There are lots of older pieces of second hand furniture that would look great if only they weren’t so beat up or shabby. This blog post will hopefully give you the skills and knowledge you need to restore your 2nd hand furniture by touching up the flaky, dented bits and repainting it to ensure it looks like new (but with more character!)

What you need to paint your second hand furniture

For most pieces that you want to restore, you will need:

a painter’s cloth to catch all the drips

a pair of rubber gloves (or surgical ones)

a few 1- to 2-inch foam brushes

fine sandpaper / Wet paper

a tack rag

a couple of soft rags of old tea towels

wood putty or polyfilla

a putty knife

water-based latex paint

water-based satin varnish

Preparation of the wood

To get started, clear the area where you will be working and lay down your protective cloth to avoid leaving paint marks on the floor. Remember to open a window so that you do not choke on the paint fumes! If possible, then it is sometimes best to work outside.

Sort out all the imperfections and tidy the piece up

First, you want to make sure that there aren’t any scratches, dents, or old nail holes in the furniture. If there are, using your putty knife and wood putty, apply a small amount of wood putty to the areas that need repaired. Feather out the edges of the wood putty around the surrounding areas of the repair. Allow the wood putty to dry.

Sand down the second hand furniture

Anything that you paint will need a rough surface so that the new paint sticks to the item. Previously applied slick paint will just result in drips and streaks if you do not sand down the furniture before you start.

To do this, take your fine grit sandpaper and lightly sand the surfaces and the edges of the area you want to paint. Pay special attention to any areas where you may have applied the wood putty.

Clean you smooth sanded furniture

After sanding, take one of your work rags and completely wipe off any sawdust particles on the furniture. Once the majority of the dust has been removed, go over every area of the furniture that needs painted with your tack rag. Make sure you remove every little particle with the tack rag before you start painting the wood.

Paint the furniture

Once sanded and clean it is time to get the paint brushes out. If you are painting previously painted items then you will need a water-based latex paint. Apply enough paint to go just about halfway up the brush; any more than this and you’ll end up with paint everywhere and streaks on your table/stool/drawers etc. Apply the paint in long, smooth, even strokes across the surface and edges of the furniture. Rotate brush strokes from left to right as you work your way across the furniture’s surface. Allow the paint to dry (this will take at least 4 hours, but try an leave it over night if you can).

Varnishing versus painting

For indoor furniture, or for items that you are not going to use everyday, then varnishing may not be required (unless it is part of the look you are after). If the furniture is going to be outside, or if you have a lot of traffic in your home (kids, the dog etc), you will want to protect the new paint job with a protective varnish coat.

Use the Same Base of Varnish

It’s important to note here that whenever you apply a varnish to a stained or painted surface of furniture, you’ll want to use the same base of varnish as you used for staining or painting the furniture. Just remember-never mix oil and water.

Apply Varnish to the Furniture

With a clean foam brush, load the brush about halfway up the brush with your water-based satin varnish. Apply the varnish with the same long, smooth, even stroke pattern that you used to apply the stain. Allow the varnish to dry before touching any of the surfaces. There-looks good as new.

Painting a previously painted or varnished items

Remove all handles and screws/decorative bits and give it a really thorough rubbing down with medium fine sandpaper, (this is especially important if you’re using water based paint) until there are no shiny surfaces left. If your piece of furniture is painted in gloss paint again keep sanding until all the shine has gone, you may need to use an oil based paint.

Once sanded, clean with some white spirit and then let dry for about half an hour. Fill any holes and imperfections in the same way as above and then sand again.

If you want a shabby chic distressed look to your furniture then choose where you would like the older/worn bits to be and then go for it by taking a candle and rubbing it on the parts where you want the paint to look distressed (the point is to stop the paint adhering fully to these parts). Try and remember or perhaps draw a map of where you have rubbed the wax, as you’ll want to try ad avoid painting these areas later.

Now paint you item using long brush strokes and patience! Once finished, let the first coat dry and lightly sand to remove any blemishes. Apply the second coat of paint to your piece of furniture (this may be a different colour if you are after a shabby chic look). With the shabby look, use a darker colour as the first coat and then use a lighter version of a similar or complementary colour for the next coat.

With a piece of fine wire wool rub back the paint on the areas to which you have applied the wax. Don’t go too mad or you’ll remove too much of the paint, but you should start to see the second hand furniture taking on a new character.

All that is left now is to finish the piece finishing is a nice quality clear beeswax polish, you can also use tinted antique beeswax polish for an aged look, or non-yellowing varnish

Painting waxed second hand furniture

Removing wax is a nightmare! But it can be worth it for the right item as you can make it look exactly like you want with a bit of graft. You will need lots of medium wire wool, wax or finish remover, rubber gloves and lots of elbow grease.

Try and work outside as the dust will get everywhere and the solvents really smell. Keep turning the wire wool over as you work and throw away bits that get too full of the wax. This stage will take a while but keep scrubbing until all the wax is removed.

Now sand, fill and paint as above. Enjoy!

As you can probably guess, we love second hand furniture. We are proud home owners who want each of our rooms to be unique in their decoration. Over the years we became frustrated at the furniture options available on the high street and so decided to do something about it.

Come and have a look at second hand furniture

We love second hand furniture. We are proud home owners who want each of our rooms to be unique in their decoration. Over the years we became frustrated at the furniture options available on the high street and so decided to do something about it.
http://www.lovesecondhandfurniture.com

Author Bio: As you can probably guess, we love second hand furniture. We are proud home owners who want each of our rooms to be unique in their decoration. Over the years we became frustrated at the furniture options available on the high street and so decided to do something about it.

Come and have a look at second hand furniture

Category: Home Management
Keywords: second hand furniture, retro furniture, antique furniture, 2nd hand furniture, antiques, wardrobe, c