Here are some of the professionals best tips for how to paint white furniture that will come in handy this year. The pieces you may have found at local auctions or thrift shops may require you to learn how to paint furniture white.  Finding a great old piece of furniture in excellent condition but the wrong color can be a fun upcycle project for a Saturday afternoon.  Painting furniture to change the look is always a great inexpensive way to create a new look, and these tips for how to paint furniture white are going to totally make your next find a beautiful creation.

Professionals Best Tips For How To Paint Furniture White

Set up a well-ventilated work area.  Before you do anything with paint, you need to make sure you are doing so in a well-ventilated work area.  Paint fumes can cause headaches, dizziness and other physical symptoms.  Use a respirator if you have to do your work inside, but preferably you will be working outdoors in an area that is well-ventilated and allows for easy air flow so you are not being overwhelmed by fumes.

Remove all hardware and drawers.  When you are painting any furniture, you want to remove the drawers and all hardware.  Each of these pieces will be painted separately, and draw handles, pulls or knobs may need to be replaced or painted separately.  This makes sure you don’t miss spots and have smudges or other issues happen.  You’ll work through each piece individually and then put back together once the entire piece and all parts are dry.

Strip or sand as necessary.  Depending on the finish of the furniture, there will be steps needed to remove old paint or wood stains.  Stripping the existing stains from the furniture is must, and that can involve using something like mineral spirits to remove the stain with a cloth, but will most likely also include some physical stripping with a tool or sandpaper.  There is an excellent tutorial video on the DIY Network on how to strip wood furniture that can help you know what is needed and the best tools for the job.  Before you begin painting, it’s important to make sure the wood surfaces is ready or you will end up with bubbles or a peeling coat of paint and have wasted your time and effort.

Use a coat of KILZ.   This product is often used to cover mold or mildew, but it is also a highly recommended choice by professional painters as your base coat.  It covers dark colors much better than simply using paint, and can provide that layer that helps kill the dark wood finish so the white paint is brighter and you don’t have to use so many coats to get your final product.

Use multiple coats of paint.  Most professionals recommend that when you want to know how to paint furniture white, you are going to really want to focus on more than one coat of white paint.  At a minimum, you want to paint 2-3 coats on your furniture.  If you use a coat of KILZ first, allow it to dry, then add a coat of white paint 2-3 times allowing to dry in between, you’ll be able to cover it well making your new piece of furniture look bright white like you desire.  Make sure, no matter what you do, that you allow each coat to dry before you apply the next layer.  This will make sure you are getting even coats and seeing any spots you missed.

These simple tips for how to paint furniture white work best for things like end tables, coffee tables, dressers, armoires and most wooden furniture.  You can even paint the wooden base of an upholstered piece of furniture, but obviously not the fabric furniture pieces.  Grabbing great furniture pieces that are gently used and painting to revamp is a great way to update your home on a budget.

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