Top Tips for Painting Wood Furniture

If you have old wood furniture or want to add some new life to your house, painting your wood furniture is a great option to do so. Painting wood is not as simple as it might seem, however, so following a few tips will go a long way in painting your furniture.

Use Multiple Sizes of Sandpaper

The first tip to keep in mind when painting wooden furniture is to use different qualities of sandpaper, with both coarse and fine sandpapers. This step will help make sure that your piece of furniture will be completely smooth before you start to paint it.

Skipping this step will put your paint at risk of not adhering or sticking correctly to your surface. Small grains of dust or other materials will often stick to your furniture if you choose not to sand down your surface, which will, in turn, make your finished product very rough and uneven, not smooth and glossy.

If you do not want to sand your wooden furniture for whatever reason, there is an alternative. You can apply a coat of liquid sandpaper or deglosser as a substitute for physical sandpaper.

Although these products will likely work well, they are usually not as precise as sandpaper and you cannot control them as closely. Other products, such as chalk paint or commercial bonding agents, might get the job done for you, but if you decide to take this route, make sure that you wear protective equipment and work outside to protect yourself and those around you.

Do Not Skip the Primer

Applying paint primer on your wood furniture is especially important as it will protect the paint from seeping into the wood, which can lead to premature wear and tear. In other words, paint primer protects the wood from the direct paint and helps the paint adhere to the wood.

While not necessarily a requirement for all painting adventures, a paint primer is a certain way to improve the longevity and health of your wood furniture. When using paint primer on wood, follow the direction the grain is going, as this will cut the risk of dripping and blobs on the material.

Another part of using paint primer is sanding it down after you let it dry completely. Make sure not to sand all the way down to the wood as this will defeat the purpose of the primer; instead, just skim the surface to make the furniture as even as possible.

Apply More Coats and Sand in Between

Using many coats of paint will make your furniture extra resistant to scratches and chipping. To maintain a smooth finish, sand down the paint after each coat to make sure that no blobs of paint get stuck in a lower layer of paint.

Another factor to consider is the material and sandpaper dust that accumulates on the wood after sanding down. Make sure to wipe this down after you make the furniture surface smooth and even as this will prevent any trapping of dust or unwanted materials.