How To

Hello and happy almost Halloween.

In our home we do not celebrate Halloween. But we do allow the kids to go around the block and grab some candy + normally we have a few family members over and play games or watch a movie. Easy, simple and then the next day we are normally planning our Christmas decorations.

Over the last week I was lucky to be given this dresser from my aunt. It had really pretty bones, but it wasn’t real wood. I’ve painted a few laminate and MDF pieces in the past and so I thought I would write a blog and give you a few pointers when painting over this type of surface. I must admit, it isn’t as easy as painting over wood and there are a few extra steps. But if you can take an extra 3o minutes to do them, you will be left with a piece that will scream at you – in a good way 😉

The below image is screaming to be pinned as I couldn’t find a ton of info on Pinterest about painting over these two types of surfaces.

Shop List

1. Paint Brush
2. Roller
3. Paint any kind, but I used a all-in-one Primer/Paint from Home Depot. Behr “Snow Fall”
4. Spray Paint for Knobs / or new knobs
5. Wax or Varnish for protection ( this is an optional step, but a step I always do )
6. Sand Paper
7. Rag to whip down dresser before painting

Alright, so this is going to be a super easy step-by-step tutorial, but sometimes if you aren’t used to refinishing furniture, it’s good to take another read.

Here’s what the dresser looked like in the first place. I took out all the drawers and did a light sand over it. This step cannot be skipped. If you skip it, the paint will have a hard time adhering to the surface & could bubble. It takes off some of the gloss and will  make the actual painting process MUCH easier & faster.

The sanding process probably took me all of 15 minutes. I sanded down all the surfaces that would touch paint. Then once I was done, I wiped the entire dresser down with an old rag, so there wouldn’t be particles of dust in the finish.

Next, you want to grab your roller. I picked a large roller because it’s what we had on hand and I wanted this whole project to cost us nothing. If you have a smaller dresser, a smaller roller would be best.

I rolled all surfaces that were flat ( which was most of the dresser )

As you can see, the coverage isn’t amazing with the first coat. I did a total of three coats. But the second and third coat go MUCH faster than the first. Also, if you’re not a patient person like myself, remember how much you’re saving in this process.

Second, grab your brush and paint over all the hard to reach places that your roller can’t get to. Once I’ve done this, I like to roll over flat areas again so that there is MINIMAL brush strokes in my project.

Here’s what the dresser looked like once the first coat was completely on. Do not be alarmed, once you have the last coat on, it will start looking brand new and stunning.

….and the third coat drying.

It’s literally that easy. The secret is to sand your piece down prior to painting and a good roller will help too!

Now, a question of what to use for protection. I love love love my clear wax from Old Barn Milk Paint. But if I’m lazy ( and I am often ) I will use this polyurethane from Home Depot. You must only purchase this can as it is literally the only brand/type of varnish that I’ve ever used that has not slightly yellowed the surface of the white paint.

You can either roll it on ( which I prefer ) or you can paint it on. If you use a paint brush, know that if the sunlight hits your piece, you *might* see brush strokes in the surface.

Drying Times –

I left an hour between each coat of paint and Behr is an extremely fast drying paint. The varnish needs about 12 hours to “cure” before you put anything on your dresser, but it will be dry to touch in an hour.

and that’s it folks! Easy Peasy and this project cost us NOTHING. Someday we will be changing out the knobs, but we were out of spray paint and didn’t want to cough up the money for new knobs right now, so I had these cute librarian knobs in storage so I put them on.