Don’t you love how you can completely change the look of furniture with something as simple as a fresh paint job? These three pieces were all in great shape and were all less than ten years old. The problem with them was when Gloria moved into her new home she decided to go with white and gray as the primary colors. Her furniture all had espresso finishes. She wanted to update them in them in white to go with her farmhouse decor.
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Paint It White : Updating Furniture to Match Your Decor
Supplies Used for Updating Furniture With White Paint
- Lint Free Cloth
- Primer
- Paint
- Brushes
- 4″ Foam Paint Roller
- Sealer
- Palm Sander and Medium Grit Sand Paper
- Screwdriver
- Wood Filler and Putty Knife
This corner shelf is a versatile piece and Gloria is using it in her dining room. We cleaned it with a lint free cloth before giving it a makeover.
Gloria took on the task of sanding the pieces and she did a lot of the priming. We used Kilz Original Oil Based Primer. You can read about how I learned the hard way about using proper primers when I gave a makeover to her small breakfast table.
After allowing the primer to dry overnight, I painted it with Behr Ultra Pure White Premium Plus. I used a mini roller to apply the paint and a small brush to reach into the corners. Once we had one coat on it, we noticed there was a slight gap near the top. It didn’t show when the piece was dark, but it definitely showed in white. I added a tiny amount of MinWax Wood Filer and smoothed it out with a putty knife.
I left it overnight and gave it a second coat of paint the next day. The final step was to add two coats of Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish Crystal Clear Semi Gloss. Gloria has it styled with some hand painted Rainbow Row wine glasses, a bottle of wine from the vineyard where Georges proposed to her, and a couple of pieces of Hobnail Milk Glass that I recently gave to her. The other shelves have some decorative glasses.
The ladder shelf was a bit more time consuming to paint because it needed to be taken apart before we started working on it. We followed the same steps as we did for the corner shelf.
Taking it apart made it much easier to get into all of the nooks of the piece. Each section was sanded, primed, painted, and sealed.
The shelf is a great spot to display some favorite photos and decor pieces. It was the spot that we put the Engagement Party Favors on for the party.
Apparently, we neglected to take a photo of the small bookcase before painting it, but it had the same espresso finish as the other pieces. This was the easiest makeover of the three pieces. After sanding, priming, painting, and sealing, it looked great.
Gloria often styles this with some fresh eucalyptus and some farmhouse wire basket. It works well as an entryway table.
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Paint it White: Updating Furniture to Match Your Decor
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Dee | Grammy's Grid says
It all turned out looking really nice! Much better than the darker color!
Leanna says
I love white paint. Your post is very timely as I have lots of espresso furniture I am contemplating painting, but I was worried about how it would turn out. Your pieces look beautiful, sometimes you just have to go for it.
Kathleen Rupp says
I love this post beverly! I am sure The white really brightens everything up in your lovely home! I like that work room as well!!:)
Ann says
Paint really is a game-changer. Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJs!
Mary says
Beverly there is nothing as lovely as crisp white furniture in a home to make it feel fresh and lovely. I love what you did to all the pieces and boy, was it a lot of work. But so worth it.
Alexandra says
Really, a great idea! I find myself in love with the natural wood color too much to paint my wooden furniture, but watching The Great Interior Design Challenge on Netflix, I am in awe of how the look and feel of the room changes soooo much by this.
MARILYN says
Thank you for sharing at #OverTheMoon. Pinned and shared.
Leanna Forsythe says
This is a much needed post, Painting furniture white is a really good budget stretcher, and it Always looks amazing. We really need to use what we have more, and purchase new less. Love it.