How to Paint Wooden Furniture? Everything You Should Know

Do you have an old wooden piece of furniture that you want to give a second life? Painting is a quick and effective solution to restore and renew wooden furniture. With all our tips, you can easily customize your sideboard, chairs, or table with a brushstroke.

Three Tips for Choosing the Best Paint for Your Furniture

Before painting a wooden piece of furniture, it is essential to choose the painting style compatible with the furniture. Despite its nature, be it pine, oak, or plywood, the color should bring flavor and value to make it a classy and stylish piece of furniture.

Painting Wooden Furniture With Crackle Effect Paint

Giving a crackled effect on the furniture is very original and unique. They can be similar to the cracks found on porcelain earthenware. Wooden furniture may have a look that is reflective of the Japanese style while staying modern. You don’t have to be a professional artist to thrive in this project. It would be better to mix the wood surface, a cracking gel, and a crackle effect paint.

Acrylic Wood Furniture Paint

For those who do not like to take the lead and need a new design quickly, acrylic paint is a good alternative. It is perfect for children’s bedroom furniture. To do this, choose pink or white colors. If the furniture is painted with another gray color, stripping may be necessary.

Paint for an Upgrade of Your Shelf

Do you have an old Ikea shelf in your living room? No matter where you bought it, you give it back its glory and authentic look of yesteryear with a superb blue or white satin finish. After this small operation, you might find it difficult to recognize your shelf.

Things to Remember Before You Start Painting

First, remove all the buttons, handles, or any other accessories on your furniture. Removing them helps protect them from splashes and makes it easier to apply layers of paint to your furniture. You can also customize your handles with another type of paint.

Successful Application

You have done all the preparation steps correctly. Now, it’s time to move on to the fun stage of your makeover: applying the paint on your wooden furniture!

First, mix the paint thoroughly with a wooden stick for two to three minutes. This allows the sediments in the paint to mix thoroughly to give you a clean finish when painting.  

Syntilor paints do not require any undercoat so that you can directly apply the number of layers needed. For your comfort, use a small roller for large surfaces and a brush for finishes. Finishes may include things like hard to reach corners. 

First, apply the paint in the wood grain direction, then cross your pass in the other direction (top-down or left to right depending on your wood).

Always apply the paint in generous layers and allow drying well between each coat. Do not exceed 48 hours of drying between the coats, and remember to gently grit with a 120 sander for better adherence and enhance your paint’s retention.

Consider taking some safety measures during the first days. The hardening of the paint is complete after a few days of drying.

Fact Sheet on How to Paint Your Wooden Furniture

Painting a wooden piece of furniture does not only mean taking a brush and spreading it on the wood. It is necessary to prepare the wooden furniture beforehand, especially if it is varnished, and the same goes for painting. Here is a practical sheet for beginners, simple enough to do a professional job:

Sand the varnished wood’s surface: Sanding allows you to prepare the furniture by releasing the coat of the aged varnish. Use medium-grained sandpaper to scratch the entire varnish.

Then, dust with a slightly damp cloth, or the paint may stick to the wood residue you have previously sanded.

Open the paint’s lid with a simple screwdriver, then use a clean stick to bring the color’s bottom to the surface. Turn until you obtain a homogeneous paste with the diluent.

With the brush, start applying a primer coat before applying a second coat. Do not start for it; give it time to rest, or the wood may absorb a large amount of paint and become brittle. Start with the inside of the furniture before continuing outside.

 When you finish painting your wooden furniture, don’t forget to wash the brush with water or, even better, with a thinner to get rid of the paint.

Three Inexpensive Ideas to Renew Your Furniture

There are hundreds of ideas to upgrade your wooden furniture. Here are some suggestions that are common and easy to do:

Prints on a Wooden Piece of Furniture

Dressing your wooden furniture with prints is a good idea to remodel it completely. To do this, use a pretty colorful polka dot print. The colors must harmonize perfectly with the color of the furniture.  After repainting your wooden item, take a circular shaped stencil and a dabbing brush, apply it in the circle, and repeat it several times in a row.

Paint and Redesign the Wooden Furniture of Your Kitchen

If the wooden furniture in your kitchen has aged, the varnish has certainly lost its value. However, you don’t need to call a professional painter. If you do, this might cost you a small fortune. Roll up your sleeves, pick a satin color that can brighten up your kitchen, and get to work. Choose, for example, blue. It brings a delicate side and a freshness that refines the whole room.

Gray Color for Bedroom Furniture

If the walls of your room are colored, there is no need to choose a dark color. Your room must reflect cheerfulness and lightness. Opt for a grey that harmonizes with most colors. Generally speaking, the color heightens the prestige of the wood furniture of the room. Be it the dresser or the wardrobe, painting a piece of wooden furniture with a gray shade may also give a modern finesse feeling to your room.

The Bottom Line

Painting a wooden piece of furniture is the easiest task of the whole renovation! However, you need good quality paint that you can apply in two or even three coats.

The last task you should never neglect is to protect your furniture! Depending on the material’s use, it may be necessary to add a protective layer. You can use topcoats to create an effect or to prevent the paint from wearing out prematurely.

As mentioned above, if you follow these steps, thoughtfully and meticulously, you may have an exceptional paint job. Your previously dreary varnished side table can be easily repainted, like new, and ready to bring style and joy to any room in your home!