain was not mixed with the paint (oops, my bad). Probably going to re-do this!