“How do I paint…?” : Painting Campaign Furniture Tutorial

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April 16, 2013 by Decorum DIYer

The illusive ‘painting furniture’ tutorial.  There are so many tutorials on the blogosphere, but everywhere I go, people ask, “How to do paint ‘x’?”

I am a painting enthusiast, but a paint amateur, nonetheless.  Most of what I have painted is real wood, so it is REAL easy.

I needed to get my act together with respect to non-wood (laminate, mdf, pressboard, and the like) surfaces.

In an effort to aid others, as well as to get a few more ‘how to’ projects under my belt, I decided to tackle the job of painting two very distressed/damaged campaign night stands.

As I have shown you, in two previous posts, here is how my night stands started out:

Spray painted bases and hardware. Horrible faux finishing.

The tops were pitted, swollen, and damaged from some sort of spill.

With a lot of blog reading, Pinterest searching, trial and error, sheer fearlessness, and some patience,  I was able to turn the above into a pair of these:

Beautiful little emeralds, they are. 

I originally posted the finished night stands on St. Patrick’s Day for a bit of fun. You can see that post here.

In that previous post, I had promised better pictures, once the paint had cured.

So, here is one of the beauties all dressed up and ready for the ball:

Parenthetically, may I just say that I love the emerald green against the pale, lavender wall?

If Clairisse were a little older, I’d consider keeping these, but alas; I have too much ‘one day’ furniture clogging up my basement as it is.

Moving on…

So, how did I do it?  How did I transform theses duds to gems?

Easy.

Patience and confidence.

Here are the general steps to follow:

1. I removed the nasty drawer liners and vacuumed all of the pieces separately.
2. I removed, cleaned, and polished the hardware.  (You can see that process here.)
3. Using a magic eraser and some vinegar (highly recommended among Pinterest pinners), I cleaned the night stands bases and drawers inside and out.
4. Using wood putty, I filled any holes/rough spots and allowed same to dry.
5. Using an orbital sander and a 120 grit sandpaper, I lightly sanded all surfaces to be painted.  The tops were severely damaged, so I sanded those spots more aggressively until the spots were level and smooth to the touch.
6. I wiped the surfaces clean with a tacky cheesecloth and repeated the wood putty/sanding method until I was confident that the really damaged spots were near perfection.
7. After cleaning all surfaces again with a tacky cheesecloth, I used blue painter’s tape to tape of a border on the inside of the night stands, around the interior drawer hardware (one could also remove it), and sides of the drawers.  This is a neat and attractive way to start and stop the exterior/interior color and avoid painting the entire interior of a piece.  
8. Next, I applied one coat of primer.  I elected to use latex primer, but most tutorials suggest an oil-based primer.  Basically, if you chose an oli-based primer, you need to give the primed surfaces a long time to cure – like a week.  I may try an oil-based primer for the next furniture attempt, as the curing time is less than 24 hours,but the clean-up is a bit messy.  I used a 1/2″ foam brush, a 1″ foam brush, and a small foam roller (to minimize brush marks on the larger surfaces).  HOWEVER, BE SURE TO PRIME THE BACK OF YOUR FURNITURE PIECE AS WELL, AS YOU WILL WANT TO PAINT THE BACK, TOO.
9. I used several coats of primer on the tops, both for coverage of those horrid spots and for durability.  Then, I waited.  I waited a full week, all along patiently stalking my prey of two little night stands.  It wasn’t difficult to wait, as my children and motherly duties kept me quite busy.
10. Next, came the paint.  Following the same process as with the primer, it took me three complete coats to be satisfied with the coverage and finish.  I used Behr’s ‘Precious Emerald’ in a semi-gloss finish.  I made sure to also paint the backs of the furniture pieces.  VERY IMPORTANT FOR A FINISHED LOOK.
11. I let the paint cure for three days before adding the hardware.  Admittedly, the sealant/poly/wax, or whatever you want to use should be applied and thoroughly cured before affixing the hardware.  So, pretend I didn’t do that. Instead, after the paint has cured, apply your protective top coat.  I plan to use a ploy finish also in a semi-gloss finish.  Use what you are comfortable with.  I have heard that wipe-on poly is great, but I haven’t used it yet.
12. Okay, NOW you can add your hardware, after the protective topcoat has cured.  Also, feel free to add drawer liners for a pop of color/texture and to complete the finished feeling of the piece(s).
13. ENJOY YOUR FINISHED PIECE(S).

Now, for some more photographs of one of my finished emeralds:

So, what do you think?

I need a lot of work with photographing and styling, but not too bad for my first attempt at painting a non-wood surface.

Pin Me!

Although, using what I have, I did take a few pointers from two bloggy friends as to styling:

Jennifer of “Brave New Home“

and

Christina of “Floriday’s Mom“

Thank you both, ladies, for your wonderfully friendly manner and great night stand styling tutorials!

I must stay, I am really in love with the emerald campaign night stands against the lavender wall.  I think this would look equally stunning against a navy wall.

I would like to list these night stands for sale.  Any suggestions as to price or venue for selling?  I don’t want to deal with shipping costs, so a local pick-up is ideal (even through e-bay).

Thank you all for your input!

Have a great day!

“Get Your DIY On”

The Humble Brag Party

View Along The Way’s

{Ditto} DIY Link Party

Be sure to click the ‘Pinterest’ hyper-links for the original Pinterest pins!

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