Painting furniture

ibarelycare

I have a pine chest of drawers in my sitting room that I intend to paint at the weekend. I don't know the first thing about painting really. I did go into Homebase the other day and chatted to one of the guys in there about what paints to get, and he suggested a water-based paint such as Dulux Easycare Satinwood (I think!). They had a crap colour selection in there so I'm going to head to Woodies in the hopes that they have a better selection.

What I want to know is do I need to do a primer? Or sand? The furniture is in pretty good nick, all smooth. I'm going to be painting the frame and handles a slate grey colour, and the drawers will be white/cream (haven't decided yet).

I don't want a high-gloss finish, definitely more on the matte side if possible.

I also have seen people using chalk paint on furniture and then using a wax over it, so I'm wondering if this is an option.

As I said this is my first ever project like this so I definitely want to keep costs down and keep it pretty simple in case I balls it up, so any tips/advice would be appreciated!

jlm29

If you use satinwood, you would need a primer. You'd give it a wash down, a light sanding, prime it (I've only ever used BIN primer, but it is expensive) and paint. You'll probably need two coats of paint, and I'm not sure if you should give a light sanding between coats.
You can also use chalk paint, which is less labour intensive- no sanding, no priming. But you would need to wax after the second coat of paint. Watering down the last coat of chalk paint is also a good idea as it makes the paint go on smoother. I've found chalk paint to be less hard wearing. I painted my kitchen chairs with it, and they all look very patchy and worn now. I've used it on bedroom furniture though, and it's still perfect severK years later, as there's not as much traffic.

ibarelycare

Thanks for the advice! It's a piece of furniture that's never moved...a few things sit on top of it such as our Sky box, some candle holders, picture frames, etc. and the more regularly used drawers might only be opened once a week! So if I did go for the chalk paint I'd say it would be ok. So you suggest two coats of chalk paint (with the second being watered down - by how much?) and then a coat of wax? Could you use a roller with chalk paint? There's a lot of large flat surface space so was thinking I'd use a small roller on those sections.

jlm29

ibarelycare wrote: »

Thanks for the advice! It's a piece of furniture that's never moved...a few things sit on top of it such as our Sky box, some candle holders, picture frames, etc. and the more regularly used drawers might only be opened once a week! So if I did go for the chalk paint I'd say it would be ok. So you suggest two coats of chalk paint (with the second being watered down - by how much?) and then a coat of wax? Could you use a roller with chalk paint? There's a lot of large flat surface space so was thinking I'd use a small roller on those sections.

I've never used a roller with it, but I don't see why not. I've only ever needed two coats, but see how it looks after one!
When I say watered down, what I was shown to do was dip the brush in the paint, and then dip the tip the tiniest amount into a bowl of water, rather than actually adding water to the paint. I'm sure there's plenty YouTube and online tutorials too!

ibarelycare

Brilliant, thanks!

Pistachios & cream

You can also buy a matt sealer for chalk paint if you don't want to go down the waxing route. I've used the polyvine brand, they have both a matt and satin finish.

Dark coloured chalk paint (any paint really) has great coverage but the white/cream might need more coats and if three are a lot of visible knots in the wood you might even need a primer for those areas.

jlm29

ahayes84 wrote: »

You can also buy a matt sealer for chalk paint if you don't want to go down the waxing route. I've used the polyvine brand, they have both a matt and satin finish.

Dark coloured chalk paint (any paint really) has great coverage but the white/cream might need more coats and if three are a lot of visible knots in the wood you might even need a primer for those areas.

How is that applied? I hate rubbing on the wax, puts me right off!

Pistachios & cream

jlm29 wrote: »

How is that applied? I hate rubbing on the wax, puts me right off!

Paintbrush or Foam brush.

Its not the same as a well buffed wax finish but is definitely better than a half hearted wax attempt and i think it suits furniture you want a more modern finish on rather than shabby chic

jlm29

ahayes84 wrote: »

Paintbrush or Foam brush.

Its not the same as a well buffed wax finish but is definitely better than a half hearted wax attempt and i think it suits furniture you want a more modern finish on rather than shabby chic

Great to know. Thanks a mil

nearzero

Oh god me and wax fell out big time - just seemed to cause a mess, I couldnt seem to get it right at all! Primer & a nice eggshell finish worked a treat!

ibarelycare

jlm29 wrote: »

If you use satinwood, you would need a primer. You'd give it a wash down, a light sanding, prime it (I've only ever used BIN primer, but it is expensive) and paint. You'll probably need two coats of paint, and I'm not sure if you should give a light sanding between coats.
You can also use chalk paint, which is less labour intensive- no sanding, no priming. But you would need to wax after the second coat of paint. Watering down the last coat of chalk paint is also a good idea as it makes the paint go on smoother. I've found chalk paint to be less hard wearing. I painted my kitchen chairs with it, and they all look very patchy and worn now. I've used it on bedroom furniture though, and it's still perfect severK years later, as there's not as much traffic.

I ended up going with your first suggestion. I was told in the shop that I wouldn't need to sand first, but I sanded a few parts of the furniture that had had a few knocks/chips (it wasn't in as good nick as I'd originally thought ). Then primed and two coats of satinwood paint (which I applied mainly using a roller, which was so handy!). It didn't come out absolutely perfect (the paint is a bit too thick in some places so one or two of the drawers are sticking a bit we just won't use those ones :pac:) but very happy for my first attempt!





Thanks for the advice

jlm29

It looks really well! Good job!

banoffe2

well done, that looks fab, what a transformation! did you use undercoat, also was it dulux satin wood, oil or water based paint?

ibarelycare

banoffe2 wrote: »

well done, that looks fab, what a transformation! did you use undercoat, also was it dulux satin wood, oil or water based paint?

Cheers! No just primer...is that different to undercoat? primer and paints were all Johnstone water based.

I'm obviously addicted. About 2 hours ago I was feeling bored so about to retire to bed with Netflix but decided to prep the coffee table! Have it all primed now and will paint it over the next few evenings (will take a few goes as I'm doing the top grey and the legs cream, so will have to do one colour per evening!).