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Turn Forgotten Furniture into Stunning Focal Points with Paint

Painted Furniture Checklist by author Meghan Carter

  • Materials you'll need.
  • Finding the right type of furniture to paint.
  • Step-by-step painting instructions.
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  • article
  • checklist
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hat You Need to Paint Furniture
  • An Old, Forgotten Piece of Furniture
  • Drop Cloth
  • Mild Soap
  • Clean Sponge
  • Clean Cloth or Paper Towels
  • Bucket
  • Screwdriver
  • Paint Can Opener or Flathead Screwdriver
  • Liquid Deglosser
  • Lint Free Rag
  • Clean, High Quality Paintbrushes
  • Oil Based Primer (Use an oil based primer sealer if you plan to spackle holes on the furniture piece.)
  • Oil Based Paint
  • Urethane
  • Resealable Plastic Bags
  • Permanent Marker

Picking a Piece of Furniture to Paint
  • Check to make sure the piece does not wobble.
  • Check to make sure the furniture is made of wood and not plastic, laminate or vinyl.
  • Open all drawers to make sure they work right.
  • Look for scratches. If there are deep scratches, you may want to find another piece - unless you want the distressed look.
  • Don't worry about the knobs. They can easily be changed out for new ones.

Steps for Painting Furniture
  • Put out your drop cloth.
  • If you plan on installing new cabinet hardware, check to see if the cabinet hardware screw holes line up to where the old ones were.
  • If the screw holes don't line up, fill the old holes with spackle. To see how to use spackle, watch the Spackle Video.  

    		•
  • Remove doors and drawers if the furniture piece has them.
  • Remove all hardware - knobs or pulls.
  • Put the hardware and screws in resealable plastic bags to keep them from getting lost.
  • Label each bag full of hardware with a permanent marker.
  • Clean the furniture piece with a mild soap and water.
  • Dry the cabinets with a clean cloth.
  • Rub liquid deglosser on the furniture piece.
  • Let the liquid deglosser dry for the time listed on the label.
  • Prime the furniture piece using the technique demonstrated in the Painting Kitchen Cabinets Video. If you have spackled the piece of furniture, you must use a primer sealer instead of an ordinary primer.
  • Allow the primer to dry for the amount of time suggested on the primer label.
  • Paint the furniture piece using the technique demonstrated in the Painting Kitchen Cabinets Video.
  • Allow the paint to dry for the amount of time suggested on the paint label.
  • Apply a second coat of paint to the furniture piece using the technique demonstrated in the Painting Kitchen Cabinets Video.
  • Allow the paint to dry for the amount of time suggested on the paint label.
  • If you plan on painting a decorative design, paint it on the piece of furniture.
  • Check the urethane label to see how long you should let the paint dry before applying the urethane.
  • Wait that amount of time for the paint to dry.
  • Apply the urethane to the furniture piece using the technique demonstrated in the Painting Kitchen Cabinets Video.
  • Allow the urethane to dry for the amount of time suggested on the urethane label.
  • Put the cabinet hardware back on the furniture piece or put on new cabinet hardware.
  • Rehang any doors.
  • Insert any drawers back into the furniture piece.
  • Enjoy your freshly painted piece of furniture.




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