Painting a new piece of furniture feels like the first weeks of your first relationship. It just reeks with promise, fun and possibilities. Re-painting an old piece is more like the fifth or sixth try after a melt down or two; still fun but fraught with baggage and land mines. The baggage is everything that has been done to the piece between the time it was new to the time you paint it. Sound familiar?
It may have laquer on it, or conversion varnish or wax or... who knows. The thing to remember is that whatever you paint on this piece has to be compatible with whatever is already on it. Otherwise all your hard work will peel off. Most furniture finishes are not compatible with latex paint. They just don't allow the paint to stick very well. If it is a wooden chair that has been painted with oil based paint then you are not painting wood, you are painting oil based paint. If it has been laquered you have to deal with laquer. If it has been waxed, well you just have to get rid of the stuff because wax and paint are like oil and vinegar.
What is essential is that you create a good foundation so that whatever decorative design you choose, a sensible, monochrome partnership or a moonstruck lunacy, it will last.
First things first; clean the piece well. The older it is the more likely that somewhere along the way something got on it that paint doesn't stick to. Wil-Bond is a great cleaner and wax stripper. It is toxic and smells terrible but you won't need that much for a piece of furniture. If you soak a rag with it and leave it on your hardwood floor it will melt the finish on your floor. It is magical stuff, in an apocalyptic sort of way. Wear gloves.
Once the piece is clean, sand it a bit and prime it with oil based primer. Once the piece is primed any oil or latex paint can be used. It is important to test a spot first to make sure the primer is compatible with your surface. Leave it overnight and give it the scratch test. The primer may still be a little soft but it shouldn't scratch clean of the surface. If it does, sand the sample patch off. There is a primer called XIM that sticks to just about anything-even bad memories. (Even XIM won't stick to waz.) It should bury the past once and for all and leave you with a fresh canvas; a new life full of promise and possibilities...and color. Have fun.
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Image from Martha Stewart Living
Tip sent in by local Painter, Joe Adami
