Painting Furniture

When we built our vacation home in 2000, I started collecting garage sale finds to furnish it.  I painted furniture for every room.  The pieces may have been of different styles but once they were painted similarly, they went together.  When we moved in permanently nine years ago, I kept just about everything I had painted...I got rid of the traditional style furniture I had in the main house and kept the items I had painted in a rustic, "up north" fashion.  The piece shown above is a table I painted with a design I created.  TIP:  When I paint furniture, I wipe it down with a water/vinegar mix and once dry, spray on a good coat of Kilz.
Below are some of the chairs I've painted.  If you are thinking of painting furniture, chairs are a good piece to start with!

With this chair, I wanted it to have a worn, shabby chic look so I wiped it down but painted directly onto the wood (no Kilz)  Then after I put the base coat on, I lightly sanded here and there to expose the wood.  

This was a beat up old dining room chair that I got at a garage sale.  A lot of work to paint so I was glad that my sister purchased it so that it can stay in the family!

An upcycled wood and metal school chair.  TIP:  Use multiple coats of of polyurethane varnish on chairs...they get a lot of use!

This jewelry box was given to me to paint for a charity auction.  It had a white washed finish already...I just added the roses.  Just a little bit of paint and effort and it becomes a one-of-a-kind piece!

Finally, here is a dresser my neighbor commissioned me to paint.  She wanted a piece to fit her Florida themed bedroom...

I love the soft shading on the top and the border is a rope...very nautical!  She added glass knobs to the dresser so as not to take away from the painting.