DIY Upcycled Furniture: A Beginner's Guide to Painting and Sealing

A chest of drawers with a wobbly handle, a 1970s side table from a charity shop, a bedside cabinet left on the kerbside with a “free” note taped to it. These are the pieces that make the best projects: solidly built, cheap, and a bit unloved. Painting and sealing them is a weekend job, and it is well within reach if you have never done it before. What separates a finish that looks cheerful from one that looks homemade is not talent. It is preparation, patience between coats, and a topcoat suited to the room the piece will live in.

Choosing a piece that will repay the effort

Before you commit an afternoon, give the piece a hard look. Solid wood is the ideal candidate, but plenty of decent mid-century veneered furniture is worth saving too. Check whether the drawers run smoothly, whether the frame wobbles when you press a corner, and whether there are small flight holes with fine dust beneath them, which suggest woodworm.

Veneer that has lifted in patches is difficult to repair invisibly, and paint will only highlight the swell. A crackled or peeling finish can be sanded back; a swollen, sodden chipboard base cannot be saved by paint.

Smell matters as well. A musty piece may just need airing, but cigarette smoke and pet odour can keep working their way back through fresh paint. A shellac-based stain-blocking primer will seal most of it in. And think about use: something that will hold a television or get leaned on daily needs a tougher finish than a bedside table that only ever holds a lamp.

Preparation: the part that decides the finish

Paint sticks to clean, dull, dry surfaces. Anything else — silicone polish, cooking grease, wax, a glossy factory lacquer — will cause peeling later, often months later when you have forgotten what you did wrong.

Set yourself up with:

• sugar soap or a mild degreaser, warm water, and two cloths
• sandpaper in 120, 180 and 240 grit, or a sanding block and a detail sander
• wood filler, a flexible filling knife, and a damp cloth
• a screwdriver and small bags or jars for the hardware
• a dust sheet, a tack cloth, and decent ventilation

Take the piece apart as far as it will reasonably go: remove handles, knobs, hinges and glass. Bag the screws and label them if there are several sizes, because putting the wrong screw in the wrong hole is the quickest way to ruin a morning’s work. Keep the original hardware if it is brass or decent quality — a rub with wire wool and a little metal polish often looks better than anything you would buy.

Wash the whole thing down with sugar soap and warm water, rinse with clean water, and let it dry completely. Kitchen cabinets and tables need extra attention, because grease settles into every corner. Then sand with 120 or 180 grit. You are not trying to strip the old finish, just to dull the shine and give the new paint something to grip. Be thorough on edges, which chip first, and in the tight corners around mouldings. Wipe away all dust with a tack cloth or a slightly damp cloth.

Small repairs that make a big difference

Fill dents, gouges and old screw holes with wood filler, working slightly proud of the surface, then sand flush once dry. If a joint is loose, squeeze wood glue into it and clamp it; a ratchet strap or a length of cord will do if you do not own clamps. If a drawer sticks, do not reach for the paint. Sand the runners lightly, or rub a candle or a little beeswax along them — paint build-up in the gap will only make it worse.

One caution: furniture finished before the 1960s may have been painted with a lead-based paint. If you plan to sand it back rather than paint over it, avoid dry sanding and heat guns, and consider a test kit. If you are unsure, ask a qualified decorator before you start.

Priming, and when you can skip it

Not every piece needs a primer, but guessing wrong costs more than a tin of primer. Skip it only if the surface is bare, clean wood, or if you are using a paint formulated to grip glossy surfaces, such as a good chalk or mineral paint, and you have still keyed the surface first.

Use a primer when:

• the existing finish is glossy, melamine, laminate or heavily varnished
• you are painting pine or oak in a pale colour, because knots and tannins will bleed through otherwise
• the wood has been stained, or the piece smells of smoke
• you are covering a strong colour with white or a pastel

Shellac-based primers deal well with knots, tannin and odour. Water-based bonding primers are easier to use indoors, with lower odour and faster drying. One thin coat is usually enough; two if you can still see what is underneath.

Painting: thin coats, patience, and one good brush

The single biggest difference between a smooth finish and a lumpy one is coat thickness. Three thin coats, lightly sanded between, beat one thick coat every time.

For a neat finish with few brush marks, use a small foam roller on flat panels and a synthetic brush for mouldings, corners and edges. Roll or brush in one direction, then lay off lightly with the brush in the same direction to knock back the texture. Water-based furniture paints are often touch-dry within an hour or two, but read the tin: recoating too soon drags the previous coat and leaves ridges.

Sand lightly between coats with 240 or 320 grit once the surface is properly dry, then wipe the dust away. Watch for paint pooling in inside corners and along the top edges of drawer fronts, which is where drips hide. If you are spraying, work outdoors or in a well-ventilated space, wear a suitable mask, and practise on a scrap of board first.

Paint drawers and doors so they still fit. Cover the visible face and the front edges rather than the sides that slide against the frame, or you will spend the next year tugging them open.

Sealing: choose a topcoat to match the room

Paint alone is not a finish. Chalk and mineral paints in particular mark, absorb spills and pick up dirt unless they are protected. What goes on top depends on how the piece will be used.

• Clear furniture wax: easy to apply and easy to repair, with a soft sheen and a pleasant hand feel. Best for low-traffic pieces such as bookshelves, bedside tables and display cabinets. Not heat or water resistant, and it needs re-waxing every year or so.
• Water-based polyurethane or furniture varnish: the sensible default for most rooms. Low odour, reasonably quick drying, and it will not yellow much. Satin or matt hides imperfections better than gloss.
• Oil-based polyurethane: harder wearing and more water resistant, but slower to dry, stronger smelling, and it adds an amber tone that will shift pale colours.
• Hard wax oil: ideal over bare or lightly stained wood. Durable, and you can spot-repair it without sanding the whole surface.

Two to three thin coats, denibbing lightly between them, is the usual rule. Dining tables, kitchen surfaces and anything a child will lean on want the toughest option you can live with, applied carefully. Follow the drying times on the tin rather than your instinct.

Let it cure, then look after it

Paint dries long before it cures. Most water-based finishes feel dry within hours but reach full hardness over days or weeks. Give the piece a quiet corner for its first week, avoid stacking things on it, and use coasters and mats for the first month. Hot mugs and wet glasses leave rings on finishes that have not fully cured, and those marks are usually permanent.

After that, maintenance is minimal. Dust with a damp cloth, avoid silicone polishes and abrasive cleaners, and re-wax waxed pieces once the surface starts to look dry. If you spot a chip, sand the edge lightly and touch it in. A small repair made now is far less noticeable than one left for a year.

Work in a ventilated space, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for every product you use, and if you are dealing with an old piece that may have a lead-based finish, or you are pregnant and planning to use solvent-based paints, get advice from a qualified decorator or your GP before you begin.

Photo: Nguyen Huy / Pexels