How To Paint Wood Furniture

Painting wood furniture is a good way to make old chair or other piece of furniture look new. The process is rather easy and does not require complicated equipment or much time. It is recommended to do it in the weekend and change the color of furniture to the one you like.

Preparing The Furniture

1. Prepare the area where you are going to paint the piece. Cover the floor and open windows and doors to ensure good ventilation. Bring the item you want to paint. Put on the face mask and gloves.

2. Remove all the hardware from the furniture. It is useful for two reasons: it will keep the hardware clean when attached back, or it will be convenient to paint all the sections if you decide to screw new hardware.

3. Patch all the holes and chipped sections with wood filler. Apply wood filler only to damaged sections, avoiding undamaged ones, though you may result having overlapping parts that you can sand later. Use a scraper to remove excess of the wood filler and let the piece dry.

4. Use sandpaper to sand the furniture surface. The goal of the process is to remove the lacquer to ensure good adhesion of the coating.

5. Remove dust that is still left on the furniture after sanding it. Use a clean cloth to remove all the dust left and clean the surface. If needed, use some mild detergent and have the surface dried with a cloth.

Applying Primer And Paint

1. Apply primer if you want to paint the piece of furniture evenly. Using a brush and a roller, coat the surface with the primer. Use a brush to access angles, edges and hard-to-reach areas, and a roller for painting open even surfaces. Let the primer dry before painting the furniture.

2. When the primer has dried, sand the surface with sandpaper. It will help paint bond to the primer better. Do not forget to remove all the dust before painting.

3. Paint the furniture with a roller first and then use a brush. Paint even surfaces with a foam roller. Then use a brush to make surface even and hit places which cannot be painted with a roller. Let the paint dry and check whether the piece has been painted thoroughly.

4. If needed, apply one more coat of paint. Most people find single coat unsatisfactory. Let the first coat dry (follow the instruction on the can with the paint) and then apply one more coat of the same paint in the same way.

5. Apply lacquer (optional). When the paint has dried, apply lacquer to protect the surface from scratches and other damage. It will also add gloss that looks very nice. Let the lacquer dry before bringing the piece of furniture to the area where it should be placed.