How to Paint Furniture – 5 Simple Steps

Quick tips for how to paint furniture you already own.

Ever find yourself browsing through catalogs and wanting to redo your whole home?

Me, too.

I fell in love with a piece of furniture in a catalog and wanted it, but the piece was a whopping $3000.  I quickly realized that I could refinish furniture I already own to recreate the same look!

Refinishing furniture is not hard, it can make a dramatic impact on the space and inspiration is everywhere. I am about to show you the easiest way to refinish wood furniture!

You can see how I completely transformed my son’s room by painting his furniture here.

Paint is amazing, my friend! Add new hardware and the piece becomes even more amazing!

I hated this piece the way it was.  It was dated, didn’t fit into my home decor anymore and tried really hard to sell it! I think people had a really hard time envisioning the finish in their homes with the way it was finished.  So I decided to breath new life into it and make it work in my own home rather than buy a new, expensive item.

 

Supplies used:

• De-glosser
• Screwdriver
• Cheap chip brush
• Old rags
• Wood filler/putty knife
• Sand paper
• Painter’s tape
• Primer
• Paint
• Paint brush/roller

Here is how I painted Big Bertha and how you can paint furniture, too:

Remove shelves, drawers and hardware.  If you are adding new hardware, this is where you want to fill the existing holes with my favorite wood filler where the old hardware was attached and sand the filled holes smooth.

2. Prepare surface for new paint.  Is it better to sand or strip furniture? Since I was repainting it, it wasn’t necessary to strip the paint on this hutch.  You can use a product like No-Sand – a liquid sand paper, but I chose to just use a deglosser applied to the entire piece including the drawers and shelves.  It creates a porous surface to help the primer adhere to the piece.  You can use old rags to apply and cheap chippy brushes for the smaller/tight areas.

Tape off door openings and floor and paint in place. It is too big to move.

Prime the piece with an all purpose primer including the piece itself, drawer fronts only (tape off edges) and the shelves.

 

Paint everything that is primed, including shelves and drawer fronts.

I chose a paint color based on how the paint chip looked in the room I was putting it in.  Since it was a large piece sitting on the floor and took up so much space on a wall, I wanted to be sure the color was just right!  I used my color deck from Sherwin Williams and was able to find the perfect color.

I rolled the large areas with a small foam roller and used a paint brush to get into the corners and crevices.  

Here is the easiest way to paint if you have glass squares on your doors or cabinet.

To add interest to the piece and make my styling decor “pop”, I decided to paint the body of the piece one color and the inside a creamy white. I love this look!  Do you?

Add new hardware.  Since the new hardware wasn’t the same center to center (distance from hole to hole), I filled in the holes on the drawers and doors with my favorite wood filler, let it dry and then sanded the filler to create a fresh surface to install the hardware.

I had picked up some hardware on clearance years ago, thinking it would be perfect for this hutch.  And it is!!!

Style and enjoy!

Can you believe this transformation?  Now, what do you want to paint?  Are you already dreaming of redoing a piece you already have?  Don’t have a lot of money to spend on a brand new piece?Get inspired, buy a piece someone is selling are use what you already have and get started!!