Tips for Painting Furniture

Painting furniture is like therapy for me. Most people would say that about a hobby like gardening. But I enjoy turning a piece of furniture, old or new, into something unique. It is something I can work on as a project of my very own. That doesn’t involve work, or my husband, or my kids. Just me.

All that being said, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m very good at it. Although I have gotten a lot better over the years, I definitely had a few pieces that were not Pinterest-worthy if ya’ know what I mean. But, I wanted to share some of the things I was doing wrong in the beginning and that have really improved the quality of the end product!

I also have to admit that (1) I am not a perfectionist, (2) I tend to rush because I’m so excited to get to the end product, (3) I tend to start several products at once. And I definitely have a lot of time to do these projects and they don’t lie around my house for weeks unfinished because I’m so excited to start a new project….

Anyways, I HAVE gotten better. I promise. So here are the things I have learned.

1. For the love of god, avoid spray paint for furniture unless it’s for hardware or simple, flat surfaces (even then, try avoid). This is coming from someone who actually really adores spray paint until I try to use it.
   

2. Paint the furniture on its side (ie. side you are painting is horizontal to ground, like the below picture). Turn it as you progress (don’t try to paint the whole thing in one position, turn it so that you avoid painting vertically and risking drip spots…always watch for the drips!).
   
3. Store the brush in a plastic bag between coats so that the paint doesn’t dry on the brush.
   
4. If you want to paint a wood piece white – try an off white or a white with a tiny bit of grey or cream colour in it. I find pure white requires coat after coat after coat on wood (like the below piece that soaked up so much white paint I just gave up making it ‘pure white’). That’s just my opinion. Just a little bit of beige or grey in the paint goes a long way for coverage.
   
5. If you need clean lines, try hand painting! I have battled lots with painters tape. It just never seems to work for me unless it’s on a wall. The paint always comes off with the tape or seeps underneath. I tried the chevron below with painters tape and I don’t even want to talk about how horrible the lines were when I pealed off the tape….
   So, now I just hand paint the line and I like the finish a lot better.
   

Let me know your tips too so I can get even better at this furniture painting thing!