If you are pondering how to paint wood household furniture then this is the guidebook for you. From selecting the proper piece of household furniture and selecting paints and brushes as a result of to ending your challenge, the professionals share their qualified perception on how to paint wooden home furniture.
Portray wood furnishings a little bit differs from tackling wooden when you paint a place however, in equally conditions preparation is vital to accomplishing a specialist complete. In no way hurry making ready your piece of home furnishings, the time you commit getting ready will be certain your painted home furnishings stays looking good for years to arrive.
‘Colorful home furniture has created a enormous resurgence around the very last several a long time, but it has been hard to uncover thrilling colored cabinetry outside the house of the bespoke sector,’ claims Claire Hornby, head of imaginative at Barker and Stonehouse. Discovering how to paint wood furniture offers you the chance to generate a piece whole of coloration and character that flawlessly complements your interior scheme.
How to paint wood furniture
(Picture credit history: Getty Photos)
Long gone are the days of hastily assembled flatpack and cookie cutter interiors. Right now, interior layout is all about character and character. Antique and classic outlets are a treasure trove of attractive items of furnishings that you will never uncover everywhere else. Having said that, these vintage gems often will need a minimal TLC to provide them up to scratch or a often will need a alter of color to accommodate your look.
Which is exactly where the painted home furniture revolution comes to the fore. Discovering how to paint wooden furnishings can rework a monotonous brown upper body of drawers that is or else destined for landfill into the hero of your bedroom scheme.
In addition to generating characterful parts for your residence, learning how to paint picket home furniture will also save you income as a lot of these antiques market for a song, and also know that you are doing your little bit for the earth, repurposing rather than shopping for new.
1. Get ready your house
Deciding on a ventilated place, ideally outdoor or in a garage, is vital when discovering how to paint wood furnishings. Also lay a dust cover over the workspace.
2. Get ready your home furnishings
Get rid of any components, doors and drawers. Sand painted home furniture with a coarse sandpaper to get rid of the earlier coloration. Clean unpainted household furniture with sugar cleaning soap and then frivolously sand. Wipe with methylated spirits to eliminate any dust or grease.
Sanding is vital just before any repainting challenge. ‘It is usually critical to prepare the floor as outlined on the tin, even if formerly painted,’ adds Hanna Ellis.
If you are wanting to repaint a painted or glossed piece of home furnishings, it is crucial to clear away this layer to start with. To reach this sand the surfaces with a coarse sandpaper, (between 60 and 80 grit). If your piece has intricate carving and detailing, treat with a stripper to remove paint and gloss. If you’re unsure of the place to begin then be guaranteed to discover out how to strip paint from wooden.
For an unpainted piece, ‘start with a very good scrub with sugar soap to clear away dirt, grease, outdated polish/wax or nicotine, rinse extensively and let to dry,’ claims Hanna Ellis of Frenchic Paints. Then follow by sanding with a light sandpaper (between 180 and 220 grit) to generate a key to assist the paint to adhere. As soon as possessing sanded your piece, wiped the surface area with methylated spirits to take away any grease or dust. Then depart to dry for a number of moments before portray.
3. Prime wood furnishings
Being aware of how to open a paint can is also vital – yes, there is a appropriate way to do it. If required prime your home furnishings now and allow it to dry for the suggested time as stipulated on the tin. Drying time is vital to making sure that your finished piece is just not streaky.
4. Get started painting
After your primer has dried or if your paint involves a primer then you can start portray. Opt for a round brush and apply your initially coat of paint. Guarantee that all details are painted. Then permit to dry for the advisable time.
5. Apply a next coat
When this is dry then apply your second coat. If making use of milk paint, brush along the path of the grain, although chalk and mineral paint appears to be ideal if painted in unique instructions.
6. Complete the piece
Let this to dry, then contemplate a third coat if necessary. Alternatively, use a hardwearing wax or complete to guard your perform.
Discovering wood household furniture to paint
The key to finding a superior piece of wooden home furnishings to paint is to glimpse for good bones. Glimpse earlier ironmongery, shades and any scratches and as an alternative seem at the piece’s silhouette. Ensure that it is properly made, glance for sound wooden and dovetail joints. Test all mechanisms are doing work effectively and that the piece stands strongly and does not rock or wobble.
‘I loathe the thought of nicely-designed, meticulously crafted home furniture going to landfill. And even though from an aesthetic issue of watch they may possibly have found superior days, there is even now loads of existence still left in these old pieces,’ says Claire Manton, founder of Claire’s CraftHouse. ‘With the interiors market place seeking to turn into much more sustainable, upcycling is a good way to reuse pre-beloved pieces, whilst unleashing your very own creative imagination.’
If you are having difficulties to visualise what your completed piece could appear like, then there are a lot of painted household furniture suggestions to encourage you.
(Graphic credit score: Jon Working day Pictures)
Picking out the proper brush for portray wooden home furniture
An typically forgotten component, the correct brush can make or split your venture. When beginning to study how to paint wooden home furniture, brushes are a crucial thought.
‘There are unique educational facilities of assumed on brushes, and it actually is dependent on the type of paint you are applying. For milk paint, which is water centered and pretty slim, synthetic bristles or a blend is far better as they soak up less drinking water indicating extra paint finishes up on the surface staying painted, and stops the paint drying out also a lot on the brush. A slanted synthetic brush will give a excellent complete with milk paint or any skinny h2o based paint,’ says Carolyn Moore, owner of Outdated Fashioned Milk Paint.
‘However, some of the thicker mineral/chalk paints will get the job done much better with a thicker pure bristle brush, even a round brush often utilized for waxing, as they maintain far more paint, which means fewer dips in the paint and thus fewer brush marks. If you are arranging a whole lot of painting, glance for a excellent high quality brush – the greatest you can afford to pay for, to keep away from aggravating bristle shedding and make certain they continue to be in condition next recurring employs.’
(Picture credit score: Cornish Milk Mineral Paint)
What form of paint to use on wood furnishings?
There are plenty of different paint finishes to opt for from when obtaining out how to paint wood home furniture. Your decision will predominately rely on the seem you want to obtain, nevertheless it will also be guided by irrespective of whether you are pleased to use a primer and sealant or are searching for an all-in-one product or service. Also look at choosing eco-helpful paints to retain your venture sort to the earth.
- Chalk paint is the most widespread alternative of paint for wood home furniture and will get its title from the deluxe chalky end it generates. ‘It’s a multi-function paint that applies to just about any surface area, with no the have to have for priming or sanding,’ claims Annie Sloan, founder of Annie Sloan Paints.
- Mineral paint is crafted from mineral pigments blended with a binder, normally acrylic resin. ‘Unlike milk and chalk paint, which need to be sealed with a wax or varnish to protect against absorption of grease or moisture, mineral paint is watertight and washable fairly like an eggshell or satin paint,’ states Carolyn.
- Milk paint is promptly starting to be a favored for household furniture restoration. ‘Traditional powdered milk paints obtain a complete that is flat back to the grain and creates no brushstrokes,’ describes Joe and Reece Daden-Tapp of Cornish Milk Mineral Paint.
- ‘It is correctly feasible to use a regular eggshell, satin or spray paint on home furniture far too, if you want a contemporary, sleek, complete deal with paint complete, as very long as you prepare it properly!’ adds Carolyn.
(Impression credit: Annie Sloan)
Do you have to have to prime wood home furnishings ahead of painting?
You really don’t always will need to prime wood furnishings right before painting. This marginally differs from how to paint a wall in which priming is very important to accomplishing a significant-close complete.
Heaps of chalk and mineral paints feature an built-in primer this means that just after a mild sanding and a wipe down, you can implement the paint and even now attain a flawless finish. Some home furnishings paints will have to have a primer ahead of use, be certain to check the tin before beginning your venture.
Even so, even if you do not want to use a primer, it is important that you get ready the wood in advance of you get started portray.
(Graphic credit history: Future / Polly Wreford)
Should I paint the inside of picket home furnishings?
Whether you make your mind up to paint the interior of your wood furnishings is completely up to you. ‘Sometimes a thorough clean and some hemp oil or wax is sufficient to tidy them up,’ claims Claire Manton. ‘It’s worthy of remembering that if an old piece has a musty smell to it, painting the interior can occasionally aid by sealing odours into the wood, thus lowering any unpleasant smells. Scented furniture waxes and salves are also a good way to freshen factors up.’
How to avoid streaks when portray wooden household furniture?
Steering clear of streaks when portray picket home furniture, all comes down to your paint end and your route. ‘With milk paint it is usually finest to brush alongside the direction of the grain, but there is no need to stress way too a great deal about brush marks, (primarily on raw wooden as it sinks in like a stain), milk paint is pretty forgiving – it dries truly fast, but with a gentle sanding working with a super wonderful sanding sponge following each individual coat, it leaves a prosperous, buttery smooth finish and no brush marks. Nonetheless with chalk and mineral paint, it is advisable to paint in different directions to steer clear of brush marks, and fats spherical brushes get the job done superior,’ explains Carolyn.
‘When making use of the paint, try not to overload your brush as this can direct to overworking the paint which tends to lead to dragging marks and unwelcome texture. The other suggestion is to make confident you go away the accurate total of several hours between coats,’ adds Hanna Ellis.
How to end your portray wood furniture
Finishes are key if you don’t want all your tricky perform to go to squander. Whilst some paints, specifically milk paints, are self sealing that means that soon after a number of times curing it will be extremely tough. However, other paints this sort of as chalk paints will will need a wax or lacquer to protect against it from currently being marked or scuffed.
‘Water could damage chalk paint if still left unprotected. Opt for a particular chalk paint wax to safeguard your home furniture even though also offering a stunning mellow sheen,’ says Annie Sloan. ‘Alternatively, you can use matt or gloss chalk paint lacquer. Matt will give a a bit clouded complete while gloss chalk paint lacquer will give a superior-close sheen.’
How do you make a classic finish on wood?
The easiest way to make a classic end on wooden is to use an antique-fashion glaze. There are myriad crackled glazes from which to use. Only utilize amongst coats of paint to generate the distressed result. ‘If you are implementing a crackle glaze, usually opt for a period design and style paint such as milk paint, which will outcome in a loaded, matt complete as would uncover on older pieces,’ suggests Carolyn.
However, for a traditional distressed glance, then hand-distressing is the way to go. This is achieved by painting a piece of furnishings a good color and then buffing the corners and edges with a fine sandpaper to reveal the wooden beneath. ‘Begin by portray a piece of home furniture one coloration and then, once it is dry, paint more than it with a completely distinct second colour. Sand back again as a result of to the initial colour and in some places go again as significantly as the unique wood. With the appropriate color mix, it looks stunning,’ says Annie Sloan.
‘You can make the procedure less complicated with any variety of paint by implementing wax to the corners/edges just before painting, so the paint flakes in all those regions,’ suggests Carolyn. ‘Any distressing performs greatest when the wooden beneath is darker – bright new pine demonstrating by way of doesn’t glimpse aged, so in that scenario it is a excellent plan to stain the wooden before painting/distressing. You can even layer paint colors by making use of a darker color 1st and a lighter colour on best, then distressing back to let the darker color demonstrate through – this creates a superb impact.’
What comes about if you will not sand ahead of portray?
If you do not sand before painting wooden home furniture you will not realize a easy painted end as paint will assemble in any scratches or scrapes. It will also highlight any other purely natural flaws in the wooden grain. In addition, if you you should not sand ahead of portray, your paint may well not adhere to the surface area ensuing in it peeling off after dry. This is mainly because even a gentle sand gives a critical onto which the paint can adhere.
