How to Paint Vintage Furniture: Recipes & Videos

We’ve all come across small pieces of antique furniture at thrift stores or garage sales that look drab and dumpy. Chalk paint is my favorite to paint vintage furniture with because it requires little preparation of the furniture, adheres well, distresses easily, and dries quickly.

Many would overlook such furniture, but with a little imagination and elbow grease, these pieces can often go from ugly duckling to beautiful swan in no time. Today’s project falls into that category. I think you’ll be amazed by its transformation.

Table of Contents

Materials for Vintage Furniture Makeovers
Choosing the Right Color
Make Homemade Chalk Paint Recipe (+Video)
How to Paint Vintage Furniture
Distressing Painted Furniture
How to Wax Painted Furniture (+Dark wax recipe)

To Paint or Not to Paint

You’ve probably noticed on social media and in blog post comments arguments discussions regarding the moral “correctness” of painting vintage and antique furniture.

It mostly makes me laugh because much of the furniture being painted would have fallen into the low-end category when originally manufactured. Often the pieces are lightly veneered and not particularly well made. In other words they were never truly “beautifully constructed” nor do they have historical value.

In addition, it’s my opinion that owners get to decide what they want to do with their own furniture. If along the way, a valuable piece happens to get painted–oh well. We can’t save everything!

We can’t even begin to conceive of the massive amounts of furniture held in museum storage around the world. A literal hoard of furniture from throughout the ages is being saved for future generations to enjoy and learn from.

So we can paint the odd low-end pieces that we find in our garage sale and thrift store treasure hunts. At least that’s my opinion.

Note: This post contains affiliate links for [the same or similar] products used to complete this project. This is both for your convenience as well as to support my website, since I receive a small compensation whenever you click on a link and make any sort of purchase, for which I thank you 🙂 See my full disclosure here.

Materials to Makeover Vintage Furniture

• Vintage piece of furniture
• Soap & water
• “Lace” Chalk paint (I make my own)
• Paint brush (flat) (round)
• Sand paper
• Stencil (optional)
• Stencil brush
• Chalk paint (black)
• Paste Wax
• Cheese cloth

Vintage Side Table [Before]

As you can tell from the photo, this rather ornate side table, while definitely an antique, had seen better days. The average person would walk right by her at a garage sale without a second thought.

She was scratched and worn all over and her veneer on top bubbled. In addition, a decorative piece on the front had been ripped away in some tragic accident.

In need of some TLC, she nonetheless had great potential, as I’m sure you dear reader can see, since you’re likely a makeover queen like myself.

With some paint, distressing, and wax, I knew I could turn this ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

How to Choose Your Color

If you’re reading this article, that means you are likely a vintage and antique reseller like me. With that in mind, I’m sure you’ll want to get my opinion on the best color to paint small pieces of furniture like side tables, shelves, stools, and magazine racks.

From my observation, based on 25+ years of experience, items painted in shades of antique white, beige, or taupe sell the fastest.

I suspect this is the case because these neutral colors fit in with all sorts of other colors and decorating styles.

Apple green would be my next color choice because it’s a popular farmhouse color. But keep in mind that finding or mixing the right shade can be tricky.

You might think that customers would enjoy items painted black, another neutral color, but I’ve not found that to be the case. For that reason, I seldom go with it.

How to Prepare Vintage Furniture for Chalk Painting

Using chalk paint on projects like this requires very little prep work. That means you avoid unnecessary sanding, sawdust removal, and priming.

You merely need to wash the surface with a sponge dipped in mild soapy water and then immediately wipe it clean and dry with a rag.

Exceptions to this rule:

• Glossy surfaces: It’s a good idea to lightly sand glossy surfaces with fine sandpaper to give it some “tooth,” i.e., a surface the paint will adhere to. Most of the junky old pieces that I come across in need of a makeover are NOT glossy.
• High tannin woods: Woods like mahogany and walnut have lots of tannins that can bleed through light-colored paint. If this happens, you can fix it by giving the project a coat or two of primer, then a final coat of the antique white, beige, or taupe. I’ve only ever had this problem with one piece of furniture in my long, furniture-painting career.

How to Make Your Own Chalk Paint

Because I’m a very frugal person and because chalk paint can be expensive, years ago I started making my own chalk paint. Turns out it’s simple as can be!

Chalk Paint Recipe

1 tablespoon unsanded grout
11/2 tablespoons water (give or take)
1 cup latex or acrylic paint

Directions:
1. Place the grout in a plastic container and add the water.
2. Mix aggressively for a few minutes with a spoon or wooden craft stick until the grout and water are thoroughly mixed together.
3. Add the paint and mix thoroughly to ensure that the grout mixture is mixed throughout the paint.

Here’s a video to help you out:

Pro Tip #1: If you have left-over chalk paint, place a piece of plastic wrap between the top of the container and the lid. This will help keep it from drying out.

If at some point in the future, you need to use the paint and it has thickened too much, add water and mix thoroughly and you’ll be good to go!

Pro Tip #2: I like to mix my own paint colors to get just the right shade of taupe I want for a project. To do this, I pick up paint in brown-tones at estate sales and mix it with white paint I have on hand.

[Keep in mind that to be sure of the color, you’ll need to paint some onto a piece of cardboard and dry it with a hair dryer to see the “real” color.]

Painting Vintage Furniture

After preparing your piece of furniture, it’s time to paint it. Using a good quality, clean brush makes for easier painting and a better result.

I typically use a flat brush, but many furniture painters prefer a round brush, so I linked to both kinds in the materials listing.

Most projects require two light coats to provide full coverage. With chalk paint, I like to wait overnight before I apply a second coat, though many other furniture painters simply wait for the first coat to dry (1-2 hours).

Distressing Painted Furniture

Depending on your clientel, you may want to distress your project to give it an attractive, aged appearance. Since I sell farmhouse style vintage and antiques, I almost always distress the pieces I paint.

Keep in mind that distressing looks best on dark wood or darkly stained wood. This means that when the paint is sanded back, it reveals dark coloration as you see in the above photo.

If you paint over blonde wood, like unstained pine or light oak, the distressing results in almost no effect since the blonde tone will blend in with the color of the paint.

Distressing Tips

• Allow the paint to thoroughly dry (usually overnight) before distressing
• Start with very fine (000 or 0000) sand paper, go rougher if necessary
• Go slowly with a back and forth motion
• Once you know the optimal pressure and speed, get into a rhythm
• Focus on high points and areas that would naturally get the most wear
• Focus on areas that reveal the shape of the piece and highlight any design features. This provides definition and depth.
• Wipe away paint dust with a damp cloth and dry with a clean rag

I wrote an article not too long ago that involved distressing painted projects and it comes with a helpful video demonstrating some distressing.

How to Stencil Furniture (Optional)

Because the veneer on my table top had bubbled a bit at the center, I wanted to “hide” this fact by stenciling a design over it.

Here’s a video that gives the basics on how to stencil projects:

In general I don’t stencil most of my furniture anymore, since it seems to slow down sales a bit. But it’s a great way to cover any flaws in the piece. One of my favorite stencils

How to Wax Over Chalk Paint

After painting furniture like my table, you need to “finish” it. This means adding a protective layer of something like polyurethane, shellac, or paste wax. This not only protects the paint from chipping and scratching, but it creates a smooth, attractive surface.

Chalk paint in particular needs finishing because its rather dull looking on its own and its chalkiness can easily rub off on clothing. My finish of choice for chalk paint is paste wax, which leaves a buttery, satin finish.

Keep in mind, however, that it’s not nearly as protective as a product like polyurethane. This doesn’t bother me in the long run because my pieces are already purposefully aged and a few extra bumps and bruises doesn’t reduce their appeal or value.

Paste Wax Tips:

• Read the directions on the can(!)
• Apply a thin coat of wax using cheese cloth or a lint free cloth
• Allow it to dry for 10-15 minutes
• Buff it out with cheese cloth using a back and forth or circular motion until the surface is smooth and dry to touch
• Apply a second coat for extra protection if desired
• Avoid rough handling for a week or two to allow the wax to fully “cure” or harden

Pro Tip: Look for paste wax at estate sales out in the garage or in the basement. You’ll likely only be charged a dollar or two for a 16 oz. can. I almost never have to buy it new.

And don’t worry about older cans going “bad” as I’ve never come across that problem. I think it’s meant to last forever, LOL. That said, if the lid on a can of wax is not secured properly, it can dry out, so it’s best to open it and take a look.

If you buy a dried-out can, you can rehydrate it.

Related Article: Create Your Own Dark Wax

The Finished Project

Farmhouse Style Magazine Feature

I collaborated with Farmhouse Style Magazine on this project, which appeared in their Spring 2021 issue.

Conclusion

If you’ve always wanted to get started painting vintage furniture, I hope this article answered some of your questions and has given you the kick in the pants courage to get started 🙂

Let me know if in the comments if you have any concerns that I haven’t addressed.

More Painted Furniture Posts You May Enjoy

Bye for now,

I’d love it if you’d pin me for later!