Painting Laminate Furniture

I shared earlier that I was going to attempt to paint a piece of laminate furniture.  In my thriftiness, I decided that it couldn't hurt to try.  I did a lot of research on what products to use.  I'm really happy with the results, so I'll share how I achieved them.

First of all, if you want a great finished look, there are some steps you can't short cut.  Definitely take apart the piece of furniture as much as possible.  When I took mine totally apart, I ended up with 15 piece to paint.  But, then you don't end up with cracks and crevises that you are trying to get paint into.  It worked out to be easier, I only have flat pieces to work with.  The second thing you should short cut is sanding.  There is not replacement for it.  I used a power sander and had all the pieced sanded in less then 30 mins.  There was some water damage on mine too, so this allowed me to smooth out any bubbles or imperfections.  When you are done sanding, make sure to dust off all the surfaces really well with a tack cloth or damp rag.

Before

Now this is where I took a shortcut, I decided to use spray paint to save me some time.  It ended up only costing about $4 more for the primer and about $3 more for the yellow paint.  So, I thought it was worth it.

There is no substitute for sanding.

First I primed everything with Zinsser Cover Stain Oil-Base Primer Primer (purchased at Home Depot).  It is oil based and bonds fantastically and dries super fast.  When the primer was good and dry I put on the first coat of yellow paint, I used Rust-oleum Painter's Touch Gloss in Warm Yellow.  It took two coats of the yellow to get good coverage.  I learned from my dad to put on a light coat and then go back and do another coat.  Putting it on thick to start with does not work as well.

Then there was just the puzzle of putting it back together.  Taking a picture beforehand was helpful.  It really looks like a new piece of furniture.  I'm so happy with the results.  I hope to get the rest of the room together later this week, so I can share it with you.

To see this cute cabinet in the finished bathroom, click here.

BE A FRIEND!  Leave a comment, follow Oleander and Palm by email, Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.