Can Furniture Be Painted?

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If you have an old piece of wooden furniture, such as a table, dresser, bookcase, or buffet, it may be in excellent physical condition, but it's likely that the stain is dated or faded, or perhaps you're just looking to update the look of a piece of furniture that has been in your family for a long time. 

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If you find yourself with a piece of wooden furniture that you would like to update, painting the piece of furniture is a great option.

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Why Should I Paint My Old Furniture?

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Unless you are willing and able to spend top dollar on a new piece of finely built, pre-finished painted furniture from a high end furniture store, chances are that the older piece of stained wooden furniture you currently have in your possession will be of a higher quality craftsmanship than what you can find in most stores. It's an old saying, but it's true--they just don't make things like they use to. 

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Because of that, your older furniture is likely to be sturdier, composed of higher-quality wood, and built to last longer than the throw-away furniture being mass produced and sold in stores today. 

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And because it's well built, by painting the furniture you currently own, you can get an updated look, and a top notch piece of in-style furniture for a fraction of the cost of buying a new,

similar style, similar quality piece of furniture from a store today.

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What is the Process for Painting Old Furniture?

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Painting furniture is often a lot like painting kitchen cabinets or bathroom vanities; you want the piece painted, but you don't want the piece to look painted. And achieving this goal requires a deliberate process. 

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When painting furniture, the first step we undertake is to remove the furniture from your home and transport it to our dust-controlled spray shop. In our dust controlled spray shop, the spray shop is sealed off completely from outside work and air and air scrubbing machines are run to extract dust from the spray shop and evacuated into HEPA filters maintaining a dust-free environment. 

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Once at our spray shop, the furniture to be painted is thoroughly prepared for the coatings it will receive. 

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How is Old Furniture Prepared for Painting?

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The first step in preparing old furniture for painting is thorough sanding. This first sanding should be done with 100 grit or 120 grit sandpaper. The purpose of this initial sanding is to break down the present coating and provide a dull, toothed surface for the primer to adhere to. 

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Once the first sanding is completed, a second sanding with a higher grit sandpaper, something like 180 grit sandpaper is performed. This round of sanding smooths out the surface of the furniture and levels out the surface of the furniture a bit. All sanding is done with a vacuum-equipped sanding machine that extracts the dust while sanding the furniture. 

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After the furniture is sanded, it is then vacuumed and wiped clean with tack cloth. This step ensures that no dust remains on the surface of the furniture.

 

After wiping with tack cloth, the furniture is ready for priming. The first coat of primer is always a bonding primer. A bonding primer is a primer that is specifically designed to bond tenaciously with a bare substrate. This bonding coat ensures that all additional coats of primer and eventually paint will adhere permanently to the furniture.

 

This coat of bonding primer, like all other coats of primer and finish paint will be applied by spray application. Spray application ensures that the furniture has a factory-finished appearance without roller stipple, brush strokes, drips, or misses. 

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Once the bonding coat is applied, it is allowed to dry for at least 8 hours, but usually more like 24 hours. This long dry time allows the bonding primer to dry completely and bond fully with the surface of the furniture. 

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After the bonding primer has fully dried, the next step is to apply a surfacing primer. A surfacing primer is a high build primer that is specially formulated to sand to a fine power, creating a mirror like finish upon which the finish coats of paint can be applied. Ordinarily, multiple coats of this primer are applied to build up the surface to be finish painted. How many coats of primer will be applied depends upon the condition of the furniture, but generally 3-5 coats of high build surfacing primer are sufficient to smooth out the surface of the furniture such that it will be ready for a sprayed finish coat. 

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Between coats of surfacing primer, the furniture is sanded lightly with a very fine grit sandpaper, 320 grit, 400 grit, or higher, to continually smooth out the finish on the furniture. During this time, repairs that may be necessary to correct blemishes such as deep gauges, nail holes, or similar imperfections are filled with wood filler or other compounds and sanded smooth. 

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Once the multiple levels of primer are applied and sanded, and the repairs are made, and the furniture is vacuumed and tack cloth clean, it's time to apply the finish coat. 

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How to Apply Finish Coats of Paint to Furniture

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When considering painting furniture, we handle the work of preparing and painting the furniture, but you have the difficult task of picking a color. But once you have the color selected, and we generally suggest selecting a bold color for most pieces of furniture--colors that will stand out in a room against a backdrop of perhaps more neutral walls and other furniture, the next selection to be made is the sheen, or shine, of the paint. 

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Sheen refers to the reflective light value of a coating. So, for example, a flat sheen reflects very little light. A gloss or high gloss sheen by contrast reflects A LOT of light. Certain high gloss oil-based enamel paints, such as Fine Paints of Europe, are actually so shiny that they can produce a mirror finish on the furniture they are coated with. Typically, unless you have a specific high gloss look in mind, a satin sheen or a semi-gloss sheen is suggested for most furniture. 

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For all furniture painting projects, we use only furniture grade enamel paints, such as Benjamin Moore Advance, or Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel. Or, for extremely high gloss applications, we use Fine Paints of Europe Hollandlac Brilliant. 

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Newly Painted Furniture Cure Time and Transport Back to Your Home

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After your furniture is painted, we suggest allowing the furniture to dry and cure for two weeks before being transported and returned to your home. After the two week cure time, we deliver the furniture back to you. At that time, we still suggest that the furniture be treated gingerly for two additional weeks because hard-drying enamels like Advance and Emerald Urethane can take up to 30 days to fully cure. During that 30 day cure time, you should also avoid cleaning your newly painted furniture and prevent the furniture from getting wet because water will ruin the finish during the cure time. 

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That said, after the 30-day cure time is completed, the furniture will be hardened and sound enough that it can be cleaned and wiped and used in the same way as any other furniture in your home. 

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How to Hire a Painter to Spray Finish Paint Furniture

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If you have a piece of furniture that you would like painted, you can schedule an estimate for your furniture painting here, or if you prefer, you can send us an email here. 

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