HOW TO: paint laminate furniture – the easy way!

Painting laminate furniture can seem intimidating to even the most experienced DIYer. We will show you how to paint laminate with our easy-to-follow tutorial!

Painting furniture is obviously one of my favorite things to do! I love the thrill of the hunt for a great piece, agonizing over what color to paint it, whipping out my spray gun, and picking or painting the perfect hardware. That being said, some furniture is a pain in the you know what to paint. Painting laminate furniture is one of those pain points. Thankfully, we’ve created this easy-to-follow tutorial for painting laminate furniture! If it’s a great piece and suits your needs (and your budget!) it’s worth the little extra work to make it awesome. You with me? Today I’m gonna teach you how to paint laminate furniture, the easy way!

Before

This book case (Does this even classify as a book case?) is  a perfect example of just that! I found a piece I reeeeeally needed for storage and I had the perfect spot for it in my craft room and hello, it was $25. Score! One problem… that pesky laminate covering over the real wood. Sometimes, this can be a major deal breaker when picking furniture. This time, I went for it. After a ton of research and trial and error, I’ve found a great way to paint laminate furniture or veneer covered piece of furniture and turn it into an awesome, statement making, project!

How to paint laminate furniture

Prep:

First, clean your furniture really well! I’m talking every speck of dirt and grime, off! EVERY speck. This product “Gloss off” is perfect for prepping your piece. It gets the dirt, grime and most of that glossy stuff off! You can paint right over it after 10 minutes and it’s supposed to help the paint adhere better. So far, I’m super pleased with it.

Prime:

Next, prime your furniture. I always use Kilz primer for laminate and have had great luck with it. For painting laminate furniture, you want to do at least 2 coats of primer and let them cure completely (overnight if you can!) in between coats. You can even sand in between coats for maximum adhesion. (Fancy words eh?) I used a smooth roller and rolled on 2 coats of primer and let it dry overnight. TIP: if using spray primer, shake your can really, really, REALLY well. If you don’t, your primer can spray out in a gritty texture which is no good! Using Kilz Primer for laminate furniture is your best bet.

Paint your hardware

While you’re waiting for your primer to dry, go ahead and get your hardware ready! I chose to spray paint this hardware gold because I LOVE gold and pink! I really like the rich gold color of Rustoleum’s metallic gold spray paint. To paint hardware, simply clean it really really well and let it dry. You can scuff it up with sand paper or steel wool before spraying it but that’s not always necessary. You can also spray the hardware with a clear lacquer or polycrylic to protect your paint job. It’s worth the extra few steps to avoid cracking, scratched up hardware after a while.

Paint:

Finally, paint your furniture. I used my HVLP Gravity Feed Spray Gun with my air compressor to paint it.  I also love the HomeRight FinishPro Max.

The pink I chose was Behr Tutti Frutti. I LOVE this shade of hot pink! It’s perfect!

Here is Miss Pink all done and set up in my craft room. I was desperate for some extra storage for my vinyl and my Silhouette Cameo and supplies.

I organized my rolls of vinyl in these $3 Target “dollar spot” bins. My shipping supplies for my vinyl etsy shop are on top of the book case.

I love the pink and gold contrast! One of my favorite color combos! Aren’t the original pulls really cute all fixed up? I love the key hole detail.

Here’s what you see when you open my craft room door or look down the hall into the room. It’s the perfect piece for what I needed! What do you think!? Have you ever painted laminate furniture? Have you ever painted anything PINK!?

If you liked this post, check out my full Craft Room Reveal here!

For more paint projects, check out:

• How to paint tile
• How to paint concrete
• How to paint a chalkboard