It’s easier than you think to bring rattan furniture and cane furniture back to life! Check out this quick tutorial on how to refinish rattan furniture!
Get more painted nightstands ideas here!
I’m not joking when I say I dug this unassuming table out from underneath a pile of junk in a warehouse and paid only $10 for it.
The rattan wasn’t damaged, but certainly had seen better days.
I’ll be honest, I’m typically not a huge fan of painted rattan and really wanted to keep it natural, but how?
I figured chemical strippers were way too harsh for fragile, aging rattan.
So I wasn’t going to risk attempting to strip it. I tried giving it a gentle sand, but didn’t get far before small pieces began flaking off.
So what’s the secret to bringing rattan back to its natural beauty?
I almost guarantee it’s way easier than you think!
And would you believe it if I told you this Serena & Lily-Esque table makeover cost me about $30 total?
After reading these easy steps, you’ll never be intimidated by rattan pieces in need of love!
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Table of Contents
Supplies for Refinishing Rattan Furniture
- Cleaner (I used Krud Kutter. Dawn dish soap would also work)
- Old toothbrush
- Rag
- Painters tape (optional)
- Priming spray paint
- Rust-oleum Fossil
- Rust-oleum Khaki
- Drop cloth or large piece of cardboard
How to Refinish Rattan Furniture
- Scrub clean
- Tape off (if needed)
- Prime
- Spray paint
- Seal (optional)
NOTE: If your rattan furniture needs repair, check out this post on how to repair rattan furniture before you refinish it!
Step One: Scrub clean
Using your cleaner & toothbrush, give the rattan a good scrub.
This will act as both a cleaning step, and in a way, a light sanding step to remove any previous residue or flaking rattan.
Here’s how to clean furniture before painting.
Wipe it down with the rag and allow it to dry before moving to step two.
Learn exactly how to prepare furniture for paint here.
Step two: Tape off if needed
If needed, this is when you will tape off anywhere you don’t want the natural rattan color to go.
For my table, I planned to paint the base black so taping it off wasn’t necessary.
After spray painting the rattan, I simply sanded and painted over the spray paint on the rest of the table.
Get more information on how to protect your furniture from overspray here.
Step Three: Prime Time
In a well-ventilated space, over drop cloth or cardboard, it’s time to get spraying!
First, using the priming spray paint, apply 1 coat allowing to dry per instructions on the can.
(Keep in mind paint will dry slower in cooler temperatures or humid conditions.)
Step Four: Spray paint
Next, take your fossil color. Apply 2 full coverage coats allowing to dry in between.
You’ll notice it almost has a greenish hue and should appear quite matte. In my opinion, it isn’t the prettiest color in this step, but that’s what we want!
Once dry, get shaking on the khaki can.
Standing a little further away than the Rust-oleum can recommends (approx 2 feet) and moving a little more quickly in the sweeping motion, apply a lighter coat over the fossil.
This will bring back some of the warmth that is naturally occurring in cane.
You aren’t going for full coverage with this color, more of a dusting.
*** CAUTION: Try not to layer the khaki on too thick. This spray paint, unlike the fossil, has a much glossier finish. Ideally, you want to avoid a glossy look as this will make the rattan look less natural.
Check out this post to learn what spray paint is the best spray paint for furniture! (I had no idea!!)
Step Five: Top Coat (optional)
This particular table came with a glass top that fit over the rattan, so I did not topcoat it.
However, if your piece will be in a heavier traffic area, I would recommend the addition of a topcoat.
Whatever your favorite brand, I would make sure it is matte!
Click here to learn all about the many different Topcoats for Painting Furniture.
Again, you want to avoid any glossy or satin finishes which will take away from that natural, earthy rattan look.
Another caveat … it will need to be sprayed.
Learn how to spray polyurethane topcoat here.
If you don’t own a paint sprayer (or don’t feel like getting it out, prepping and cleaning), then an easy alternative would be topcoat in a spray can.
The best spray can topcoat is Minwax’s Waterbased Polycrylic
Step Six: Enjoy!
Now you have beautiful, natural-looking rattan! (It can be our secret that it’s actually painted).
I also used this spray paint layering approach on a previously painted rattan shelf and was equally happy each time. So I know it’s reproducible!
How I Completed This Black End Table:
After the rattan was back to its most natural color I believe you can achieve with paint; I sanded down the body of the table using 120 grit sandpaper.
Learn about the Importance of Sanding Before Painting Furniture here.
If you need a sander, here are the Best Sanders for Furniture.
I paid extra attention to the rectangles on the side of the legs with plans to keep them natural.
This piece was one of my earlier projects (while I was still on a very tight budget), so fancy, expensive furniture paint wasn’t really a feasible option.
To keep it budget-friendly, I mixed up my favorite DIY chalk paint recipe using an $8 Sherwin Williams Color-To-Go sample quart in the color Caviar.
**Note: Learn how to make homemade chalk paint here!
Get our list of The Best Paint for Furniture here.
Finally, I sealed with my go-to Treswax…. Voila! A literal soon-to-be-garbage-warehouse find turned Serena & Lily magazine cover!
PIN THIS TUTORIAL FOR LATER
More Rattan / Cane Makeovers
This makeover was created by Jess with Oak and Grain Restoration. She currently lives in North Carolina where she works full-time in an emergency room. She loves dipping into her creative side by transforming furniture and in the process, keeping her sanity.
Follow her on Instagram to see more action behind the scenes!!
Follow us on YouTube to get more tips for painting furniture.
Or share your project with us on our Facebook Group and be part of our community. See you there!
This was such a Beautiful Transformation, Absolutely Gorgeous. I Love it❣️😊
I see a lot of woven rattan and pass it up because it’s so dated looking without a clue how to update it. Bam! This technique is genius! Your table is so elegant and I appreciate you sharing how you updated it.
I have a question! I’m painting a rattan headboard to look like the serena and lily ones. Natural color on the rattan with a white body. Do I need to do the fossil step? Or can I prime and just do the khaki? Thank you!!
For best results, I would do the fossil and khaki.
Love love love your work….amaaaazing !
I tried to follow the steps you provided but my caning seems darker than the natural caning. How did you get your caning light to match the natural caning?
Where’s the after picture of the first post? I only see the black one.
I think you’re talking about this one? https://arayofsunlight.com/how-to-repair-rattan-furniture/ It’s titled as how to repair ratan, so maybe that’s why you couldn’t find the link. But you can see how it was sprayed to look like natural ratan.
This might be a silly question, but do you have an tip for taping curved lines? I just did the fossil and khaki spray (looks great!) on my rattan, but now I’m wondering how to properly tape off the curved angles of my furniture before painting the body black. Thanks for any tips!
I wish I had a great tip! The best tip I can give is to use small pieces of tape when it’s curved and just slowly tape it off. Best of luck! And I’m so glad you love the fossil and khaki spray look!
Wow what a great job. I’ve been looking for an ideal on how to finish this type of table. Thank you