Tips on Painting Furniture
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 7:45AM {First of all, thank you so much for your feedback yesterday. I know it was a boring post but I like to check in with y'all once in a while and it sounds like we are on the same page!}
Now on to a post that I am probably not really qualified to write. I get asked fairly often how to paint furniture. I actually find it funny because I feel like I just pick up a paint brush and start painting without putting a lot of thought behind it. But I guess there are a couple of tips and tools that I use pretty consistently so here they are:
Angled paint brush and 6" foam roller
I use the foam roller for large flat surfaces where you don't want brush strokes. The angled brush helps you get a nice straight line when painting edges and corners. Someone asked in the comments recently if I use a sprayer to paint my furniture and I have never used one but I have been thinking about trying it out. If anyone has experience with sprayers please comment and tell us the pros and cons - How hard are they to use? Are they difficult to clean? Do they save a lot of time? Worth the cost?
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Wood Filler
Obviously it is a no-brainer to use wood filler but I like this one because of the pointed tip. It makes it easy to squeeze the filler into tiny cracks and holes.
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Advance Paint by Benjamin Moore
This is a new product for me but I used it on the buffet I recently painted and I was really impressed. It covers well and doesn't show brush strokes even in a high-gloss finish. Of course, it costs more but I will definitely use it again.
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Cleaning Hardware
To get dirt and paint off of furniture hardware I boil it in a water + vinegar mixture for about 20 minutes. The hardware below is covered in years of grime and paint.
After:
Still tarnished, but clean. At this point you can polish the hinges to clean them up if you want them clean and shiny but I actually prefer the aged look of tarnish and patina so I leave them as is.
A note about hinges that I have learned the hard way: THINK VERY CAREFULLY before you remove the hardware. I don't know why, but if you take all of the hinges off at once it is almost impossible to get the doors rehung correctly. I made this mistake on the dining room cabinet makeover. I decided to buy new hinges instead of cleaning the old ones - BIG mistake. I thought I would never get the doors to close again. Since that disaster, I have started removing one hinge per door at a time and I rehang that hinge before removing the next one. This process takes a little more time but it works great and I don't have any problems getting the doors to close correctly when I'm done.
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I didn't talk about sanding and priming but I obviously do that if needed before moving on to the steps listed above. So, this is my usual approach to painting furniture. Do you guys have anything to add?
