Paint Ideas for Furniture

Paint Furniture a Solid Classic Color

• Paint any style of furniture using only one color for a classic look. Classic paint colors are typically black, white, ivory and brown. Traditional furniture is also commonly painted in muted greens or gray-green colors. For a child's room or a more contemporary style, paint the furniture any pastel or bright solid color, such as yellow, blue or even hot pink. Cottage style furniture is often painted white or ivory. Use navy blue or red paint to give furniture a nautical theme.

Apply Antique Glaze on Painted Furniture

• An antique finish is a layer that is applied on any painted furniture to give it an aged appearance. To apply an antique finish on previously painted furniture, use a dark brown glaze made from a small amount of raw umber paint pigment and water. It only takes approximately one tablespoon of the raw umber paint pigment mixed with 1/2 cup water. This small amount of glaze makes enough to cover several furniture pieces. Raw umber paint pigment is found in art supply stores, paint stores and home improvement stores.

  To achieve an antique appearance, the glaze is applied to the areas on the furniture that would naturally darken with time from dirt and oil, such as around handles and knobs, in cracks and crevices and on the edges and corners of the furniture piece. Antique glaze can also be applied lightly over the entire surface of the painted furniture. Antique glaze shows more dramatic results when applied over light colored paints, such as ivory, white or pastel green.

Whimsical Painted Furniture

• Whimsically painted furniture is a fun and artistic style. But artistic skills aren't needed to paint bright whimsical designs on furniture. Buy stencils or stamps readily available in craft stores to add a wide variety of patterns to painted furniture.

  Another easy idea uses leftover paint from other projects to add whimsy to furniture. First paint the piece white or black and let dry. Choose leftover paint from other projects or buy small cans of paint samples in colors that match the room's decor. Use a small paint brush dipped in one color at a time to randomly splatter the paint colors over the white or black painted furniture.

  A similar option is to paint table or chair legs each a different color, or paint a table top in stripes or checks, using painter's tape as the ruler. Use plastic cups in various sizes to trace circles on furniture. Fill in the circles with paint for instant polka dots. Whimsical painted furniture is a chance to be creative and have fun with paint.

Apply a Crackle Paint Technique

• This specialty paint technique gives furniture the appearance of aged paint. A light color and a dark color of paint is used to achieve a crackle technique. One paint color is the base and the contrasting paint will be the crackle topcoat. As the paint crackles, small amounts of the base color show through the cracks. Buy crackle medium at most art supply stores or paint stores.

  Apply the base coat color of choice and allow to dry. Then apply the crackle medium and wait for the specified time given in the instructions, usually 12 to 24 hours. Apply the final top coat of paint all at one time and watch as the topcoat of paint begins to crackle, adding old-world charm to the painted furniture.