June 04, 2010

painting stuff white.

i have been doing a lot of painting.
we bought this beauty on craig's list.
i wanted it white, in my room, for books and stuff...
i read online how lots of people paint furniture-
and, i did it the hard way.
primer.
paint with a roller than a brush in the edges.
3 coats.

then i varnished it with minwax.
 sanded.
varnished again.
and.
i hated it.
the paint didn't look great before i varnished, and after i varnished it was yellow.
very yellow.  (it's hard to show the color in my garage, but the bird is white)

so, i sent the professor back to home depot.
he bought
Rustoleum Heirloom White Spray Paint... 5 bottles for $3 each.
Painter's Touch- it's the white and blue can in the picture below.
If you really want to use polyurethane-- like on ceramic-- i liked the spray can much better than the paint on.
I liked Heirloom White because it wasn't as stark as just plain white...
I sprayed to my hearts content...
and.  i love the results.
i really like spray paint.
easy and better than the harder stuff.
now, i'm off to the lake.
this afternoon, i'll be moving furniture.
love it.

6 comments:

Diana said...

That looks great. When I start painting furniture I know who to contact! Have fun at the lake, I am envious we only have rain clouds and wind!!! I might come visit.

Coralee said...

Hi - I've been following your blog for awhile (I love it!) but haven't commented. I am in the midst of repainting a wood loft/bunk bed for my boys. I have sanded, done a coat of primer and resanded and painted - I'm not loving the look either. Do you think spray paint would work on such a large piece of furniture? Did you put any type of top-coat on over the spray paint? Thanks for the advice! :)

jenifer said...

coralee-
i painted my girls' bunk beds by hand... and i don't like them. it was hard and it doesn't look professional. i spray painted my boys' beds black- with valspar spray paint from lowes and i LOVE them. LOVE. LOVE them. I didn't use any top spray on the beds and they seem professional. On my bar stools, i may use the min-wax spray polyurethane...lots of people recommended that minwax top coat, but when i used it, it looked bad and yellow, even when i tried hard to make a thin coat.
my advice for bunk beds, buy 6-8jars of spray paint and spray right on top of your paint. i bet you'll love it and won't need a top coat. i loved valspar from lowes but i think i like painters touch from home depot better. both brands are around $3 per can.
you'll LOVE it.

and... don't forget to buy a trigger thing from wal-mart (i'll show you a picture in my next post) it costs $2 and slide on the spray paint can... it will SAVE your finger. Honestly, before i found out about the trigger thing, my poor fingers were sore from pushing the spray button!!

good luck!

jenifer said...

ohhh... just buy 8 cans. better safe than sorry.

Coralee said...

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to go buy all the supplies and get started this week (so excited!)
BTW: for your bar stools - did you do anything to remove the paint/stain underneath before you spray painted them? I'm thinking of painting our wood chairs white too. :)

jenifer said...

nope. i didn't sand, i just sprayed right on top of all the layers.
the only time i sanded was between layers of polyurethane- it didn't help.

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