Don't Be Afraid of Paint: A painting tutorial for beginners

Over the past three months I have gone from painting for dummies to paintaholic extraordinaire! I have watched a lot of HGTV, taken many trips to the hardware store, spray painted my body black, and scrubbed dripped paint out of the carpet...and I am here to say I survived, thrived, love my old-turned new furniture, and YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

I have learned some key strategies on how to make my painting projects a success. Like many of you, I desire my home to be a reflection of me, a warm and comfortable place for family and guests, and I don't want to pay a fortune for it!

The goal of this post is to inform fellow DIY ladies who are a little timid about getting their paint brush dirty. I was a beginner when I started my furniture renovations and am still learning. From my frugal and impatient tendencies, I have learned a few things that I think will help beginners get their feet wet...so here we go!

#1. Be thrifty, not cheap (or glamorous):

The first place to start is to know what your price range is. I often refuse to pay full price for many things...because I know I can find it cheaper. But at the same time sometimes you have to dish out the extra dollar for things that are worthy investments. The most expensive piece of furniture I have paid for in my recent renovations is $25 for the hutch that I am featuring as my main tutorial. For those of you not familiar with garage sale/thrift store prices...this really is a steal. Please do not go out expecting to find such a huge piece of furniture for the same price...but see this as an example that you can get great finds for super deals.

When you are at garage sales, do not be afraid to bargain. I usually decide a price in my mind that I am willing to pay and offer $10 cheaper. If I'm lucky, I will get it...if not, I still may be able to leave knowing I paid for what I was willing to offer. People feel good about their sale if they feel like they are getting the better end of the bargain...offering low guarantees this possibility for a good sale. And if they are asking way more than you are willing to pay, don't get it! You have to stick to your budget and if you are reasonable, will hopefully find something better. Bargaining took me a couple trips to get comfortable doing but eventually I got the hang of it. I find that often people want to simply get rid of their old stuff...and since I plan to repaint it, the ticket value should be reasonable.

#2. Know what you are looking for:
-Style: To make my furniture look more like Pottery Barn than Target, I look at the way the furniture is cut. It's like a well tailored jacket...you want it to curve in all the right places. Furniture is the same way. I look for pieces that have wood cutting that is unique and not all straight lines. I also look at the hardware. If the hardware is nice, you are already saving yourself a handful as hardware can be expensive brand new. I sometimes will even consider buying a piece just for the hardware. The thing I love about used furniture is that it has so much character and vintage qualities that you would have to pay an arm and a leg for new, yet it is the same price, if not cheaper, as buying a plain straight edged piece from somewhere like Target. Now, I am not totally against straight edged pieces, but in order to give it extra character, you have to do a little more work to embellish it. The hutch tutorial below I spice up a bit, as it does not have as much wood character as I would have liked. I will explain how to do this.

Here are some examples of pieces that stand out to me as having extra "character":

I like how the legs curve out on this piece. It's hard to tell, but the bottom edge also has a wavy cut. I also liked this piece because of the open storage area and drawer.These were sliding door panels that I hung on the wall as art. They were brown...retro...and ugly but the white paint really transformed them. The beautiful wood embellishment in the middle is what initially drew me towards the panels. Paying for a wood embellishments like this would cost you probably over $20 just for one. I got all three panels for $5. I also really liked the handles on the ends which gave a little extra character to the set. Click here to see this post.

Chairs have become a fun collection for me and I have found so many fun different ones. Many of them do not match but are all painted either black or white. The dining table chairs are black but in different styles. The matching colors keep things coordinated while the different styles make things a little more funky and fun. I liked the cut out in this one. Click here for this post.

Here is the dining table. The fabric covered chairs are different fabrics but share the same black and white theme. Also notice the table's legs...character! Click here for this post. This buffet is pretty plain but the short legs on the bottom give it a unique look.

The doors on the hutch stand out with the cut out panels...especially in white, the wood work really jumps out. Click here for this post.

One of my favorite pieces (for free I might add!) is the dresser turned entertainment center. This thing was a mess...and Brent thought I was crazy to pick this thing up! Though it had ugly weather worn wood...the cut of the wood is what drew me toward it. Look how it is transformed with some fresh paint! Again, the hardware itself is worth keeping... Click here for this post.

-Find furniture fit for YOUR home: It is so important to know what you need in your home. It is often tempting to see other people's homes and decide you want that same piece of furniture set up in the exact same way...when really your house is not set up in the same way. You have to know what you need for your home, for your things, and in your budget.

It is helpful to break up this process room by room. I have gone through each room and envisioned how I would like to set it up. I decide what pieces of furniture I want and measure to find out what size it should be. I write it all down for each room and keep it in a notebook in my purse along with a mini tape measure. This really helps in finding absolutely perfect pieces and refraining from buying pieces that you may not have room for.

#3. Make paint your friend:

It can be scary to go into the hardware store not knowing where to start. That is what those people in the orange vests are for! Tell them what you want to paint and they will guide you to your next steps. But...at the same time, they are not painting geniuses either. If something doesn't seem right, research it online yourself or be willing to make mistakes...you can fix it! And though I have gotten many of my ideas from HGTV and magazines, sometimes their projects are much more advanced for what I am capable or willing to do. It is okay to take shortcuts and try doing it a different way.

Get a bucket of paint (get a small bucket if you are trying out a new color...you can always buy more later or not feel so bad when you throw out the hot pink you thought would look red!)...a few paint brushes/rollers/sponges in different sizes, some cardboard or newspaper to lay down, and some old clothes to get dirty. As time goes by you will get more comfortable with what you are doing and discovering your preference of how to do things and which tools to use. Start with the basics and learn as you go.

As for paint, I am, by far, not a professional. I use semi-gloss for things that may get wet or dirty...tables, chairs, coffee table...this type of paint is easy to wipe off but also tends to have a shinier finish. Too shiny? I buff away with a sanding block...less shiny and more shabby! Flat paint has a duller finish. And that's about all I know! ;)

#4. Know what you are getting yourself into:

Depending on how zealous you are, you can get multiple projects done in one day or spend months on just one (umm...my hutch!). Where are you going to paint? What is the weather? Do you have a place to store an unfinished project without it uglifiying your house? Painting also requires some physical activity...your arm will get tired...you may have to bend over for an excessive amount of time. This isn't to scare you away but remind you of the reality of the work! If you get sick of it, take a few days off...or maybe you just need to get it done in one day and have it out of the way. Know what you are getting yourself into...stick to your dream piece of furniture and make it happen!

And now...how to make it happen...

Painting 101-Hutch Tutorial:
Here it is in all its glory! I failed at taking a complete before picture. The backing was wood like the rest of it. I am just one step ahead in painting it blue. As you can see, there was some awful 70s looking yellow glass and well...it is a pretty plain hutch. But with a sticker price of $25 I just couldn't pass it up...I will make it the dream hutch I have always wanted. ;)

I taped the glass in preparation for painting the doors but ended up just taking the glass out. I brought the existing glass to the hardware store and had them cut two new clear pieces the same size. It was about $4 for each new piece of glass.

For most of my white painted projects, I sand the furniture first. But to be honest...sometimes I am too lazy and just start painting! The paint does not grab as thickly when not sanded but still can be painted with an extra coat. I usually do about two or three coats to get the white a rich thick color. I hear primer is supposed to help with this but again, too lazy!

For this project, I painted the back blue first. You can tape the edges before painting a second color...but I try to just keep a steady hand when doing the second color...you can always repaint or wipe off right away if it starts getting messy!

Once I finished painting the hutch it didn't look quite right. I shabbied it up a bit by using a sanding block to sand some of the edges. The sanding helps the curves and details stand out more. I try to sand the edges, corners, and other places where it would look like natural wearing (like around the handle). It looked better but because it was so plain, it still wasn't what I wanted. So I headed over to the hardware store again (they know me by name by now!) to pick up some wood embellishments.

I picked out pieces where I liked the character. I really like swirls so these looked perfect. I wasn't quite sure where they were going to go so I bought two of each style. After playing with them awhile I decided to add them to the glass door and the bottom doors. I taped them up with blue tape to make sure I liked how they looked before gluing.

I then painted them white along with some of the shelves.

I sanded them and then re-taped them where I wanted them to go. I marked with a pencil where each end belonged to make sure things were even and straight before I glued.

I used wood glue and clamps to hold the wood pieces on. Clamps come in various sizes and prices. They do the same job but different sizes are required for how far away the edge is from what you are clamping. I used a q-tip to apply the glue since the wood pieces were so small. I also went back and wiped some of the excess glue off after being clamped. I put a piece of wood in between the clamp and hutch so that the clamp would not dig into the newly painted hutch. I let the clamps stay on overnight to ensure secure gluing (second picture).

To finish the whole look I bought glass looking knobs to give it a more classy shabby look. I don't remember how much the hardware was...something like $3 each. I actually think all the extra pieces-paint, embellishments, knobs...came out to about $25, the same price of the hutch! Oh, but so worth it for an updated look!

A couple little touch ups...a few more shabby sanding...and there she is! The embellishments and knobs really make this thing spectacular!
My goal was to have it match this cute little hutch. Some close ups...

I choose to paint the black blue so that my white dishes would stand out against some color. It is subtle enough to not be super noticeable but just bright enough to showcase the dishes.

$50 later...a new, personal, beautiful piece of furniture that I get to brag about!

As you can see, with a little paint and a whole lot of determination you, too, can make timeless pieces for your home at a fraction of the cost.

I hope this was helpful to those of you who may be too timid to get the ball rolling. I have made many mistakes and have gotten extremely frustrated because something was not looking quite right. But I keep on going until I get it perfect.

The reward of feeling satisfied with a piece of furniture that fits perfectly in your home is so worth it!

Happy painting!

For more painting projects...click here. :)