Who Does This Sort of Furniture Painting? (paint, sand, cabinet)

[bluecar]

I see this all the time of home decorating television programs....buying an older piece of furniture and having it painted in a great finish, brighter and fresh color and making it look like an entirely different piece. Most of the time the repainted furniture looks wonderful.

They occasionally show a quick shot or two of the process, and it's being done in a shop with an industrial type spray paint apparatus. What type of places do this work? I need to know where to start looking in my community to have some older furniture pieces painted.

Thanks.

[gentlearts]

My only furniture painting experience is a set of dining room chairs and a pie safe. The pie safe was painted with a good quality oil enamel, and the chairs with a latex enamel. I can tell you that, despite the more difficult cleanup, the oil paint left no brushmarks, looked very professional, and was less likely to chip.
This was several years ago, so I bet there is a product in latex which is make for furniture, so ask a good paint store. I'm sure I do not need to tell you that your surface must be sanded and free of any oil or dirt buildup before you start.
I used a brush, not a spray. I do not like not being able to precisely control the flow of paint.

[KellyCrash]

I have painted a couple of pieces with success. I'm no expert mind you, but when you're talking about a piece that would look better off in the trash or something you got for free who cares?

First thing I do is use liquid sander and a cloth on the furniture.

Then I use a paint primer like "Gripper"

Then I paint with a enamel latex paint with a roller brush. I have done edges and places that won't work with a roller with a brush. I recently saw someone using those foam craft type brushes and I think I'll use those next time instead of a brush. I have also just used spray paint! Works great.

I have purchased from polycrylic to put on top of the paint job, but so far I haven't had the patience for that. I figure if it chips I can spray paint it again.

If you're paying a lot of money for a piece then I'd probably want it professionally done. But for the most part the stuff I'm seeing is DIY cheap finds and fix ups.

Adding pictures of a table I found on the side of the road

Before (not bad really, but I wanted to practice my painting something)



Primed


Finished

[bluecar]

Kellycrash - Love what you did to that little table!

I would tackle something small but I have a larger cabinet that will require more skill/time/etc than I personally have. I'm looking for the right kind of company to do this. I've called local paint stores with no luck. I don't know what sort of company to look for in the yellow pages (or internet searches).

[KellyCrash]

Do you have any unfinished furniture stores in your area? We have a store called Mill Stores. They sell unfinished furniture you can buy and finish yourself for an extra fee. Perhaps they know of someone that could help you?

[KellyCrash]

Just reread my last post and the "edit option" is gone.

Mill stores can finish their unfinished furniture for you for an extra fee.

[Hopes]

Autobody shop. That's where I'd start inquiring.

[bluecar]

Hopes - I've already tried autobody shops....about 6, in fact. I started with some big ones, they referred me to some smaller shops, and all of them said they have enough work doing cars, they didn't need extra business.

I'm just perplexed....there are several HGTV shows where I've seen this work done. The companies doing the work seem like they are specifically set up to paint furniture, because you always see the piece they are working on but in the background you see tons and tons of furniture pieces lined up, some in process of being painted, some waiting to be painted.

Just had an idea! I'm going to call an upholsterer and see if they have any thoughts!

[chet everett]

Most larger towns will have a furniture refinishing company or two. Often the better quality furniture stores will have a list of folks that have done repairs / touch-ups for customers.

When you buy a new piece of furniture that is painted the finish is usually a lacquer based finish with at least a layer or two of clear coat to lock-in the color. The risk that using other than a food safe furniture grade top coat is simple-- normal household cleaners can remove color and/ or lead to unsafe leaching / out gassing...

[kinkytoes]

Originally Posted by bluecar

I see this all the time of home decorating television programs....buying an older piece of furniture and having it painted in a great finish, brighter and fresh color and making it look like an entirely different piece. Most of the time the repainted furniture looks wonderful.

They occasionally show a quick shot or two of the process, and it's being done in a shop with an industrial type spray paint apparatus. What type of places do this work? I need to know where to start looking in my community to have some older furniture pieces painted.

Thanks.

Yep repainting furniture yourself (properly) can be difficult. To get the job to last you'll need to remove and sand the old finish and prime and repaint. In Baltimore, there's a company that strips paint from furniture, doors molding etc. The company also will refinish with the finish of your choice after stripping. You can try looking for "paint stripping" or "paint removal."

I would suggest looking for a place that does paint removal and ask if they offer refinishing if you can't find a listing for "refinisher" online or in the yellow pages.