How I Paint Furniture

I have been asked a lot lately how I paint furniture pieces.   I depending on the piece or the look I am after I will do a few things differently.  But! Overall this is what I do and what I use.  My secrets spilled to you.

I just re-did two twin beds I am putting in my son and daughters new shared room.  These where mine and my sisters bed when we were little.  They were also my great grandparents beds back in the day when a husband and wife actually slept in separate beds.  CRAZY! Crazy that people slept in different beds and crazy that these beds are THAT old and still as sturdy and solid.  My mom passed these down to me about 2 years ago and I have been hemming and hawing what to do with them since.  Well, now that I have a new baby coming and I decided to put the two older kids in the same room, I decided to paint them!

NOTE- Everyone has their own way of painting furniture.  This is what I like to do.  You will find what works for you through trial and error.

First things first! I usually don’t sand, UNLESS!

Here are my reasons to sand

1. The varnish or paint is already chipping.

2. There are uneven spots or scratches in the wood.

3.  If the piece is super glossy.  I will go over it a tiny bit with 120 grit sand paper.  But, just a little.  Lets not tire our selves out too much!

4.  I want a distressed finished look with wood showing through; but the piece already has been painted and I don’t want to see that paint.  I will then sand certain parts of the piece and create a map as to where those are.  I then will sand, paint, sand those spots again, paint again, sand again just on those spots.

I no longer strip or sand entire pieces.  I would ONLY do that if I was going to stain a piece.

In this case, I had carved my name in a few places on the bed frame when I was little. (sorry mom and dad)

So I sanded a little in those spots

Another first to think about! Brushes!

I use a foam brush when I am not spraying.  A foam brush will help eliminate brush strokes.  If I want my piece to look more aged I will use a regular wall brush like when I painted the Blue Hutch.  Click on link HERE to check that out.

But, buy some foam brushes!  And I also use a product called Flotrol.  It comes in an orange bottle, I know there is a pic of it somewhere on my blog.  It gets added to your paint to also help your paint flatten out and smooths away brush strokes.

After fixing my little carving mess.  I primed.  This is usually where I start.

I prime with Gripper Primer. You can have the paint people tint it if you want or buy it in grey or white.  I have tried about 4 other brands and this is by far my favorite and what I consider to be the best if you don’t want to sand and want your paint to stick and not chip or scratch off.

I do one coat of primer. See here that it is not perfect coat by any means.  The point of sanding or priming is to give your paint something to stick to.  All you need a basic coat of primer.

Then I paint a first coat.

And usually a second

Maybe a third if it needs it.  But, two usually covers it for me.

Paint! I like to use regular ol’ latex paint from Home Depot or Lowes.   Milk paint is really the best stuff you can use, but it’s more pricey and hard to find sometimes.  I buy my paint in flat, eggshell, or satin.

I distressed this bed with 120 and 100 sand paper on a sanding block.

Colors in these pictures are totally off, sorry.

How I finish a piece! I almost always use Minwax Finishing Wax.  It is easy to use and I like the end result.  I find it lasts longer than most of the polyacrylics and polyurethanes I have tried.  But, occasionally I use those too.  Depends on the look I am trying to achieve.  If using a poly-whatever make sure it says does not yellow.  Some of them do, pretty quickly and it is really annoying.  NOTE! Use water based paint, use a water based top coat – Use oil paint, use oil top coat.  Don’t mix and match.

Good luck!! Some of my favorite pieces where total mess ups or experiments.  So, be fearless and just go for it!

You can do it

-TO RECAP-

Sand only if you must.  Invest in foam brushes.  Buy a lovely latex paint in eggshell or satin finish.  Prime with Gripper Primer.  Paint 1-3 coats of paint.  Distress, glaze, or antique after 2nd or 3rd coat.  Finish with a wax, polyacrylic, or polyurethane that won’t yellow.  Enjoy your hard work and beautiful piece.

Please leave me a comment or Pin me on Pinterest!

Hopefully soon I will be updating my blog with fancy pinning buttons and an easier way to comment

THANKS FOR READING!

STAY TUNED FOR THE COMPLETE BOY/GIRL SHARED ROOM MAKEOVER.  It’s going to be CUTE!