How I Paint Furniture
I realize there are a gazillion tutorials out there on how to paint furniture. However, you have never read mine because in all the years I’ve been painting furniture, I’ve never written a tutorial.
As with painting kitchen cabinets, which I wrote about here, I have also been painting furniture just as long. Painting furniture became en vogue in recent years thanks to artisan type paints such as Fusion Mineral Paint, Annie Sloan Chalk style Paint and Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint to name a few. There are many more brands out there as well.
However, painting furniture, in my opinion, isn’t a trendy thing to do as it’s been done since the first farmhouses started popping up hundreds of years ago and even before then.
Painting furniture can also spark quite the debate as there are people out there who call themselves purist who believe that one should never cover wood with paint. We also have those people out there who like to cover everything with paint. I sit on the fence and for me, it depends on the piece as to whether which side of the fence I will fall on in any given day.
If you’ve been given grandma’s old dresser or hutch and it’s a piece that you love and have fond memories of but, it doesn’t quite fit in with you home’s or even your design aesthetic then I say refinishing it so it complements the rest of your home is a wonderful idea. It is better to do that than banish the piece to some forgotten corner of the basement or garage. That’s not why grandma left you that piece. If refinishing it means it can take a place of honour in your home and be used by your family, then why not do it?
Another reason to consider having a piece refinished is when it’s looking worse for wear as well. Of course, some pieces will have a lovely worn patina, that’s not what I’m talking about here.
Then there are those pieces that are quite lovely as is and I feel should be left as is but, at the end of the day, it is your piece of furniture and your home.
There are also those pieces that we may have purchased many moons ago and no longer fit with your newly redesigned space. There is nothing wrong with the piece except perhaps the stain colour is now making it look dated. If the lines and style of the piece still works and the piece still functions then I would consider refinishing it.
In the photo above, I bought this set of table and chairs from Kijiji. This was our office/homeschool/craft room and I wanted something colourful, fun but also sturdy and could take a beating since we love our crafts. Paint was the perfect solution.
In the photo above, I had recently redesigned the client’s kitchen and dining room. This set was your classic 1990’s honey oak table and buffet. These were solid pieces of furniture but now were looking a little dated in her space. I brought them home and gave them a facelift. A pop of colour on the buffet and new hardware and this piece made the perfect vignette for a coffee bar.
So how do I paint furniture?
First, my supplies:
Sandpaper, belt sander, palm sander
Zinsser Primer
Latex paint/Stain (Wood conditioner if staining)
Angled paint brush, flocked foam roller
Polycrylic topcoat
For pieces that are going to get a lot of everyday use, I prefer to strip the tops of the original stain rather than paint the top, I like to either leave it natural with a topcoat or re-stain it a more classic colour. You want to avoid the piece looking dated again or you’ll be back here again redoing it.
Process:
I sand the top down using a belt sander, you want to move quickly as a belt sander can take a lot off in one swipe. Always sand with the grain. Once the original stained finish was removed, I wipe the piece down with a lint free cloth and apply the wood conditioner. Do not skip this step. Wood on older pieces of furniture can be quite dry/thirsty especially after a rigorous sanding. Wood conditioner will also allow your stain to be applied evenly.
Once you apply the wood conditioner, wipe off any excess with with a lint free cloth and you are ready to stain. I just use the cheap wide foam brushes to apply my stain. Again I apply with long even strokes with the grain. I like to apply the stain to the entire top and then wipe away the excess immediately. You can always reapply the stain until you get the colour you want.
To paint the base, I would’ve given the entire piece a quick scuff with a sanding block, a quick wipe down and applied the zinsser primer. Just one coat of primer. I also always remove the drawers when painting a piece like this to ensure a professional looking finish.
Within an hour or two of applying the primer, you are ready to paint. I just use a latex paint by Sherwin Williams. I like their proClassic line personally but any latex paint will do. I apply the paint to the hard to reach areas with an angled brush and then roll the paint on with a flocked foam roller on the larger sections. You want to do it in sections to avoid brush marks. Depending on the piece, you will need a minimum of 2 coats and maybe a third.
Once the stain you applied to the top is dry, I like to wait 24 hours, you are ready for your topcoat. I like to apply a minimum of 4-5 coats. I use Varathane’s non yellowing diamond finish top coat in clear satin. Semi gloss and gloss will highlight any imperfections in your work and your piece. I like to give a light sand in between the top coats to ensure that buttery smooth feel when you run your hand across the top.
Some people like to distress the painted portion. I’m not a distressing type of gal and like my pieces to look like they are factory finished. But that’s my personal preference.
In our last home, most of the furniture was either built by my husband or thrifted and refinished by myself. I loved all of those pieces. I loved that they were solid wood, bought for a song off kijiji (who doesn’t love a good deal) and with a little sweat equity and some paint, I was able to transform them into pieces that reflected our personality, lifestyle and complemented our home.
When redesigning client spaces, I love to reuse, repurpose some of their existing pieces into the new design concept when possible like I did with the client’s dining room mentioned earlier in the post. In the photo above, we repurposed an older dresser found at a second hand store into a vanity for a client’s bathroom renovation . The craft room above, we built and finished a custom sewing table for this client. This piece was custom built for her height to reduce the fatigue from standing and cutting/ piecing fabric.
The thing I love about all these pieces is they are unique in that you cannot purchase them from a big box retailer. They inject personality in to the space, they complement the space being designed, the home itself and they help tell a story.
It’s a win win in my books.
