How to Paint Furniture

Move the piece out of the room if you possibly can.

1. 🚚 Wherever possible, move the furniture to a garage, utility room or outdoor space in good weather.
2. 💡 Working away from the room gives you far better access, better light and far less to protect.
3. 🛋️ Painting in situ means managing overspray, drips and dust in a space you live in.
4. 📦 If the piece genuinely cannot be moved, protect the surrounding walls and floor thoroughly with plastic sheeting or cardboard drop cloths before you start.
5. 🌡️ Whichever space you use, make sure it is dry, dust-free and reasonably warm — cold, damp air slows drying and spoils the finish.

Take off what comes off — and nothing more.

1. 🔩 Remove all drawers, shelves, doors and handles before painting.
2. 🧩 These are best painted separately and reinstalled once fully cured.
3. 🚫 Do not disassemble further than this — furniture joints are not designed to be repeatedly taken apart and reassembled.
4. 🏷️ Label drawers and doors and bag the screws so everything goes back where it came from.
5. 🩹 Fill any redundant handle holes now if you are changing the hardware, and sand flush once dry.

Remove tape wet, or remove it fully dry — never in between.

1. 🎯 Masking tape applied during painting must be removed while the paint is still wet, or left until the paint is completely dry.
2. ⚠️ Never remove tape from paint that is partially cured — the curing film will tear and deform.
3. 🪒 A torn tape edge leaves a ragged line that is very difficult to repair without sanding back and recoating.
4. 📐 Press tape edges down firmly before painting so nothing bleeds underneath.
5. 🔁 This rule applies to every painted surface, not just furniture.

The preparation depends entirely on what is already on the wood.

1. 🔍 Before doing anything else, work out what you are dealing with — paint, varnish, lacquer, wax, oil or bare timber.
2. 🎨 Previously painted and sound: sand the whole surface with 320 grit, clean with sugar soap, rinse with a clean wet microfibre cloth and allow to dry fully.
3. 🩹 Previously painted and failing: sand back flaking or peeling areas to remove loose material, feather the edges so there is no hard line between old and new, then sand the whole surface with 320 grit and clean as above.
4. 🪵 Bare or stripped timber: no separate primer is needed, but the first coat will raise the grain — let it dry fully, sand lightly with 320 grit and wipe down before the next coat.
5. 🧴 Wax or oil: these need dedicated treatment before any paint goes near them — see the wax and oil steps below.

Key it, test it, and only then commit.

1. 🪚 If the varnish or lacquer is intact and in reasonable condition, sand the whole surface thoroughly with 320 grit to break through the sheen and create a key.
2. 🧪 Always apply a test patch in an inconspicuous area before committing to the whole piece, and leave it overnight — at least 12 hours.
3. 👀 Look for imperfections: cratering, fish eyes (small circular hollows) and pickling (a wrinkled or puckered surface).
4. 💅 Test adhesion by dragging a fingernail or coin lightly across the dried patch — if the paint delaminates or lifts, the existing finish is incompatible without further prep or an isolating primer.
5. 🧹 If the varnish is flaking or heavily built up, remove it — chemically with a varnish stripper and scraper, or physically with abrasives (an electric sander makes larger pieces far more manageable). Test patch again once stripped.

Paint and wax do not bond. Deal with it properly.

1. 🚫 Wax creates a non-absorbent barrier that prevents adhesion, and it penetrates deep into the grain — as the trade saying goes, once you wax you cannot go back. Oil behaves the same way.
2. 🧴 Full removal method: apply white spirit generously with a cloth and leave it for at least five minutes to break down the wax or oil.
3. 🧽 Scrub firmly with 0000 grade fine wire wool in the direction of the grain. A significant amount of residue will emerge — this is normal. Wipe away with a clean cloth and repeat until no more residue appears, then allow 24 hours to dry.
4. 🧼 Once dry, clean the whole surface with sugar soap, rinse with a clean wet microfibre cloth, dry again, and apply an isolating primer to seal in any remaining traces.
5. 🪵 The shortcut: if you would rather not use white spirit, sand the entire surface thoroughly with 180–240 grit to abrade through the wax layer, wipe down with a damp microfibre and test patch. This works on lightly waxed pieces but is less reliable on heavily treated ones.

Faces, edges and every routed profile.

1. 🪚 Sand all surfaces — faces, edges and any routed or profiled sections — with 320 grit sandpaper.
2. 📐 Every part of the surface needs to be keyed, not just the flat faces.
3. 🧽 For routed or profiled edges use a sanding sponge; it flexes into the detail without flattening it.
4. 📄 Paper-backed abrasive folded to a point will reach into tight corners and recesses.
5. 🧻 Wipe down with a clean damp microfibre cloth once you have finished sanding.

Paint cannot hold onto a true 90-degree corner.

1. 📏 Paint is a liquid, and liquids cannot properly adhere to a sharp 90-degree corner — the film pulls away from the edge as it dries.
2. 💥 That leaves a thin, vulnerable point that will chip with the first knock.
3. 🪶 Before priming, lightly round off all sharp edges and corners with 120 grit sandpaper.
4. 🎯 You are not creating a large radius — just enough to remove the hard corner and introduce a slight curve.
5. ⚠️ Be careful and considered, particularly where the crisp edge is part of the design.

Bare MDF edges drink paint. Seal them first.

1. 🧴 MDF should be primed before painting for the best result — bare MDF, particularly the edges, is far more porous than the faces and absorbs water-based paint quickly and unevenly.
2. 🖌️ Apply one full coat of our primer to all surfaces, paying particular attention to edges, which may need a second coat if they still feel rough or porous once dry.
3. 🪚 Allow to dry fully, sand lightly with 320 grit and wipe down before applying top coats.
4. 🎨 If you prefer to use paint as your primer coat, apply one thin coat of Furniture paint to all surfaces and allow to dry fully — the first coat will raise the MDF fibres, so sand lightly with 320 grit and wipe down before two further full coats.
5. ➕ The paint-as-primer approach may need an additional coat overall to look fully even, particularly on the edges.

Furniture paint, in whichever sheen you prefer.

1. 🎨 We recommend our Furniture paint for all furniture projects — it is available across all 180 colours in the palette.
2. ⚪ Matt — a restrained, low sheen.
3. ✨ Satin — a smooth lustre. Both launch sheens are washable and suitable for furniture in everyday use, so the choice is entirely aesthetic.

Thin, even coats, least visible areas first.

1. 🖌️ Use a good quality synthetic brush for detail, mouldings, legs and anywhere a roller cannot reach.
2. 🎢 Use a short pile microfibre roller on flat faces and large flat sections; a foam roller works well on smaller flat areas where finish quality is the priority.
3. 🔄 Apply two full coats, allowing 1 hour between coats.
4. 🙈 Work from the least visible areas first — underneath, the back, the insides — before moving to the most visible faces.
5. 💧 Take care to avoid drips and runs on vertical surfaces; build coverage in thin, even coats rather than trying to cover in one pass.

Overnight before reinstalling, 7 days before hard use.

1. 🌙 Leave all removable components — drawers, doors, shelves — out for at least overnight after the final coat before reinstalling.
2. 🔩 Refit handles and hardware only once the paint is genuinely hard, not just touch dry.
3. ⏳ Allow the full 7 day cure period before the piece is subjected to everyday use.
4. 🚫 Avoid placing heavy objects, cloths or plant pots on painted surfaces during the cure period.
5. 🧽 After curing, a slightly damp microfibre cloth is all the piece will ever need — avoid abrasive pads and chemical cleaners.