Gisselle O'brien
when my parents offered us their old dining table, we’d just moved into our new house. that vision stayed in my head for a good year as i tackled other projects and solidified my plans for the table. so logically, i dove in full force just after Christmas, in the middle of winter, when there was no option to do any painting outside.
i have painted my fair share of old furniture {tables, chairs, night stands, dressers, beds, etc.} this picture shows my favorite combination of paint for furniture. zinsser 1-2-3 primer {usually in white but you can get it tinted if you are painting something darker}
valspar signature paint + primer, water based satin finish minwax polycrylic water based protective finish my sister turned me on to this as a great furniture painting tool. sand paper, palm sander, or pumice stone for distressing. i use water and a soft rag to wipe off any dirt or dust. i’ve learned that brush strokes don’t really matter when it comes to primer.
i’ll admit, i am also fearful of brush strokes and paint drips. but every piece i’ve painted has turned out fine by the end.
if they are already dry, take a piece of sandpaper to them and do a quick touch up in the area with your paint.
i have to say, when i get finished painting something and everything is smooth and pretty, sometimes i wonder if i should distress the piece.
but around here, if i don’t distress something on purpose, my kids will probably do it on accident. or run a car with missing wheels across the top of a table.
i actually have faith in this paint combination to withstand most any wear and tear. but this is what will make your painted furniture stand the test of time. watch out for drips though, because this is a lot thinner than the paint and primer you’ll be used to working with at this point.
use the minwax finish on the whole piece {what i do} or just on the tops if you think that’s where most of your wear will be. i started the project by flipping each chair over and unscrewing the seat pad. after wiping everything down with a warm wet cloth, it was time to prime the table and all six chairs.
i am not going to lie, in the middle of priming six chairs and a table, sometimes i wish i had the money to go out and buy what i want. after a few days of priming, it was time to choose the perfect color.
it is so easy to pick a color in my mind when i am dreaming up a project. after much consideration and many solicited {but opposing} opinions, i went with my original vision, cream. i decided against chalk paint, really because i don’t understand it enough yet and need to do more research on its durability. choosing the right color cream was infinitely harder than i anticipated.
when the final smooth, perfect coat was on and dry, i grabbed my pumice stone and sand paper and went to work to scratch it up. but i really like the distressed look, and it makes me a saner mom about drawing, writing, and playing on the table. any wear and tear over the years is sure to disappear among the marks i purposely make. on this piece i used a white pumice stone because my sand paper was turning the cream a weird yellow color, and i had a white pumice stone handy. since doing this table, i’ve learned it is fastest to use a palm sander for this step. rest assured, this distressing step still makes me nervous every time.
after sanding, i wiped everything down with a dry cloth and applied the polyurethane for a smooth, scratch resistant finish. this protective coat is key if you want the finished product to be able to stand up to real life. speaking of real life, you might be wondering how i found the time to complete this project with toddlers underfoot.
coloring with markers, sanding, or stacking wood scraps. letting them paint nearby with watercolors on cardboard or a big box. i thought black and cream would look great with the bluish-aquaish walls in our dining room left by the home owners before.
i tried a new fabric shop and found exactly what I wanted on SALE. i’d already turned the chairs upside down and unscrewed the cushions before painting. the next step was to turn each cushion upside down and trace on the batting i bought at the fabric store {see picture above}. the fabric pattern i chose needed to be straight so i had to arrange my batting and cushion accordingly.
then i put on my sunglasses {because i couldn’t find my actual protective eyewear}, and went to town with the staple gun. i pulled the fabric over each side of the original cushion {with the batting in between} and stapled as i went.
painting furniture doesn’t take a lot of skill, and neither does recovering a chair pad. often the same amount of time it takes to shop for, order, and wait for a brand new piece of furniture. join in noticing 10 LITTLE things in every kind of day and come along on my diy, parenting, and organizing adventures. click here to subscribe and receive access to my favorite FREE printables. click the red save box on the image below to pin this post.
