Discover our pro tips on how to paint wood furniture flawlessly the first time around and ensure your upcycling projects excel.
Furniture upcycling is not only a rewarding activity to delve into with family and friends, it's also a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to refresh the look of your furniture. While painting furniture is a fun, cost-effective way to furnish your home, the process can be a little stressful when completed incorrectly. To make painting furniture simple and stress-free and help you rediscover the joy in upcycling, we’ve compiled a useful guide covering how to paint wood furniture for beginners like a professional.
When understanding how to paint wood furniture, you should always begin with the necessary preparation to ensure your carpets, walls and décor are sufficiently protected. Preparing furniture for painting can create a lot of dust in the home so if the weather is on your side, setting up outside is a great option and helps to avoid spillages and potential damage to your carpets. If you choose to complete your project inside, try to clear the area of furniture, then use a Seriously Good Double Protection Dust Sheet to protect your floors and surfaces. To effectively protect your garden from spilled paint, reach for a Seriously Good Tarp and place this under your furniture.
When learning how to paint wood furniture, preparing and sanding the surface of your wood furniture is the most time-consuming yet essential step for any upcycling project - however, the process doesn’t have to be complicated. To ensure no harmful dust is inhaled while sanding, use a Seriously Good Dust Mask. Next, take some Seriously Good Assorted Sandpaper working carefully from coarse to fine and use a Seriously Good Cork Block to successfully remove the layer of varnish.
Once the sanding is complete, clean the excess dust away with a Seriously Good Microfibre Cloth. As 5 Harris microfibre cloths come in a pack, be sure to reserve one cloth for the final step. This product is ideal for effectively picking up dust particles as opposed to spreading them around as many traditional cloths do.
Priming is a highly important step when it comes how to paint wood furniture. While some furniture paints can act as primers, others don’t have this capability so be sure to check the tin before applying. You’ll also need to select a primer that will effectively block stains from appearing through the wood. Apply the primer using the Ultimate Flat Gloss Brush to ensure a smooth finish.
While your primer layer is drying, begin to clean the brush using a little white spirit in a sealable jar such as a jam jar. Work the white spirit into the brush and then wipe with some Seriously Good Paper Towels. Repeat this process until the brush is perfectly clean.
When it comes to expert tips on how to paint wood furniture, the second sanding step is often overlooked and can greatly impact your results. Before the exciting step of applying your top coat, lightly sand the primed surface using some Ultimate Fine Sandpaper. This creates a nice smooth surface for the paint to bind to and will provide an enviable finish.
To make any shapes or areas of detail on your furniture with your top coat, use some Seriously Good UV Tape to mask off the required portion of the furniture. We highly recommend checking out our Instagram and tip exchange pages for some additional inspiration on what can be achieved with some well-placed masking tape.
Now that your wood furniture is suitably prepared and your paintwork can commence, be sure to follow the guidelines stated on your paint tin with regards to application and drying to ensure an immaculate finish.
If you’d like to achieve the desirable ‘lived in’ look, use the Ultimate Fine Sandpaper to distress sections of the paintwork, even taking it back to the wood for a rustic feel. We recommend completing this in stages, then stepping back to see how the whole piece looks to gauge your progress and how far you’d like to take your sanding. Repeat this stage in small bursts until you create a look that you love.
If you opted for chalk paint instead of gloss paint, following this final step will help to protect your furniture in the long run. First, clean up the furniture using the same Seriously Good Microfibre Cloth. Now take your previously reserved/spare microfibre cloth to apply some quality furniture wax. The wax will protect the painted area of the furniture from being damaged or from transferring paint onto the walls or wood furniture in your home.
Leave the wax to dry for the stated time before giving your wood furniture pride of place and just like that, your upcycling project is complete. You now have a wonderfully unique and characterful piece of furniture and better yet, if you decide to change the look of your room in the future you can always repaint using our expert tips on how to paint furniture to guarantee a perfect match!
Browse more expert how-to guides in our content hub today to find out how to master your upcycling projects today.
