February 28, 2024

What Supplies Do I Need to Paint Furniture?

Key FAQ Points:

• For preparation, you need sugar soap, a sponge, cloth and sandpaper.
• You may also need a scraper, masking tape and filler, plus something to apply it.
• For painting, you’ll need good quality brushes, small rollers, a paint tray and a container for paint.
• You’ll also need dust sheets, old clothes, something to open your tin and something to stir your paint.

---

Preparation supplies

• Sugar Soap.
• Sponge and cloth.
• Medium to fine sandpaper – get good quality to avoid it shedding grit.
• Screwdriver so you can remove handles, doors and so on – you may need both cross-head and flat options.
• Pen or pencil to number drawers and doors – it really is worth numbering things even if you think they’re identical, as both drawers and doors fit back best in the place or slot they came from.
• Small pot to keep together any screws, handles and such.
• Tomato ketchup to clean grubby metal handles – yes, really! Coat the tarnished items in ketchup, leave for a few hours then clean off to reveal the shine!
• Finishing Coat for porous surfaces or to block bleed through.

Possible extras

• Filler suitable for the surface and environment – such as wood, interior or exterior.
• A tool to apply your filler
• Scraper
• Masking tape – go for low tack and remove it before the paint dries!

Painting supplies

• Dust sheets – or some kind of protection for the floor and surroundings. As tempting as it is not to bother, these are highly recommended!
• Old clothes – people who regularly paint furniture have a lot of clothes with paint spots on them!
• Something to open your tin – the perfect bit of kit is a custom tin-opener. However, you can use other implements, but be careful not to damage the tin rim and lid.
• Something to stir you paint – it should be long enough to reach the bottom of the tin and wide enough to stir thoroughly. Use a specially made paint paddle if you want to avoid ruining the only ruler in the house!
• Good quality paint brushes – these really do make your painting life simple. A few different sizes are a good idea, as explained in our blog post on the best brushes for chalk painting furniture.
• Small rollers – some like sponge, some prefer fleece types. Either way, they’re great for larger surfaces.
• Small paint tray – to use with rollers or in place of your paint container (see below).
• Container for paint – something fairly shallow but rigid, like a plastic takeaway container. It is a good idea to tip out or decant paint to use as you go rather than painting directly from the tin. This is because:
  • Debris on your brush can contaminate the tin
  • It removes the temptation to use the tin rim to wipe off excess paint from the brush, which can dry and make the tin hard to reseal properly
  • You can reseal the tin while you paint, which reduces evaporation

---

Also in FAQs