Furniture that’s been crafted out of solid wood can last for many centuries. Building a sturdy wood piece can be very time consuming, but when it’s all finished, it’s a piece that can be handed down through many generations. If you’re lucky enough to inherit or purchase a fine wood piece, you may wish to change its appearance to match the existing colors of your decor. You might even want to start a new decorating project that revolves around your new found treasure. Don’t worry, you don’t need an expert to do this. All you need are a few simple tools that are not hard to find at any hardware. To be well equipped for painting wood furniture, make a list and include the following:
* Brushes to paint with.
* Handy wipes or rags for easy clean up.
* Paint in your color choice (Gloss paint is recommended, but not required).
* Primer to help bond the new paint color.
* Something to protect the floor from paint spatters.
* A sheet or two of medium grade sandpaper.
* Mild soap and water to clean your piece before painting it.
* Screwdriver to remove hardware knobs and handles if your piece has drawers or doors.
The first thing you should do is make sure your piece of furniture is free of dirt and moisture. If there are drawers, pull them out to work on separately. If the existing paint is extra shiny or you see obvious cracks or peeling, give it a once over with your sandpaper before you go through the cleaning process. No sense in having to clean it twice! Your piece may already be in good enough shape to skip the cleaning/dry and sanding project. If there are any knobs, handles, or hinges that you don’t want to accidentally get paint on, you should remove them.
Next, you will want to coat your furniture with primer. Paint it in the color of your choice, making sure to apply all surface areas that will be getting re painted. You may wish to repeat the primer process to reensure that you’ve gotten a good bonding effect. Each time you apply primer, you should wait until the wood dry properly before doing anything else; it should take not more than 5 hours. Once your primer is dried to your wood furniture, it will have a filmy look to it similar to chalk dust.
Now you are ready to paint your wood furniture piece. It’s a good idea to give the furniture two coats of paint. You should let the paint dry for about five hours before applying the second coat.
7 comments