How to Repaint Furniture
I had bought this trunk a couple years ago from Facebook marketplace for $50 bucks and had the intention of repainting it white but never got around to it.
Fast-forward to a month ago, I had just had my baby after a month or so and Covid-19 decided to hit and requested everyone to Stay at Home. Already having been at home for 7 weeks with my baby I knew I needed to find something to do quick before my stir-craziness made me go insane. It was time to paint this bad boy.
Here are the supplies I used:
- TSP Cleaning Solution
- Sandpaper – 60 Grit (I hand sanded, but I would HIGHLY recommend using a sander… it will make your projects go 100x’s faster.)
- Blue Hawk Tack Cloth – 2 pack
- Zinsser 1-2-3 Water Based Primer
- Valspar Signature Paint in the color ‘Du Jour’
- Blue Hawk Applicator Kit
- Extra Brush for Primer
Because this trunk was painted by the previous owner I didn’t necessarily need to use TSP Cleaning solution but I did anyways just to clean off any grime or dirt that may have been on there. TSP is definitely recommended if you’re going to paint any type of wood furniture. I made sure to wipe down the furniture after cleaning it with the solution as I didn’t want the trunk to remain wet for long. (Because TSP can cause skin irritations, I wore latex cleaning gloves while using a washcloth to apply the solution to the trunk.)
The next thing I did was sand it down. Due to Covid-19 I was unfortunately unable to obtain a mask. Knowing that I would be sanding down paint I knew that breathing in the paint dust could be very toxic so I ended up wrapping my mouth and nose with a scarf which wasn’t as convenient, but it worked. I also learned to wear goggles, it was SO windy and I should’ve been smarter, but mother nature corrected my ways. So WEAR EYE PROTECTIVE GEAR if you’re going to sand outside. Learn from my mistake and don’t risk the event of you having to run inside to wash out your eyes. *Face palm*
Next, I used tack cloth to remove any sand debris/dust particles that may have gotten stuck on the furniture after sanding. Tack cloth is absolute MAGIC. I had never used it before and now I will forever use it when sanding objects.
Learning from my mistakes again, I would recommend wiping off the furniture with a microfiber cloth FIRST and THEN using the tack cloth to pick up extra particles. I used the tack cloth immediately after sanding, and though it worked, there was WAY too much paint/dust particles that the tack cloth was used up too quickly. I didn’t have any extra tack cloth and didn’t want to run to the store just to get a couple more. So I did the best I could with what I had.
[Also, funny fact. Since I was hand sanding I realized that the sand paper was scratching up my hands so I used winter gloves to sand the trunk.]
Once I had fully sanded the trunk to what I was satisfied with I brought it inside and got ready to prime. I did go over the trunk one more time with the TSP cleaner before priming as I really wanted to make sure that the wood was cleaned before priming and painting.
When purchasing primer I learned that water based primers are the safest purchase you can do. I was about to purchase an oil based primer but I didn’t know how well I was able to get the black paint off and I knew if it was a water based paint then I would have a hard time applying the oil primer.
Luckily for me the black paint sanded off very easy so I really didn’t need to worry about it, but this primer was very cooperative. I applied the primer using a staining brush and I knew that the brush strokes would not necessarily matter once I applied the paint.
I ended up applying two coats of primer and let this sit till the next day before painting.
The next day I started painting! I thought this little roller, that was included in my Blue Hawk Applicator Kit, was actually perfect for this project! I ended up rolling on about two coats of paint to the flat surfaces of the furniture. (It’s okay if the paint bubbles a little because the paint will settle down after a couple minutes.) Due to the design of the base and top trimming, I ended up using an angled brush, that also came with the applicator kit, to apply the paint in those areas since I knew the roller would be hard to use there. After applying two coats I let it sit for a couple days to cure.
(Curing is very important while painting. Even though your furniture may feel dry after a couple hours you will want to make sure you let it sit a couple of DAYS before really using your item to make sure the paint has fully hardened and you don’t leave any unwanted imprints on it.)
The reason I ended up choosing the Valspar Signature paint in an Eggshell finish is because I have future plans to turn this trunk into my built-in hall tree idea for our mudroom. With the hall tree I have in mind, I wanted a paint that would match the trunk we have with the shiplap wall we’re going to install in our mudroom.
I know the finished piece will turn out fantastic, but for now I’m loving this newly painted trunk. The white makes it look brand new and definitely lightens up the room. I’ll be sure to show the finished product once we get the mudroom installed.
Ta-Da! There you have it. I hope you learned something new in this blog post as it was definitely a fun process for me to do. We can’t wait to see what it looks like in our mudroom when we move in, but we’ll all have to patiently wait for that next step. See you next time!
Feel free to leave a comment with any questions, tips or feedback. God bless!
