Scared to paint? Here's a pep talk!
When I posted my last painting project:
...some of you had questions/comments that I wanted to answer in a post so that all of you could see the answers. So, here you go.
I wish I was nearby & could be your apprentice for a few projects, and then learn to do them myself. I’m always inspired by your work!
It would be so much fun to have a furniture rehab class with all of you. If only there were 83 copies of me to travel around and do that. Ha.
But I also want to encourage all of you by saying that no one ever taught me how to paint furniture.
I painted some walls at my townhouse back in the early 200s, and then in 2005 at my next house, I did a lot of spackling, sanding, and painting of walls. But no furniture!
In 2007 or so, though, I got a nightstand from Freecycle, and I decided to try painting it.
I am sure that if I did it again now, I'd do a better job, but it turned out well enough to give me inspiration to do more painting.
And now I have eleventy zillion furniture painting projects under my belt.
I'm really glad I tried that first nightstand because since then, I've learned lots of stuff by trial and error, and now I know a lot about furniture painting.
A few things that make a good first project:
- do something with simple lines. Ornate pieces with lots of curves and detail make it harder to sand and paint.
- do something small. It's much less overwhelming to do a nightstand than a whole tall bookshelf (or your kitchen cabinets!)
- pick something that doesn't need a bunch of repairs. A simple paint job is a good start. As you get more comfy, you can tackle things like removing veneer, fixing broken pieces, changing hardware configuration, and so on.
I wish I had the courage to try this myself. I have had the same stool for more than 20 years now. It could really need a fresh coat of painting…..
Ok, I want to tell you something that helps me with courage: start with something that is so ugly/worn that you couldn't possibly make it worse.
It's even better if that thing is free.
That way, it's very low-stakes! The odds are so good that you will make the item better than it was before. And even if you don't, it's no big deal!
I think your stool sounds like a perfect first project; it's small, you already own it, and it's super worn. I encourage you to give it a try. 🙂 You might be delighted with the results.
Also, something to remember is that paint is not permanent. If you tackle a project and decide you don't love it, you can always sand it smooth and start fresh. It's ok. 🙂
I was just wondering what steps you take for cleanup of the brushes? It is such a silly question, but somehow, after painting, I always seem to stumble on the cleanup. Do you have any pro tips?
Sure, I can tell you what works for me.
I always do multiple thin coats of paint (that makes for a long-lasting, smooth finish), so in between coats, I cover the brushes/tray/roller with plastic to keep them from drying out.
I have some plastic cases for larger brushes and rollers (the type you use to paint walls), and I do like those.
But for the small materials I use for furniture, I often just put the whole mess inside of a plastic grocery bag and make it sort of air-tight. This would not be sufficient for a long storage time, but for a couple of hours, it's fine.
When I get near the end of the project, I try to get the last bit of paint brushed/rolled on so that there's not a bunch left on the brushes and rollers.
After that, I usually soak the roller and brushes in water overnight and then I rinse them. The soak helps to loosen up the paint and it makes the rinsing way easier.
Then I squeeze/pat the brushes/rollers dry and let them air dry before storing them for the next use.
As long as your paint and primer are water-based, you do not need paint thinners and mineral spirits. Water works just fine and is way way less stinky.
I hate using mineral spirits. Blech.
Do you have any other painting questions/comments? Let me know!
P.S. At the bottom of this other post, there's a list of all the supplies I use when I paint furniture.
P.P.S. Just to be clear, it's totally ok if you don't want to paint furniture. But if you DO have an itch to try, I'm cheering you on. 😉
Excellent advice, all! I especially agree about just being willing to "go for it" with a project that can only be improved. Generally speaking, it's the prep and clean up that take the longest but also ensure the best results. The same principles largely apply to staining vs. painting. I didn't know how to refinish hardwood floors until we bought our house; that big but surprisingly simple project was my gateway drug to refinishing all manner of things!
Re: oil-based paints, sometimes they are unfortunately the best paint for the job. (Shout-out to Rust-Oleum Marine Top Coat Enamel! That stuff is **FUMY** but amazing.) I would HIGHLY recommend disposable foam brushes and rollers so that mineral spirits can be avoided. The same method of keeping the brushes/rollers/paint fresh between coats apply--just wrap tightly in plastic--but spares one dealing with chemicals. When I repainted my car, I was able to use the same foam brushes and rollers over the course of a week by sealing them tightly in Ziplocs after I'd finished each coat.
Kristen, would you mind sharing the paint names/codes for your projects? I really love the purply-gray on the one end table!
@N, Wait - you repainted your car??
The stool you mention is my stool/comment! Thank you so much for the encouragement. I will go ahead and paint it in a very bright and bold pink. After all - what is there to lose for me as Rose had painted out in a comment to my comment the other day.
Thank you both!
@Lea, I might even use spray paint for that.
I dunno what the weather is like in Lea's part of Germany, but here, it's a tricky time of year to use spray paint! It's usually either too wet or too cold out (or both).
Yay!!!! I'm so excited for the bright pink!
We'll need to see a photo!
I am thinking of painting a bentwood kitchen chair bright red, which doesn't go at all with my pink, green and blue kitchen, but I'm going for the "unexpected red" so trendy right now. If it looks terrible, whatever, I'll paint it another color.
@Kristen, I was just thinking, But not till the weather gets better, re spray painting my chair. It's theoretically gonna snow here today.
@Lea, I love a pop of color and your bright pink idea!
I’ve been wanting to try furniture painting, too, and happen to have a mismatched stool I could start with. Now, I just need to find paint in one of my own favorite colors.
@JenRR, For a project that small, you could Freecycle or thrift a can of paint, if you want to keep the price down. Good luck!
@JennRR,
If there is a Habitat ReStore (thrift store full of DIY tools and items and building materials), they may have paint. Also, I've found that the paint dept. at Walmart has good prices on paint.
@JenRR, I love color, she thought to herself sitting on a dark gray couch next to a gray rug in a knotty pine room with a white stone fireplace. Maybe I should paint the fireplace. That might be fun.
I was supposed to paint the knotty pine but that seems not to be happening. The stone fireplace is natural fieldstone from when the house was built in 1920, but I always disliked it and painted it white a few years ago. Maybe I should paint it lavender or something. Hmmm.
@JenRR, also check Michael's....I found a can of Cardinal Red spray paint on clearance there that I intend to use to freshen up some metal bird houses (when the weather permits). We had a "winter weather advisory" yesterday, but had no snow or rain. It wasn't even that cold. Zero complaints from me.
Almost all of my wood furniture was made by my dad. Pretty sure he would not be pleased if I painted a solid black-walnut bookshelf white. That works out, though, because I wouldn't want to do it, anyway, not being a fan of painting at all. My daughter's bunk bed, however, might one day need to be painted to cover over the turquoise color chosen by my niece (my brother built this bed for her). If she asks, I will point her to this handy advice, get her the materials, and let her have at it 🙂
@kristin @ going country, A solid black walnut bookshelf? TREASURE!!! And yeah, some wood things should NOT be painted because wood itself is beautiful.
@L, Agreed! One of my biggest nightmares would be if anyone painted some of my vintage furniture: a mahogany dining room suite, a bird's eye maple bedroom suite, etc. These items were considered fine furniture when new, and are definitely NOT suitable for the painted, "shabby chic," look.
I have a black walnut dressing table, antique. I kind of hate it and have considered painting it in the past, but Son uses it as a desk now. Once he moves out, I'll FreeCycle it.
@kristin @ going country, I too am in the "I prefer natural wood and have a lot of it" category. And, at my age, my focus is about to be on deaccessioning some of the furniture I've got rather than acquiring/rehabbing more. Nevertheless, I applaud this post--both for the helpful info it provides for folks who do want to paint furniture, and for Kristen's cheerful general attitude toward tackling projects (start small/cheap, don't be intimidated, etc.). The general advice is applicable to doing anything new!
@kristin @ going country,
I wouldn't paint that either, and I happen to love painted furniture. But if the wood is beautiful, let it be. I'll happily paint lesser woods, but not really nice ones.
Agreed. Something should not be painted!
@Rose, He may want it for a future apartment or house.
@Fru-gal Lisa, Doubt it. He has a very good antique desk from our previous house which is still in storage. Come to think of it, the dressing table was a Valentine's present from my ex in 1992 or something. I would never have chosen it on my own.
Love all your painting projects! Thanks for answering more questions about them.
A lot of the work is in the prep. Once that is all done, the painting will seem quick, although ....
I am trying to teach my husband how to paint. I keep telling him thick and slowly. But I guess thin and slowly is better. He just has to learn patience when painting. You cannot rush it by going it fast. That's what I have found out - patience. Take your time.
I worked paint crew in college for two summers, even earning the title Spackle Queen, so I've been familiar with paint for a long time. The first thing I remember painting was a tiny bookshelf for my sister, an 80s-approved mint green. It still is mint green and it's in my upstairs hallway now! I'll paint anything--kitchen cabinets, my fridge, outdoor furniture, my deck (the worst), and so on.
@Rose, and everyone,
About 5 years ago, I had the kitchen countertops painted with graniti(? sp) paint which made them look like granite. The backsplashes, also painted, still look great but 5 years of scrubbing has made the original not-so-gorgeous white and gold glitter Formica shine through. So I had the handyman paint the countertop black. I believe it was an oil based paint. He apparently didn't bother sanding first and we have uneven places, air bubbles and a general mess. He only did one side; the other is still fading graniti. If I can't get this fixed, I will be forced to resort to having a pro come do a countertop makeover....which will be very costly. Does anyone have any ideas about frugally repairing the mess and starting over?
@Fru-gal Lisa, Strip it and have someone else install more Formica? I bet I'd love the white and gold glitter Formica. I disliked my counters in our previous house, so my mom and I measured them, sent the measurements off, and had metalworkers make me copper counters with integral copper sink which we glued on top of the old counters. Man, I loved those copper counters.
Do you sand in between coats? Any words of wisdom on getting a finish that is durable enough to stand up to substantial usage without lots of damage?
I lightly sand between coats, yes. To get a durable finish, I use a good primer and a good paint. The stuff I use is listed at the end of this post: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/a-lego-bookshelf-for-zoe/
Also; multiple thin coats of paint help to make a nice durable finish!
I don't paint furniture but I do paint walls and thought I'd share a couple of cleaning tips I've learned. I cover my paint tray in a plastic grocery bag so clean up is just pull the bag off and throw away.
As for rollers and brushes, they can be frozen or stored in the fridge, just wrap tightly in plastic as mentioned (again grocery bags work well.) I'm lazy and only paint sporadically due to my schedule but I've left rollers frozen for weeks at a time and they still work great after thawing.
As Kristen mentioned, when you do clean brushes, air drying is best and I shake out as much water as possible, then hang the brush up by the handle so they can drip dry in a natural position which helps keep their shape.
I'm a big fan of these posts even though I'm not a big fan of painting! 😉
The problem for me is reassembling the piece. I don't mind trying painting, I do mind that I've never been able to get the reassembly right the first time. Even when I number the pieces and take notes. How do you do that part?
If you want to try but are nervous, you can try getting something something simple and free from Craigsist, etc., that you don't actually want. If you mess it up, you've lost almost no $ and haven't ruined something you like.
I never take my stuff apart! I just paint it as-is. 🙂
I see the attraction to that, but then you need to sand in corners. It's so much easier to sand flat pieces. So anyone who does take things apart, please share you tips. Thanks.
You may have answered this somewhere else, and if so, I apologize. How do you get the paint to not be sticky? All my childhood I had a nightstand that my parents got free and painted for me. While I'm grateful for the time and effort they put in, paint felt sticky and the drawer kinda sorta stuck the entire time I had it. I'm scared if I paint something myself I will end up with that sort of "permanently tacky" paint issue.
@Lauren, Watching for the answer here!
The trim in one of our rooms, which includes a few flat surfaces just wide enough for paperbacks that of course we wouldn't want to put on it, remained tacky for years.
@Lauren and @Heidi Louise, I know I'm not Kristen, but it's possible in both cases it may have been latex paint. For me, at least, any experience with latex has been really bad. Seems to adhere to anything but what you want it to adhere to.
So, the Benjamin Moore paint I use is an alkyd paint; it's water based but it behaves like an oil-based paint in that it dries to a very hard, non-tacky, non-sticky finish. So much better than regular latex paint!
@Kristen, Thank you! I have no idea what they used, but I'll be sure to avoid latex.
To keep from having to wash my brushes if the project extends over one day, I wrap them in vegetable bags or even those thin plastic grocery bags and put them in the freezer. I've left them in for months without ill effects.
Another option is to leave them overnight in a bucket of water. It's not good for them to rest on their bristles, but I've gotten by with it for 1-2 nights. It takes awhile to shake the water out before starting the next day, but my projects are usually on the rough side. (I only paint things that require very little sanding and no spackling—only outdoor furniture or fences or salvaged columns or pallets.)
My oil painting palette with its Tupperware type lid goes in the freezer every day when finished, but I almost always clean those expensive brushes.
Thank you for the informative post! My main obstacle (fear) to painting is the sanding; I have asthma and fear breathing in or making any particles airborne that are not good for you. Also, some old paints have lead in them. I don't have an orbital sander so hand sanding seems daunting, how much sanding is needed?
I have some plain light wood Ikea furniture that need updating to fit in with the rest of our furniture, perhaps a new varnish rather than paint so that the beautiful wood grain still shows through. I painted a table with chalk paint, but wasn't too happy with the result. The chalk paint was nice however that no sanding was necessary.
@Kristina M.,
There are other non-chalk paints out there now that don't insist on sanding, just a good cleaning. See my comment about that....
So, you can definitely wear a mask while sanding! And none of my furniture has been so old that I've worried about lead; plus usually the stuff I'm sanding down is stained, not painted.
If you're going to stain wood, you'll have to either sand it or strip it.
And let me shout out again to Amy Howard's paints. This is what my stove hood looks like after painting, no sanding, no stripping, just slapping it on.
https://ibb.co/kyPGmR2
@JD, thanks! I saw it and immediately googled it 🙂
@Rose, wow, beautiful shelf. Love your collection of jars as well.
@Kristen, we all should be used to wearing masks by now 🙂 I have some N95s still in my drawer.
@Kristina M., "Candid Peel" tells it like it is!
This is how I found your blog….i googled “How to paint furniture” and your blog popped up. This had to be 15+ years ago or more, your children were still very little. I started but never finished an old dresser which sits in my bedroom now, all sanded and with the hardware off! Maybe this is my sign to actually just DO IT! thank you for all the wisdom you have imparted over the years, and for sharing the ups and downs of your life with all of us.
Aww, I'm so glad you stuck around!
Kristen: what about cat hair? I feel like any wet painted surface in my house is going to have cat hair landing out of thin air and messing it up.
Luckily, the paint I use dries pretty quickly, especially if you do properly thin coats, so this has not been a big problem!
Very good advice! Excellent post, Kristen. I have always hated the sanding the worst. I would paint all day if I didn't have to sand, ha. I will add a tip I saw on This Old House - if your brush is dried because oops, your air-tight covering wasn't quite air-tight when covering the brush, soak the bristles overnight in mineral spirits and use a fine tooth comb to get much of the clogged paint out. I've done this for expensive brushes - I wouldn't bother with a cheap brush.
Also: be aware of what type of paint works best. There is lots of information available online about acrylic, oil, and latex. As a rule, I don't use latex for furniture. Maybe it's the Florida humidity, but it never seems to fully dry. Lately I have used acrylic for painting any furniture or cabinets. The DecoArt Satin Enamel acrylic paint I used on my bathroom vanities is holding up like a champ, and hey, no sanding!
That blue-purple dresser sure turned out cute! Love it.
If you try painting, please post your projects!
I have painted various things....furniture, kitchen cabinets, walls, wall trim, spray painted metal patio furniture, you name it. I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, and I've learned a few things about cleaning brushes/rollers here (thanks, Kristen!). I think the first piece of furniture I painted was a wooden dresser I had shared with my younger sister when I was a kid. (It was nothing special, and had dings and scratches from years of use). In true '80s fashion, I painted it, then did an overcoat of "crackle" paint finish. Stylin'. 🙂 The kitchen cabinets were in the first house I bought, and were dark brown 50s-era cabinets (again, nothing special, not MCM, and made my small kitchen feel even smaller). My parents kept telling me not to paint them, and I didn't until I was getting ready to sell my house....I instantly regretted not doing it sooner! It looked so much better in a light color. Be fearless! go for it!!
Thank you for this post! My bathroom is small and because of some big plumbing issues, I’m doing a remodel. I’m now inspired to find a small used storage cabinet or something similar and refurbish it mysef to help keep costs down. Hoping I can find something I’ll be happy with.
@Maddie, See if people are still getting rid of those giant TV armoires. Easy to turn into good storage.
@Rose,
Ooh, great idea! I still see some of those TV armoire for free on Marketplace or NextDoor.
Wonderful encouragement, friend!
I recently saw a tiktok featuring this reusable liner and lid to help in storing between coats and for clean up you can let the paint dry and peel it out!
https://repaintstudios.com/products/repaint-tray
I always miss the best things on the buy nothing page and anything else on the page I don't need. Someone put up matching narrow hutches a week or so ago. Of course, someone had snatched it up. I dreamed of them painted by following your painting methods and how they would have looked in my little space. Oh well, I can have dreams and I hope they were for someone, who finally has a shelter but not the money to furnish it.
I'll just have to paint my bookcases when the weather gets better.
@JEG, Originally, what we Americans called "hutches" and British call "dressers" were usually painted. I have a c. 1780 pine dresser (which comes from the French word meaning "to dress meat") that is pine. Pine was considered a low quality wood so it was always painted. Someone stripped mine at some point, but I couldn't bear to paint it because I love the beat up quality of something that's been used in kitchens for 250 years.
My dresser is vernacular Yorkshire furniture.
I have an espresso coloured bookcase that I have been wanting to paint off white for some time but without a paint sprayer the thought is just so daunting. Maybe I'll give it a go.