A Beginners Guide to Painting Furniture

DIY is one of the most popular pastimes here in the UK, accounting for 19% of online sales every single year. Alongside sewing and clay work, we also love the idea of personalising our own homes and the furniture that we have inside them. Painting furniture is a brilliant way to update and refresh items that have stolen our hearts. But, if you haven’t embarked on a furniture painting project before or are concerned about the finished project, it can feel daunting. Here at Sealant & Tools Direct, we have a team of specialists on hand who can provide advice and guidance. And, it is those experts that we have consulted to help bring together this beginners guide to painting furniture.

Why Consider Painting Furniture?

So, with such a wide variety of furniture options available on the market today, why would you consider painting your own? After all, with a good Google search, you can pretty much find exactly what you’re imagining in your head. When we choose to paint our furniture, we aren’t always doing it because of a gap in the market. Sometimes, we choose to paint our household accessories for the enjoyment of doing so. Having the opportunity to transform something simple into something that speaks to your personality creates a special type of joy. Equally, DIY-ing your cabinet or chest of drawers can be considerably cheaper than purchasing the same thing through a larger company. With DIY tricks such as taping up corners, using dowels for detail or spray painting your handles, you can recreate that £1,000+ unit for a fraction of the price.

Others opt to paint furniture so they can give a lease of life to a previously beloved item. Imagine if a dining table has been in your family for decades, having been passed down throughout mothers, sisters and cousins alike. When it comes into your possession, perhaps it doesn’t fit in with the aesthetics of your dining room but the sentiment around it is too great to consider a trip to the tip. Instead, you could choose to DIY and paint this table to fit the room around it. And, we guarantee you’ll fall in love with it in a new and unique way.

So how do you start when you want to paint an item of furniture? The first step is preparation.

Why is Preparation so Important?

Getting the best result from your furniture painting is largely dependent on the quality of your preparation.

Cleaning

For paint to adhere well to the desired surface, it needs to be clean and ready for application. You need to make sure you have removed all oil, grime, dust and dirt to make the surface ready for painting. Consider using an alcohol-based product and a scouring pad to shift ingrained dirt - especially if you’re working with an older item of furniture.

Sanding

Most paints won’t adhere to perfectly smooth surfaces. Sanding down wood increases the surface area and improves the quality of your painting job. Unless you’re working with a very soiled or overly painted unit, you shouldn’t need to sand for very long. We recommend using an electric sander, such as the Einhell Orbital Electric Sheet Sander or manually sanding with a pad to get the best results. Use a fine or very fine-grit sandpaper, such as 120 through to 240 grit which won’t damage the surface but will allow you to smooth away any lumps, bumps or knurls.

Primer

Primers are undercoats that enhance the paints ability to adhere to the surface, improve durability and provide a level of protection for your furniture. Match your primer to the type of paint that you choose (something we’ll discuss in a minute).

The Best Type of Paint to Use

Once you’ve prepared the surface of your furniture, it’s time to consider the paint. Generally, we recommend using satin or semi-gloss paint for most furniture pieces, however, you can opt for matte, chalk or high-gloss paint to suit the look you’re going for. Choose the paint depending on how often the unit is going to be used and how easy it needs to be cleaned. For example, a chest of drawers for a child's bedroom is likely to be accessed daily and (possibly) have grubby fingerprints on it regularly. Satin and semi-gloss paints are easy to wipe clean and have a less lustrous finish which hides scratches. In comparison, a decorative cabinet used to store your best china may only be used once a year. Therefore, you could use a less durable option that gives the look you’re seeking.

The Best Type of Paintbrush to Use

Next, consider the application. Most furniture paint jobs are best approached with paintbrushes rather than rollers. This allows you to get into awkward spaces and make sure you get good coverage on the entire piece. Most paintbrushes can be split into two categories - those with natural bristles and those with synthetic bristles. Natural bristle paint brushes, such as the Stanley Decor Paint Brush Set are best suited for oil-based paints while synthetic bristle brushes like the Amtech Multi-Use Synthetic No Bristle Loss Paint Brush will help you get the best results with water-based paints.

You also need to consider the width of your paintbrush. To cover a larger piece of furniture easily, we recommend opting for a paintbrush between 3” and 5” in width. If you want to do more intricate work, you could choose a thinner brush but this will take you longer to cover a fixed section. We also recommend choosing a brush that is slightly smaller than the section you need to paint. This will allow you to reduce paint drips and apply a smooth finish on every surface.

Should You Use Spray Paint?

Another option when it comes to changing the colour of furniture is spray paint. While traditional painters may have a multitude of reasons to turn you away from this quick method, it can give excellent results in a much shorter space of time. You can achieve even coverage without brush marks, reduce the drying time and can normally apply them without the need for too much preparation. Spray paints from 151 can be applied to most surfaces, with options for matt, metallic and gloss as well as primers to make the entire process as easy as possible.

Sealant & Tools Direct is here to help you find the right products and tools to get the best finish on your next furniture painting project. We also have an experienced team on hand who can offer advice to help you identify the right solutions for you. If you would like to speak to one of us or need more advice, please get in contact here today and we’ll be happy to help.