Thinking about repainting furniture white, but not sure where to start? For freshening up an old piece or matching your decor with a clean, crisp look, this process is easier than you might think.

From prep tips to these painting furniture ideas, we’ll help make repainting simple and fun for you! This makeover will leave your piece looking like new and your room feeling brighter. Keep reading to see the transformation!

Dresser with four drawers with the word before written above in black script.

This one is a pretty simple makeover. We picked it up for a pretty cheap price, and someone had already painted it white like this. But if you look really closely, there were quite a few chips, dings, and scuffs.

I also didn’t want the same super glossy finish on it – I wanted a fresh, clean paint job. So, we’re repainting this piece to give it a more updated look! And we’re repainting it using white paint to create the same timeless look.

We’ll show you how we transformed this painted dresser, from prep to finish, in this tutorial. So if you have a similar piece that needs some love, follow along and let’s get started!

Supplies Used for Repainting Furniture White

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Clean and Sand Painted Dresser

We first cleaned it with Krud Kutter. We always clean to remove any grease, grime, and oils, as well as any stickers or gunk. It makes the finish look nicer in the end, but it also helps all of the paint and products adhere properly to the surface. For more on this step, here’s how to clean furniture before painting.

This dresser was already painted, most likely with oil based paint because of how glossy it looks. Honestly, the old finish was holding on pretty well – it’s not that weird for it to be chipping just a little bit. So we didn’t have to remove all of the paint.

We just needed to scuff sand it to help the new paint adhere. So we scuff sanded the piece with fine grit sandpaper, and after, we removed the dust because obviously, we don’t want it to be on the surface when we paint.

I like to remove dust by vacuuming it up with a shop vac with a hose and then wiping everything down with a tack cloth. The tack cloth picks up the dust really nicely, so there’s no dust left behind. Get more tips on how to clean wood after sanding here.

If the paint is not in good condition, you might want to remove it instead. Learn how to remove paint from wood furniture in this guide.

Prime Before Repainting

Then, it is best, especially if you’re repainting furniture, to apply a primer to the surface to help the paint stick. Especially if it’s a glossy surface, yes, scuff sanding does help with adhesion, but adding a primer on top of that can help the paint stick even better.

Hand holding a can of Zinsser B-I-N Primer Ultimate Stain Blocker

For something like this, I recommend BIN Shellac primer. It’s white tinted, so it will also block potential issues like bleedthrough. Here’s more on how to stop stains from coming through paint. You can roll it on or spray it on with the spray can, but don’t put it into a paint sprayer.

I primed with two coats of primer. Learn more about priming wood for painting in this post, plus the pros and cons of different primers, including BIN Shellac.

Repainting Dresser White

For repainting, I mixed Behr latex paint in the color pure white and calcium carbonate powder to make my homemade chalk paint recipe. You can also check out more best chalk paint recipes here for alternative ingredients.

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All of this paint was sprayed on with one of these best paint sprayers for beginners. The Vonforn is such a great beginner friendly sprayer, and it comes with everything you need to get started for spraying.

A dresser on top of buckets being painted outdoors

Plus, the paint looks fantastic and professional. Learn all about how to use Vonforn paint sprayer here, and read more about my thoughts and experience with it in my Vonforn paint sprayer review here.

Then I lightly distressed the edges. Yes, I know, the paint was chipping on the one before, but this looks more intentional than just the chips everywhere. You can definitely skip this option if you don’t like this style!

Close-up of distressed painted wooden furniture

However, if you do, head on over to our blog posts on how to distress chalk paint and how to distress furniture with sandpaper. After distressing, we cleaned up the dust again.

Vonforn Paint Sprayer

Country Chic Paint in Peacoat Blue

Varathane Water Based Polyurethane

Add Topcoat to Chalk Paint

Since we used chalk paint, it needs a topcoat. We like to topcoat with Varathane waterbased polyurethane, and we applied three coats of it to this piece. I have a more detailed guide on how to seal chalk paint here.

And then we replaced the old hardware with some fresh new gold and clear knobs. Learn more about how to change hardware on a dresser in this post. If you want to use the same ones, here’s how to clean old furniture hardware. And here’s what it looks like now!

Close-up of white dresser with gold and clear knobs, topped with a gold vase and flowers

And that’s how to repaint furniture white! Make sure to check the existing paint or finish before starting the process, and sand or even remove it completely if necessary. And remember, always use a topcoat afterwards to protect your hard work.

Dresser with gold knobs, with a framed quote and flowers on top

Side view of dresser with gold knobs, decorated with flowers and a framed quote on top.

More Before and After Makeovers

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Click any of these “before” photos below to view the “after” of that makeover.

Repainting furniture doesn’t have to be limited to just white. You can use this same process to give your piece any color or finish you want! Check out more repainting dresser ideas here for inspiration.