Sprucing up old furniture with a fresh coat of paint

One way I have discovered to put a personal touch in your home is to paint a piece of furniture a bold color.

If you want to make a statement in your home, consider painting that piece of furniture which is probably just collecting dust anyway.

I am talking about that old desk that sits in the corner of your bedroom that, if like mine, is used to house a sewing machine. (Hey, I had hopes of one day becoming a very talented seamstress!) Or maybe it is a piece of furniture that just serves as a catch-all for miscellaneous papers and bills? I have quite a few of those places.

I am not talking about painting over your inherited Great Aunt Myrtle’s dining room table; although with these simple tips I am going to give you, you could give that heirloom piece a fresh coat of neon pink or robin’s egg blue if you really wanted to.

There are really not any complicated steps to painting furniture; it is a fairly painless and quick procedure.

The first step I recommend is to find a ventilated space to work in where you can leave a mess and not have to worry about cleaning up after you have reached your stopping point for the day. Most of my DIY projects are not completed in one sitting with having two young children continually fighting for my attention. I am constantly starting and stopping projects. For me, our garage is my best place to work on these “come-and-go” projects.

After you have assigned a specific area in your home as your “work space area,” you can begin pulling together the supplies you will need for painting that piece of furniture. Decide what type of sandpaper you want to use or whether or not you want to use an electric sander. I do not own an electric sander; I usually just stick with sheets of sandpaper, going over the furniture, just scuffing it up good enough so the paint will stick to the wood. You don’t need to completely strip the furniture.

Next, use a damp cloth to wipe down the entire piece of furniture, getting all that dust from sanding off. You can even use a dry paintbrush to get in the nooks and crannies. Also take off any hardware at this time.

Place your piece of furniture on top of a drop cloth or disposable plastic sheeting. I tend to get paint everywhere as soon as I start painting anything, and unfortunately, it took me several projects to learn that I should probably put a drop cloth or plastic sheeting under anything I am going to paint.

If you have any areas you do not want to paint, tape them off with painter’s tape. Trust me, no matter how good of a painter you are, the painter’s tape will save you any headache of having to remove paint off anything you did not want paint on in the first place.

Now you are ready to paint. I choose a high-gloss paint for most of my furniture pieces because it gives it a nice shine and really makes the piece of furniture a statement piece. Choose a paint that has primer mixed in so you will only have to do one or two coats. After my first coat dries, I usually find that I only need to do touch-ups and do not have to do a complete full second coat.

As you can see, painting furniture is a fairly easy process. The main point is to give yourself time. Do not get ahead of yourself and rush to put on a second coat before the first coat has dried. This can lead to smudging and causing blemishes in your paint job.

Also, do not be afraid to try bold colors. I feel that the bolder the color, the better. Most tones in my home are neutral, warm, earthy colors. A bold piece of furniture looks perfect in an area where most other colors are neutral. It makes that piece stand out and can actually tie everything together.

It is also good to remember that it is just paint. If you absolutely hate the color you have decided to go with, you can always repaint and repaint again if you would like.

So get out there, go thrift shopping or use that piece of furniture you have had for a while but found it has lost its appeal in your home. Happy painting!