Painting Over Black Furniture
Black painted furniture can add a modern and sleek touch to any room. However, over time, the color may start to feel too dark or heavy. Instead of tossing it out, consider painting over black furniture to give it a fresh and updated look!
In this makeover, we’ll explore painting furniture ideas and steps that can transform your once-dark furniture into a brighter and more vibrant piece. Here’s how you can easily repaint your black furniture to fit your current style!
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See more AFTER photos below these printable instructions!
Painting Over Black Furniture
Check out this guide on painting over black furniture and learn how to transform your dark furniture into a brighter and more vibrant piece.
Materials
Instructions
- Clean the black furniture with Krud Kutter and a damp rag to remove any dirt or grime that's especially harder to spot on dark colored paint.
- Use a sander with 220 grit sanding screens to scuff sand the furniture and smooth out any imperfections on the surface. You don't need to completely strip off the black paint if it's in good condition, just enough to create a good base for your new paint. After sanding, make sure to clean up any dust with a vacuum and tack cloth.
- Prime the furniture with 2 coats of clear shellac to block the black paint from seeping through your new, lighter paint color. Wait for the first coat to dry before applying the second one.
- Mix calcium carbonate powder and water into your white latex paint to create homemade chalk paint. Filter the paint when pouring it into the sprayer to remove any lumps that could affect the finish.
- Spray 3-4 coats of white paint onto the black furniture. You will need this many coats since you're painting a light color over a dark one.
- Distress the corners, edges, and other areas of the furniture with 220 grit sandpaper if you want a vintage or shabby chic look. Wipe off any dust from sanding with a tack cloth afterward.
- Add a new top to the furniture using pine wood slats cut to size and sanded smooth. Attach them with a nail gun for a secure hold.
- Stain the new top with a dark walnut stain for a rustic and weathered look. Apply the stain in the direction of the wood grain, let it sit, and then wipe off the excess after a few minutes.
- After 48 hours, seal the painted and stained furniture with 3 coats of waterbased polyurethane using a paint sprayer for a smooth, professional finish. And that's how you paint over black furniture successfully!
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More Before and After Makeovers
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Click any of these “before” photos below to view the “after” of that makeover.
Painting furniture black is a popular trend – black adds depth and drama, perfect for a statement piece. This color also has a timeless quality that can complement various decor styles, from modern to rustic.
But at some point, you might feel like switching things up. Maybe you want to brighten up your space, or your color preferences have changed. The good news is you don’t need to buy new furniture – just paint over the black!
With the right tools and techniques, you can get flawless results and create a brand new look for your furniture. Keep reading to learn how to paint over black furniture and turn it into something that fits your current style perfectly.
Supplies Used for Painting Over Black Furniture
- Krud Kutter
- Damp Rag
- 220 Grit Sanding Screens (Use code RAY10 to get 10% off your order)
- Surfprep 3×4 Sander (Use code RAY10 to get 10% off your order)
- Vacuum
- Tack Cloth
- Clear Shellac Primer
- Behr Latex Paint in Pure White
- Calcium Carbonate Powder
- Vonforn Paint Sprayer
- 220 Grit Sandpaper
- Pine Wood Slats (1″X4″)
- Nail Gun
- Dark Walnut Stain
- Waterbased Varathane Polyurethane
How to Prepare Black Furniture for New Paint
We started by giving the black surface a good cleaning with Krud Kutter and a damp rag. This helped remove any dirt or grime that’s harder to spot on dark colored paint. The new paint won’t look smooth if there are any of these pesky particles left on the surface.
Next, we scuff sanded the coffee table and its stained top using our SurfPrep 3×4 sander and 220 grit sanding screens. The black paint was in pretty good shape, so we didn’t want to completely strip it off. The sanding just gave the surface a nice and even starting point so that the new paint would stick better. You can learn all about sanding for paint prep in this post.
Then, we cleaned up the dust we made from sanding with a vacuum and tack cloth. Here’s how to clean wood after sanding for tips on getting your furniture dust free and ready for new paint.
Priming Before Painting Over Black Furniture
Here comes a really important step – priming! Since our furniture piece is black, we need to make sure that none of the dark color seeps through our new, lighter paint. If you go straight to painting with white, the black underneath could bleed through and ruin the look.
So, we primed the table with 2 coats of clear shellac. It’s one of the best spray paint primer for wood options, and one of the most effective ways to block the black paint from coming through. Clear shellac dries really quickly, so we waited for the first coat to dry before applying the next.
You can learn more ways on how to stop stains from coming through paint in this post, including how to fix bleed through if you ever encounter this issue while painting furniture.
Painting White Over Black
After priming, it’s finally time to paint over black furniture! We mixed up our own chalk paint using Behr latex paint in Pure White, calcium carbonate, and water, following our homemade chalk paint recipe here. To keep the finish nice, even, and smooth, we used our Vonforn paint sprayer.
We filtered the paint as we poured it into the sprayer to make sure there were no lumps or chunks that could affect the finish. Then, we sprayed 3-4 coats of white paint onto the black coffee table, making sure to cover all surfaces evenly.
Normally, 2 coats should do the trick, but we needed more coats for this one since we were painting a light color over a dark one. This way, we get full coverage and no traces of the black paint underneath.
When the white paint dried, we went over the corners, edges, and anywhere that we wanted distressed with some 220 grit sandpaper. Do this if you want that vintage or shabby chic look – here’s how to distress chalk paint for more tips! Then, we wiped off the dust from sanding with a tack cloth.
Add Wood and Stain New Top
We wanted to create a farmhouse vibe with this table, so we decided to add a new top using pine wood slats. The process was simple – we got some 1″X4″ pine wood slats, cut them to the size of the top, and sanded them smooth with our Surfprep Sander and 220 grit sanding screens.
We attached them to the tabletop by nailing them in with a nail gun. For another way to add a new top to furniture, here’s how to make a plank top dresser.
The pine wood was not the color we wanted, so we used a dark walnut stain to give it a rustic and weathered look. We applied the stain with a cloth in the direction of the wood grain, let it sit for a few minutes, and then wiped off the excess. Check out our more detailed guide on how to stain wood furniture here!
Seal Painted and Stained Coffee Table
After 48 hours of painting over black furniture – when the new paint and stain were fully dried – we applied 3 coats of waterbased Varathane polyurethane to seal everything. Can you use a paint sprayer for polyurethane? – Spoiler: The answer is yes! We sprayed the poly so it would go on smoothly and evenly without any brush marks or streaks.
Water based polyurethane or polycrylic is our go-to topcoat for painted furniture. It’s durable, doesn’t yellow over time, and is easy to clean up. Learn more about sealing painted furniture here, where we also feature polycrylic along with other sealant options.
As you can see, painting over black furniture is super easy! With the right prep work, especially priming, you can cover that dark paint and swap it out for a nice, fresh, light color. So, if you have black or dark furniture pieces that you want to repaint, this guide should help you with that beautiful transformation!
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