My Not-Fancy Guide To Painting Furniture and Stuff

Ugly Pine Side Table Makeover

Tiny Antique Chair Makeover

Wow, you actually clicked on this post despite the non-fanciness? Awesome.

Just a warning: I am not a furniture-painting expert. I don't know any tricks or fancy techniques. All I know is that I've painted quite a few things and they've always turned out pretty well.

A few of you have asked how I've done it, so here goes:

My Not-Fancy Guide to Painting Everything In Sight Furniture

1. Choose a Paint Colour and a Finish

Paint Colour Choice - Simply White by Benjamin Moore
Paint Finish Choice - Eggshell

First up, paint colour. I like white. (And sometimes green.) Those are the only two colours I've used to paint stuff so far. My go-to white paint colours are Simply White and Cloud White by Benjamin Moore. I'm sure there are other great whites, but these are the two that I keep going back to.

Next up, paint finish. I lo-o-o-o-ve flat/matte paint finishes. However, since flat paint marks easily and doesn't wash well, I only use it on some pieces. For example, when I painted my white cubby shelf I used flat paint since I knew it wouldn't be getting a lot of wear and tear. When I painted my antique desk and matching chair, however, I moved up to an eggshell finish so that it would be a bit more durable. Another option is to use a flat paint finish but then seal your piece with polyurethane. For example, I painted a tiny table and chair set with a flat finish for our future little one's room, but I purchased some polyurethane sealer to protect it from future crayon attacks and hotwheel car crashes. Note: Didn't seal the table and chairs yet because I am so lazy busy.

2. Prepping the piece

Sanded all over with 220-grit sandpaper.

I always sand my pieces first to even out any bumps or marks as well as to roughen up the surface so that your primer has something to adhere to. The rougher the sandpaper you use, the more you'll scratch up the surface. If the piece is rough-looking I'll start with a 150-grit sandpaper first, then go over it again with a 220-grit sandpaper to smooth it out. Most of the time I'm too impatient so I just use the 220-grit sandpaper all over.

Some people use a sanding block or electric sander to sand their pieces. I usually do mine by hand. I cut up the sand paper into tiny squares and use about a million of them. I don't know why. But it works for me.

Once the piece has been sanded I wash it with a mixture tsp and water. Then I wash it again with just water.

3. Primer

TSP for cleaning.
Fresh Start primer.

I always use a coat of primer before I paint. I've been using Fresh Start by Benjamin Moore and it works very well. There is NO WAY that I would skip the primer step and run the risk of the paint peeling and having to re-do the whole thing. Primer, primer, primer.

After a coat of primer.

 4. Painting

After three coats of paint.

The number of coats you need will depend on how your piece looked before you started. If it's in rough shape, it may need 3 coats. If it has a dark paint colour or stain, you may also need three coats. However, if you are painting white over white, you may only need a coat of primer and one coat of paint (I did this for my cubby shelf). Most of the time, I paint with two coats. It usually does the trick.

I don't have a paint sprayer so I paint with a good 'ol brush. That means there is usually brush strokes in my paint finish when I'm done. That's okay though. It's supposed to look painted, right? I almost always use a 2" brush. Occasionally for small pieces (a picture frame) or intricate detail I'll use a smaller 1" brush.

5. Sanding

Sometimes I'll get chunks of paint or Roary's annoying dog fur in my paint finish. Noooooo! If I'm in the mood to do a good job, I'll give the piece a light sanding with fine 220-grit sandpaper in between coats. It smoothes out little bumps and brushstrokes. When I'm bored, I've been known to skip this step.

6. Distressing

Distressed using 100-grit sandpaper.

Distressing is fun. I was scared my first time but now it's the part I look forward to the most. Don't forget that the original colour of your piece will show once you start distressing.

I use little squares of sandpaper to distress the pieces. The sandpaper I use will depend on how many coats of paint I used on the piece. For example, the antique desk I painted had three coats of paint so I needed a rough sandpaper to get the paint back off. However, it made the piece quite scratchy and more heavily distressed than some of my other pieces. If you want a lightly distressed piece, use finer sandpaper like a 150-grit. I take the sandpaper to the edges, corners, and rounded bits that would typically get worn off over time.

All done.

Sometimes I like the clean, crisp look and don't do any distressing at all. I painted this dresser green and left it as is. I like mixing it up a bit.

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Well, that's it. You'll notice that I've never used wax or glaze or anything tricky. If you're looking for an expert guide you may want to check out these lovely ladies. They work magic on furniture.

Marian over at Miss Mustard Seed's Creative Blog

Holly over at Life In The Fun Lane

Cassie over at Primitive and Proper

If you have any questions or if I left something out, just leave me an email or a comment.

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Hope you're having a great start to weekend. Work has been stressing me out biiiiiig time so I spent the morning in bed reading my new book and drinking coffee. I love Saturdays. :)