How To Refinish Furniture With Paint: Step-by-step Tutorial

Everyone is striving to improve their personal space, to make it more lively, beautiful, comfortable, and modern. We ​​feel the desire to acquire something new, but we can not always afford it. Sometimes we cannot find the right option for ourselves, or the reason is in color or quality, or we do not have enough time for this. For this reason, you should remember the long-forgotten but relevant things that can be modified, updated, and improved, like refinishing furniture with paint.

You may be surprised, but it is not so complicated and even exciting. And in the future, you will be more attentive and accurate with your furniture, and as a result, it will serve you faithfully for many years. Fortunately, now there is everything necessary for this. The main thing is to add a little effort and personal time.

To learn how to make your piece of home decor great again, follow this step-by-step furniture painting article.

Preparations

The preparatory process starts with:

1. The choice of old furniture that you would like to paint;
2. View all the small details that may cause problems;
3. Taking apart furniture and getting rid of extra details;
4. It is also necessary to take care of your workplace before painting, as it is not always possible to move the furniture from its place, and while working, it is possible to damage the floor surface or the walls. Use special adhesive tape or other protective equipment to isolate non-removable surfaces so as not to stain or damage them.

Before you refinish and paint furniture, ensure that all the conditions around you allow you to work with the item and that you already have all the necessary tools. Select the appropriate tool to remove all handles, hinges, or other parts based on the components that the piece of furniture is made of. If you have chosen a chest of drawers, you will need to remove all kinds of drawers and doors.

This will simplify the entire process of painting a piece of furniture and significantly improve the quality of your work in the future. Of course, You would be happy to paint it and wait until everything dries and becomes as though from a store.

If you start painting your furniture without first cleaning it, you will have a bad result. The surface needs to be cleaned. To do this, you can choose an oil soap to help clean all the dirt safely without damaging the furniture.

Grinding Of Furniture

Before DIY painting furniture, you need to grind the surface if you do not want to do all the work again and spend twice as much time and money.

If you find a layer of paint or varnish, it is better and easier for you to use mechanical grinding. It will save a lot of time and effort for you.

The bottom line is that you need to create a rough surface, which contributes to better closure with the primer. Of course, it is better to reach the wooden base without damaging it. However, it’s not so bad if you don’t grind the material to that degree because of the difficulty.

The main thing is that you should feel the roughness. To do this, you can pick up sandpaper with 80 grit. Next, you need to smoothen the surface, and it is better to take the paper with a grit of 220.

You should feel the rough surface. That’s your number one goal. The sponge can also be used for wood, which is in good condition and does not require rough intervention.

If you are working with a material such as a veneer, you should be extremely careful, as it differs from products such as plywood in its thickness. Of course, this surface also needs to be ground, but in this case, you should do it carefully and use a fine-grained sponge to avoid getting scuffed.

Repair Work And Preparation For Painting

Before refinishing furniture with paint:

1. Examine the surface of the furniture;
2. Use putty material to cover up any unnecessary holes or gaps. Please note that if you change any shelves or parts of your device, make sure that all holes are in their place or cover up unnecessary ones;
3. After the putty completely dries, it must be sanded with fine-grained grinding.

After these manipulations, the furniture must be cleaned of dust to start priming and then painting.

Priming

At this point, you can choose your primer and start applying it. You can choose any convenient priming method, but do not forget about your safety. If you use a sprayer, be sure to use a respirator.

If you are satisfied with the primer layer, proceed to the next step. After that, you are one step away from refinishing old furniture with paint.

Preparation Of The Working Place

After the primer dries, it needs to be sanded a little, which will help to avoid rough spots or all possible defects. After the work is done, carefully wipe the surface with a cloth.

Painting

Finally, we have reached the long-awaited stage of furniture painting. It’s up to you to choose the best way to paint furniture, especially for you, but it is recommended to use aerosol. It’s because of its quality since the surface after the application is smoother and gets no streaks. If you use a brush, it is better to use an angled one and/or roller.

This combination will work better as the brush works well for tiny details, but the roller works better with large flat surfaces. It is also appropriate to cover dents with a brush, and the roller hides the trace after it.

It is worth considering the nuances of painting, whether you want the same color everywhere and whether you need to paint the furniture doors from the inside. This decision is made by the owner himself based on his desires and design solutions.

Spread New Layer

Apply at least two layers for practical use, as any scratch may spoil the primer. If you apply paint with a balloon, three layers are possible here since a thin but dense layer is considered when using the aerosol. And an extra layer will significantly improve the situation.

Transparent End Layer

It would seem that everything is already perfect, but no piece of furniture can withstand even careful use without a top layer. There are many options for such layering on the market.

For example, you can use polyacrylic coating layering for painting to restore your furniture. This layer will provide a transparent and hard surface. If you do not like the shine of the coating, use the matte version.

You can also choose the method of application that is convenient for you, as it comes in the form of a spray and liquid. You can prefer the liquid form, as it forms a thicker layer and thus performs better protective functions.

Pick up a brush. It is better to use foam rubber. You need to remember some application rules. This substance dries very quickly, and due to this reason, you should work quickly and confidently.

Also, do not try to cover up spots or unevenness. Leave your product to dry for 2 hours, and then use a fine-grained sanding sponge and wipe it with a rag. This manipulation can be repeated three or even four more times.

Final Touches

So, we are at the final stage, but it is still important. You might think that letting the finished material dry is easy, but sometimes it can take more than one hour or even a day.

It is worth remembering that different paints dry in their way and take different periods. Regardless of the paint, leaving the furniture for one or even two weeks is recommended. This will allow all surfaces to dry evenly and fully, and you will experience fewer scratches in further operation. Also, do not forget that the doors should dry while open.

At the end of these long two weeks of waiting and your productive work, you can finally attach all the components, evaluate and enjoy the result. Now you know that even old furniture can be brought back to life.

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