Painted Furniture – Before and After

I love seeing painted furniture – before and after photos to see the transformation of an old piece of furniture. It’s not hard to do.

Let me show you how easy it is to transform piece for furniture into something you will enjoy for many more years using chalk mineral paint, transfers and a beautiful shimmery glaze.

This old jewelry armoire does not match my bedroom furniture or the style of the room.

In this next photo, I had started working with a chalk paint. It was a brand that I was not crazy about.

I had bleed through issues and with three coats of paint. Now I have been painting furniture for over 10 years and this is the first time encountering issues.

I decided to redo this entire piece and start over. The color was not working for me either. I need to tackle the bleed through issue as well.

DISCLOSURE: This is a sponsored post for Dixie Belle Paint Company. It means that I made have received free products. All of the opinions in this blog post are my own.

1. UsE high quality products

For this project, I am using Dixie Belle Paint Company products. If you are new to Dixie Belle Paint products, they have an array of items available. The key to any good project is to use quality products. Dixie Belle has some of the best products to work with and I absolutely love their products and product line.

Supplies

Here is my list of supplies used for this project:

• White Lighting Cleaner – to clean your piece of furniture
• Boss – blocks odors, stains, stops bleed thru
• Silk All-In-One Mineral Paint – Built In Primer, Built In Top Coat (I am using Serenity)
• Clear Coat Satin – Only necessary if using chalk paint or over transfers.
• Pearlescent Glaze 4 oz.
• Magnolia Garden Transfer – It comes with 4 sheets
• Good Synthetic Paint Brushes – I use Dixie Belle 2 inch mini. They wash great and reusable.
• The Sanding Sponge – 220 grit and excellent for wet or dry distressing.
• Continuous Mister Bottle – This Mister by Dixie Belle is amazing to work with your paint. I will use no other misting bottle.
• Sharp scissors
• Razor blade
• Mineral Spirts
• Rubber Gloves – for cleaning your furniture only.
• Optional – Orbital Sander (if needed) and tack cloth

2. Important to Clean your furniture

You must give you piece of furniture a good cleaning from dust, dirt and grime over time. Old furniture you just don’t know where it has been stored.

Follow the instructions on the White Lighting Cleaner to mix with the right amount of water to clean your furniture thoroughly with a sponge or cloth.

Use just plain water to give your piece one more wipe down.

3. does your furniture have a wax or top coat over it?

Any top coat or wax on the furniture needs to be removed. You can sand or remove with mineral spirits. After sanding be sure to use a tack cloth to remove any dust. After the Mineral Spirts, I will wipe down the piece again with water and let dry.

For my piece, I just gave it a sanding with a 120 grit sanding block. The Armoire did not have any wax or top coat. Honestly, it did have a lot of imperfections with the piece and wish I had taken my Ryobi Sander to it to remove all of the paint.

4. Bleed through or oder issues – aDD A COAT OF bOSS

Remember in the beginning I had an issue with bleed through with this dark cherry finish. I gave the piece a coat of Boss. You give the jar a good shake. Next apply Boss with a paint brush or sponge. It is important to follow the manufacture instruction for drying times.

This product is amazing and even works on furniture that has that “old” smell to it.

5. Let’s Paint!

I selected the Silk All-In-One Mineral Paint. What I love about this paint is it has a built in primer and top coat. The color of this paint color is called Serenity. It is a beautiful Robin Egg Blue. A nice blue green color.

I started by painting it with the drawers in the armoire. The Continuous Mister bottle will come in handy to keep your paint from drying out too quickly. Slightly mist the section to help your brush to glide across the surface. With a very light hand, I will go across the section again to soften any brush strokes.

After finishing the drawers, top, sides and the feet, let the paint dry for 2 hours. You can lightly sand in between my coats of paint with the sanding sponge.

You should paint all the sides of the drawers except for the back. No one is going to see it.

The paint should dry overnight.

6. Let’s have some fun and add some transfers

Here is the beautiful Magnolia Garden Transfer. It comes with 4 sheets of designs. For this project, I only used three of the four sheets. It comes with a burnishing tool in the tube.

Now the fun part of adding the transfer. It was my very first time of working with a transfer and have to say it was fun and easy to do.

First, you need to gently unroll your transfers. Second, you should decide where you want to place them. Third, I cut out some of the flowers. I did about two or three at a time.

Helpful hints:

• The transfer are sensitive to pressure and could release if you rub it.
• The transfers can be layered and even distressed.
• Have a razor blade handy to cut any transfer that will over lap onto other section.

Applying the transfer

It is time to apply the transfer, gently peel back the clear sheet to separate the transfer from it’s protective paper. You can tape your transfer down to prevent it from moving. I highly recommend it for the larger transfer. Smaller transfers like the ones below, I did not use any tape.

First, you need to figure out the placement of your transfer. Second, remove the protective paper from the back of the clear sheet. Third, with the transfer in place use the burnish tool to rub with pressure across the image.

For transfers that overlap sections or in the case above two drawers, a razor comes in handy to slice the transfer. You follow the same procedure in the previous paragraph.

The fun part is you can add just a few to the front and be done. You can add more transfers to the sides. It is all about your preference.

7. adding the pearlescent glaze For some shimmer

I have been wanting to try the Pearlescent Glaze on a project for some time. Silk All-In-Mineral Paint has a built in top coat. With a top coat it makes the glaze easier to wipe off with a cloth.

It is best to seal your Chalk Mineral Paint with a top coat first. This will help you to remove the extra glaze easily.

I brushed the glaze on in small section. Next with a clean microfiber cloth remove the extra glaze. The glaze will be white. As it dries the glaze becomes clear.

Let the piece dry completely.

8. adding the top coat

It is recommended to apply a top coat over the transfer to protect it on your furniture. Use a brush to apply a thin layer of clear coat. I am using the Clear Coat Satin. Reapply your next coat after 1 hour for additional protection. You will be able to can to clean your furniture with a non-abrasive product after 7 days.

You can see the slight simmer from the paint. I love how the light hits it.

9. add on your hardware and admire your DIY

The bottom hardware is on order. It will be here in two days. This painted jewelry armoire adds a pop of color to my Master Bedroom.

10. before and after

It is such a beautiful transformation.

Other Painting and DIY Posts

• DIY Decoupage and Paint
• Vintage Vanity
• DIY Wall Art for Photos
• Furniture Refresh With Chalk Paint

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Hope you have a wonderful day, sweet friend!