How to paint furniture with Velvet Finishes!

I get a lot of emails from people who are new to painting furniture.  It’s so cool that they are interested in trying out Velvet Finishes!

But many of them are scared.

They are afraid they are going to ‘mess up’ a piece of furniture.  They are afraid it’s going to be too hard.  They are afraid they won’t like it after they are done.

It’s.  So.  Easy.

I reassure them with two my two very deep statements and sentiments:

It’s only paint.

And…

Painting furniture with Velvet Finishes is so easy, even I can do it!

See?  I told you!  Look how gorgeous!

When I saw ‘it’s only paint’ I am not being snarky, what I am trying to convey is that if you are new to painting furniture, understand, paint is not permanent.  It’s paint.  It can be repainted.  It can be removed.  Enjoy the process, enjoy the experience.  Don’t let the fear keep you from trying something new.  Trust me, you will be so proud when your piece turns out fabulous!

Now, if you only understood the depth of statement #2.

People, I’m gonna be honest here…I am spastic as h*ll.  I am not some talented artist who creates masterpieces in a flowing caftan adorned with fourteen vintage turquoise bracelets, all the while sipping exotic tea from across the globe.

No. 

My attention span is about as long as a chop stick.

I love to see details but that doesn’t mean I want to spend the time doing them.

I hate waxing.  Seriously, not gonna do that.

I cannot (will not: did I mention I’m a rebel?) paint in straight lines.

If you are anywhere near me while I’m painting, you better grab a smock because paint is flying.  I slap it on!

I need my projects to be quick and easy because I have a life!!  Sometimes painting is therapy but sometimes, you just got to get it done!!

Now that you have an accurate visual of me looking like a crazy woman with paint flying all around me, let me show you how I turned this pitiful dresser into something that looks like a ton of time was spent creating.  I’ll share a secret:  It wasn’t!!  I did this in a couple of hours, minus the drying time.

Here’s where we started.

This poor piece had seen better days.

It was beat up, scratched up, missing hardware and missing part of it’s wood.

After we removed the hardware, we used the Ready product to clean the wood and remove any lingering gunk that was there.

And trust me, there was gunk.

The Accomplice prepped the piece by simply spraying the Ready product on the wood, allowing it to sit for about a minute, then wiping off.  We did not sand, as there is no need usually (99 times out of 100), when using Ready.  Ready is an incredibly easy way to prepare furniture for painting.  Yay!!

Because this piece had a great detail in the grooved accent line, I decided to make use of that and do a multi-colored paint process.

So here’s how it went:

First I painted the entire piece with Understated.

After that coat was thoroughly dry, I applied a second coat of Understated, but only to the area that was going to remain Understated.  No need to waste time or paint, painting the areas that were going to be a different color.

I then painted inside some of the decorative grooves with Opulent and some with the Timeless.

I LOVE these three colors together!!

For painting, I used our Reviver Paintbrush 2A, but I also used an artist flat brush right along the edge of the groove.

Once completely dry, I came back with an oil-based Sharpie in metallic gold and traced the grooves.  I use the medium point, as I find the fine point is too soft for working with wood many times.  These are available at tons of places but I purchased mine at Office Depot.

 After all the painting was done, I did a quick coat of Protect, our awesome polyacrylic, added new hardware and called it a day.

And I have to say, I love this piece.  The grooved details created an opportunity for a wow factor that was super easy!  So, yay!!

I’m excited for you to try Velvet Finishes!  I don’t think you will be disappointed!  Check out the website for painted projects and more information.