How to Paint Furniture - No Stripping - No Sanding - Shabby Chic Fun

If you have read any of my blog posts, you will see that I love to get creative in many ways but especially ways that recycle and save money!

Furniture can be recycled and brought back to life without hours of sanding, or stripping with harsh chemicals (unless you are trying to go back to the wood, but I am talking about painting furniture)

I found this awesome old 60s style dresser in a thrift store for 10 bucks.  It was about to be thrown out as no one was interested.

But you can see in the picture what fun I had.  I actually ended up selling this dresser for a few hundred bucks as shabby chic art furniture!  One of a kind!

You don't have to get as funky as I did, but it is fun to bring a piece of furniture back to life to be used again.

Follow the steps below and have some fun!

Step 1 - Make Sure It is Clean - Whatever piece you choose whether it is a table, dresser, book shelves, doesn't matter it has to be free of grease.  This is the hardest you will work.  Use a good household de-greaser or all purpose cleaner and a nylon pot scrubber or cloth.  Rinse off cleaner with a damp clean cloth and let dry.

Years of furniture polish etc, need to come off.  A good de-greaser and scrubber will do the trick.

Step 2 - Remove Hardware - Such as Handles and Knobs - Usually a standard screw driver will do the trick. 

Step 3 - Take Drawers Out or Loose Pieces - Place on drop cloths.  Find yourself a well ventilated area to work and a place you can leave the pieces to dry etc.

Step 4 -  Use Zinsser Primer - This is an affordable product and creates the barrier between varnished or stained furniture.  By using this product you will be able to use any kind of paint afterwards.  It is soap and water cleanup and is not harsh, but still have some fresh air available.  I used water based house paints on the dresser above.  This product will save you hours of work.

Step 5 - Put Two Coats of this Zinsser Primer on all Surfaces that will Show - On drawers just stick to the fronts as you don't want problems with sliding the drawers in afterwards.

Step 6 - Top Coat - The Fun Part! - Either stick to a nice color you love, or go crazy like I did.  You could put a base coat on and then use a stencil to add some fun and art work, to create a one of a kind piece of functional art!

You can get all kinds of cool stencils online to add some pizzazz to your piece.  If it is a kid's dresser, you could let them paint a picture on it for fun.  You do not need to be artistic at all, just get creative, make it your own!

Create Functional Art - Or Just Stick with Functional and Renewed!

I love to draw and paint and so I had a few acrylic paints around, but you don't have to go crazy like I did.  A nice plain color works wonders for an old dresser such as this one.

Step 7 - Varnish - Water Based is Best - Once you have let all your pieces dry completely, you want to give them some added protection with varnish.  The water based formula will not yellow any white you have used as the oil based one will.  It makes for easy cleanup and doesn't have such a strong odor and is just as strong.  There is a link below.  This is the brand I use.



I am sensitive to any oil based products, but I don't have any trouble with either one of these products. The zinsser primer above or this protective finish.  I tend to call it varnish, but maybe it is not varnish if it is water based.

Either way this product adds that extra protection for furniture that will get used often such as dressers and tables.

Give it a good few days before you put it into use if you can to let it cure and harden

Step 8 - Treat Yourself to New Hardware - Especially for dresser drawers.  This can totally change the look of any piece of furniture.

Click Here to see a whole page of really cool styles of knobs and pulls for drawers that could really add some pizzazz, shabby chic styling or more modern.  Online is a great place to find them for a good price and just way more variety to choose from.

Don't Limit Yourself to Dressers!  

Try and paint a coffee table.  I took an old beat up yet still functional coffee table and went with the shabby chic look and painted it ivory and then worked a bit of grey color into the nooks and crannies with a cloth to make it more vintage.

I then painted a scenery on the top, but you could also try decoupaging old maps or use stencils.  As long as you protect it, it will last a good long time.

I also painted an old Chair.

This chair was a loner, and didn't have a matching set anymore.

I painted it using the zinsser primer and then my household paints and then got creative with a light house scene.

This chair sits at the door as a place to put your shoes on but cute at the same time.

I also found a really old wooden bread box at the thrift store.  As these are making a comeback I decided it need to be renewed.  All the wood was dirty and paint worn off.  So after a bit of TLC I was able to bring this piece back to life.  I ended up selling it.

When it sat in the thrift store it was collecting dust and cob webs, a bit of paint and TLC and I had people bidding for it.

So you can bring furniture and wooden pieces back to life without heavy sanding, stripping or harsh chemicals.

Everything I used for these pieces was water based and soap and water cleanup.

Save Money When Furnishing Your Place and Head to the Thrift Store

I hope I have inspired you to save some money on new furniture and head to the thrift store!  Or at least save your money for that extra special piece you want to buy new and find thrift store finds for the rest.  Make them yours and enjoy!

Recycle, Reuse - Go Shabby Chic!

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