How to Repair and Paint Old Furniture

Do you have an old piece of furniture you’d like to fix up? If you answered yes, we can show you how to repair and paint old furniture!

An old sentimental piece of furniture

This desk and stool are sentimental because my Grandmother painted them many years ago for my Mom and Dad.

I borrowed the set from my parent’s house and used it on my covered front porch.

That’s why it’s in such bad condition now.

It was not intended for outdoor use!

And now, we want to fix it up to use in our guest room!

Before we get started, we want to thank our sponsor, Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint, for making this transformation possible! They provided two cans of paint and sealer to complete this project! I’ll share more about this fabulous furniture paint and a discount code later in the post!

Are you ready to see the amazing transformation?

Here is what it looks like now!

Steps to repair and paint furniture

Because this set is in such bad shape, we need to do several extra steps before we can paint!

Let’s get started!

Gather

Gather or purchase the following items to complete this project:

• Furniture
• Hand sander
• Gator MicroZip sander kit
• Air Filtration mask- RZ Mask
• Vacuum
• Tack cloth-Home Depot
• Cleaner-Krud Kutter
• Lint-free paper towels
• Wood glue- Gorilla
• Clamps
• Plastic tarp
• Wood filler -Minwax Stainable Wood Filler
• Putty knife
• Primer- B-I-N Shellac based primer
• 4-inch foam roller & small paint brush-Dollar Tree
• Plastic gloves
• 2 colors of paint- Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint in Clean Canvas and Galvanized
• High-quality paint brush-Zibra
• Painters tape Frog Tape- Yellow
• Sealer-Black Dog Salvage Show Dog Topcoat in Ultra Clear Satin
• Hardware- two drawer knobs

Prep

Before we start the project, we need to remove a few items from the desk and stool.

Remove seat cushion

First, we need to remove the upholstered seat cushion from the stool!

Turn the stool over and use a screwdriver to remove the screws!

Get tips on reupholstering stools here!

Remove damaged veneer

The back of the stool was warped, so we had to remove that piece of veneer.

The decorative veneer piece on the front of the drawer is damaged, so it will need to go.

On the right side of the desk, the veneer is breaking. So we will pull the rest off.

Remove pencil holder

Since this piece of furniture will be used more as a bedside table than a desk, we removed the pencil holder.

Remove knobs

It’s time to say goodbye to these brown knobs and shop for new hardware!

sand

Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint does not require sanding before you apply the paint.

Unfortunately, the paint on the top of our desk is peeling, and there are a few damaged areas, so we need to sand it to make everything smooth.

If your furniture has a smooth surface, you can skip this step.

We used a circular hand sander to smooth out the flat areas.

To get into the grooves, we used a Gator MicroZip.

Clean

I removed the excess dust with our vacuum cleaner and then brought the pieces inside to clean them with Krud Cutter.

Repair

We have several repairs to do before we paint this set!

Fix stool

The wood on the back of the seat is loose and needs to be glued back together.

While the glue dries, we’ll move on to the next step!

Fill holes

After removing the veneer from the front of the drawer, we found several holes that needed to be filled.

We applied the filler with a putty knife, let it dry for two hours, and then sanded everything smoothly.

There are holes and scratches on top of the desk that need to be filled as well.

After sanding, always use a tack cloth to clean your furniture piece before priming and or painting!

Prime

Usually, it is not necessary to prime before using Black Dog Salvage Furniture paint.

In fact, it can be used over varnished, lacquered, stained, or painted wood surfaces. It can also be used on metal, glass, or ceramic pieces.

However, when you paint old furniture white, sometimes you will get bleedthrough from the tannins in the wood.

The only thing that covers tannins is shellac.

Believe it or not, I learned this the hard way.

So, I always use primer when I paint an old piece of furniture white.

My favorite primer is B-I-N by Zinsser.

Paint

Now it’s finally time to paint!

We chose Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint in Clean Canvas and Galvanized.

Apply the first coat of Clean Canvas and let it dry for at least two hours.

Then, apply the second coat of paint and let it dry for at least two hours.

Add a little Flair

Since we had to remove the decorative pieces of wood from the front of the desk, we decided to add a bit of flair by painting gray stripes to the flat surfaces!

This was so fun to do!

Tape stripes

I used Frog Tape for delicate surfaces.

Here are the steps I used to make perfect stripes:

Measure to find the center of the drawer and place a piece of tape there.

Then, tear a shorter piece to use as a guide and place it next to the original one.

Add another stripe next to the guide tape, then remove the guide piece.

Continue steps until you have made stripes across the drawer.

Paint stripes

I chose the color Galvanized for the stripes.

Paint one coat and let dry for two hours.

Apply a second coat and immediately remove the tape while the paint is wet!

Perfect stripes every time!

Let the paint dry for 24 to 36 hours before applying the sealer!

Seal

If you want your newly painted furniture to look great for years, you should protect it with a sealer!

I chose Black Dog Salvage Show Dog Topcoat.

It is perfect to use over white furniture because it will not yellow over time as some sealers can do.

Apply a thin coat of sealer and let it dry for two hours.

Lightly sand the furniture and clean it with a tack cloth.

Apply a second coat of sealer.

Style the desk and stool

The desk looks fabulous, and now the fun begins!

First, we need to add new hardware to the desk!

Then, we need to attach the seat cushion back to the stool!

And now it’s time to reveal the new look!

I love how the stripes add interest to the sides of the desk!

I think the new French country look is more elegant than the shabby chic look it had before!

Thanks again to Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint for sponsoring this post and making this desk and stool makeover possible!

Why you should Try Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint

We were introduced to Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint at the Haven Blog Conference last Summer!

We came home with two paint samples, and I used them on two small projects that turned out fabulous.

Here are some of the reasons we like this product so much:

• The paint has very little odor and does not give me a headache!
• We love that priming is rarely needed, and the paint gives good coverage.
• The paint, and sealer are self-leveling, so if you use a quality paintbrush you don’t have to worry about brush strokes!
• Our favorite thing about this paint is the easy clean-up, we can not get over how easy our brushes are to clean after use!
• Customer service is fabulous- in full transparency, the first can of white paint we received had lumps in it and when we told the company about it, their paint expert contacted us and immediately sent us a new can of paint. They stand behind their product 100%!

Do you have a piece of furniture you would like to paint?

If so, we highly recommend Black Dog Salvage Furniture Paint and hope you will consider using it on your next paint project.

You can purchase Black Dog Salvage Furniture paint here and use the code ORGANIZED20 to receive a 20% discount on your order!

All opinions and experiences are our own! You can read our full disclosure policy here.

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Blessings, Donna and Rich

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