Painting furniture can be a dreaded project for anyone. There are so many different ways to paint furniture and not all of them look the best or last long. If you don’t do it right, you can end up with chipping paint, dripping paint marks, bubbles, or even lint stuck to the paint. Then you get mad because you just wasted all that time and money painting that piece of furniture that now looks worse than before and you have to start over.

I hope these steps help eliminate those feelings of dread and regret when you’re done and it just didn’t work. The following steps will help make a clean coat of paint and even protect your paint if desired. Just remember that it can take some practice to get it right. So feel free to practice with an extra piece of wood before you decide to revamp your kitchen table or entertainment center.

The first step is to sand the wood. This is just to allow a place for the paint and primer to adhere. This can also remove blemishes like watermarks or other blemishes that make furniture look unsightly. Sanding is still a good idea if your furniture already feels rough. It’ll just make a nice, even place for the paint to lie down. Also, you don’t need to over sand it, just enough to make it rough and be careful not to over sand one area and under sand another. You want it to be even with no hills or valleys.

After you’ve sanded, it’s time to apply the primer and prepare for painting. First, apply the primer in an even coat over the entire piece of furniture. Let it dry and then wipe it off with a tacky cloth. This will remove lint and lint bits.

As you paint, use a good roller to apply the paint in a few coats. Make sure if you use a latex or oil based primer that you use the same based paint. This will result in better paint adhesion. Between each coat, sand down any imperfections and wipe with a tack cloth before applying the next coat of paint. Be sure to paint evenly and with equal pressure so that you don’t form bubbles or run the paint.

Once you are done letting the paint dry, you can either use your furniture or apply a protective clear coat over the top. This will only better protect the paint and furniture. If you choose to apply a top clear coat, use a new roller and apply with light pressure so that it goes on in an even coat.

So that’s it. Now all you have to do is enjoy your new piece of furniture and have fun redecorating to match the new color, or you can repaint more furniture to match your new project. Have fun painting and enjoy your new furniture.