How to Paint Furniture on a Budget

Transforming old furniture into something fresh and stylish doesn’t have to be expensive! My guide on how to paint furniture on a budget will walk you through simple, budget friendly steps and tips to make your DIY project easy, affordable, and fun.

And I have these painting furniture ideas full of creative inspiration to help you create a stunning makeover and make your piece uniquely yours. Let’s dive in!

Now, one of the reasons I got into painting furniture was that I needed to decorate my house. But furniture is so expensive, and being a college student, first time out of the house, especially, there was no way I was going in and buying furniture from a furniture store, and putting it on credit.

My husband and I wanted to get through college without any debt, and that included the furniture in our home. So I have learned firsthand that there are great ways to paint furniture on a budget and stay out of debt.

You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars. You can update either your old furniture or thrifted furniture on the cheap. I share why I still paint thrifted furniture after all these years here. Now, let’s talk about buying furniture to paint, while sticking to a budget.

How to Buy Cheap Furniture

Let’s say there’s a dresser for ten bucks at your thrift store. Just remember that, if there’s a bunch of damage to it or the drawers don’t work, or whatever it may be, the piece is not in the best condition.

If you buy that and try to update it to make it look fantastic, you would be spending more time and money on supplies trying to paint that dresser than if you had spent 50 bucks on a better quality dresser that doesn’t have all the damage and will last longer.

You would save so much more time and money because, remember, time is money. Not to mention the cost of all the supplies and mistakes if you are new. So just remember that.

What Paint to Use

Now you have a piece of furniture and you want to paint it, but you are on a very tight budget. Here is what I would suggest. Go to your local paint stores and look for the Oops paint. Now, this is not the best quality paint.

Latex paint is not great, but if you can get a can of Oops paint for a few bucks, that makes room for you to still buy the supplies for prep, to make sure that the paint actually sticks. This can save you money.

So, there are some other paints that are great, and you can get them on sale. Heirloom Traditions Paint does $25 quarts on their website every now and then. This is a fantastic deal because you don’t technically have to have a primer, and you don’t topcoat the paint. Learn more about it in my Heirloom Traditions All In One Paint review here.

So right there, you don’t have to buy two different things that would be at least $15. So you’re going to save $30 using a paint that doesn’t need a topcoat and primer. Check out more best all in one paints for furniture here.

There’s also Beyond Paint. It is a little bit pricier, but it does very well at sticking without doing all the prep. Here’s my Beyond Paint review to learn more about this brand. So just pay attention that there are different types of paints that you can use to help you not have to buy certain supplies.

Now I will say that the paint may not last quite as long. It might scratch off a little bit easier than if you do all of the prep, and I am only talking about certain no prep paints. You still have to clean, but you don’t have to prime. You don’t have to do the top coat. Oh, and you don’t have to sand.

Here’s my quick painted and stained dresser makeover using Beyond Paint, and this piano bench makeover using Heirloom Traditions Paint, where I tested prepping vs not prepping before painting.

If you still want to prep your furniture really well, go for a cheaper paint, especially if you plan to topcoat it. So that’s where I would use an Ooops paint color, and I would still go through the whole prep process.

I would use my homemade chalk paint recipe to help the latex paint stick better. Check out my homemade chalk paint dresser makeover to see how I do it.

Using a Brush or Roller

And here’s painting furniture without sanding or priming where I used Heirloom Traditions Paint, and I brushed and rolled it on. Because when you’re a beginner or if you’re on a budget, you might not be using a paint sprayer.

You might just be buying a couple of dollar paintbrushes and paint rollers to apply the paint with. And that’s fine if you’re on a very tight budget. It’s just fine to use brushes and rollers that are cheap.

Just know that you’re not going to have the most professional looking finish, but that is okay. You can still update your furniture and make it look nice and much better than it did beforehand, especially if it’s all scratched up.

You can do it with cheap supplies or tools, such as a cheap paintbrush and roller. But just remember, once again, look for a paint like Heirloom Traditions Paint that doesn’t require sanding, primer, or a topcoat.

Or Beyond Paint that doesn’t require either. I do like to topcoat it because it has a matte finish, and matte finishes just look dirty very quickly after normal wear and tear or everyday use.

And then make sure that you’re not wasting your tools and your supplies. If it says on the back of the paint or primer to clean up with soap and water, then you can clean your paintbrushes with soap and water. You can then reuse them on your next project. Get more tips on how to clean paint brushes in this post.

Make sure to wrap your paintbrush and rollers in plastic wrap in between coats. This way, you’re not washing out all of the paint, you’re not letting the paintbrush or roller just dry out, and then you have to buy more.

Updating Furniture Hardware

You can also go to the thrift store and look for some new hardware if you don’t like the current hardware. You can also find really cheap hardware packs on Amazon if you need to update your hardware. Here’s my guide on how to change hardware on a dresser to help you install the new ones.

But if you can, just keep the original hardware on the furniture. That will save a ton of money. You can learn how to clean old furniture hardware here to make it look brand new.

Yes, you can transform your piece without spending a lot of money. And now that you know how to paint furniture on a budget, go ahead and give it a try!

More Painting Furniture Ideas

• No Sanding Furniture Paint Hack
• Most Common Paint Brush Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
• Updating Oak Furniture: How to Get a High End Look (Without Replacing It!)
• Brush And Roll for A Smooth Finish
• This One Change Made My Painted Furniture Look Professional

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