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Painting Old Furniture & Paint Primers

Much of the furniture in my house are garage sale, estate sale or flea market finds. Most of the furniture, I've had to refurbish and quite a few I repainted. The problem with buying painted furniture is that you often don't know exactly what type of paint was used to paint them. You can usually tell if the paint was applied with a brush or with a spayer, but not much else. Enamel usually has a shiney look that is easily recognizable, but many paints are now made to look like enamel.

The variety and quality of paints available in the hardware store is astounding. Now many consumers are demanding friendlier water-based paints. They are easier to clean up and supposedly more environmentally friendly. Even primers now come in water-based formulas. So, if you have never used a primer because you thought it was too messy, try the water-based varieties.

A primer will most likely be necessary if you want to cover existing paint with a different type of paint. The new paint will likely flake off if the new and old are not compatible. Paint primer not only allows a different type of paint to be used on the surface, it provides a nice solid colored base. A few coats of primer will make it easier to repair imperfections in your furniture and make the surface easier to cover with a new paint.

NOTE: Please read the instructions and follow the safety precautions on the back of the paints you choose.

I have several projects underway as I write this, 3 are painted furniture. I happened to know that they were not painted with lead-based paints, so I felt free to sand them. I'm in the process of sanding and priming them and I thought I would take the time to talk about primers.

The picture above is of two night stands, a garage sale find. I haven't done anything to the one on the left. Although it's hard to see from the picture, the paint was flaking off in several places and you can see a lot of yellow staining where the prior stain bled through to the outer layer of paint. I sanded the one on the right.

Because the pieces are large and I can see some staining showing through, I've decided to use a stain blocking primer. KILZ is a great general primer, but especially useful when you want to cover stains or odors. My husband has used this on stained and smelly wood floor of rental properties prior to laying carpet.

I have used the KILZ spray on many smaller items. Since the nightstands are so large, I decided to try using the paint/roll on variety. I'm not fond of the oil based paints, so I'm using a water-based version of KILZ.

As a side note, I've also used regular shellac to cover up small stains before painting.

This little magazine rack or stand, another flea market find, was painted with a red enamel. I did some repairs with carpenter's glue, nails, and clamps, then filled some large holes with painter's putty. I sanded the whole stand before using KILZ, the spray on version. The piece has been sprayed and I've sanded it once. I'm filling some smaller holes with spackling paste before I sand and paint. I will be putting another coat of primer on the magazine stand before I paint the final color.

This is a magazine rack that was painted with a lacquer and had a very cutesy decal on it . I didn't like the decal, so I took it off and sanded the entire piece. I used a sandable paint primer that was compatible with the paint I intend to use for the final coat of paint. Sandable paint primers are quite thick and can be used to fill minor imperfections in a piece of furniture.

A note of caution, if you want to have good results, you need to use a primer that is compatible with your final coat. If the paint is not compatible with the primer, the paint will crackle . The best way to insure that the primer and paint are compatible is to read the back of the paint can. They usually give instructions for preparing the surface.

I added an engine or automobile primer in my picture above. When I paint a piece of metal furniture, I use a metal primer. I'm not working on any metal furniture right now. Metals generally require a different primer than wood.

Are you ready to go hunting for great flea market furniture? Just add some primer underneath that new paint and you'll have a long lasting finish on your new furniture treasure.