Nicks Painted Furniture: Spray Painting Cane Furniture

Nicks Painted Furniture: Spray Painting Cane Furniture

Spray Painting Cane Furniture

Cane table and chairs spray painted in white

Cane furniture are extremely durable but will eventually need refinishing. If you are a DIY person, a good option is to spray paint the pieces. If you have some old pieces, you should consider painting it in a solid color such as soft white or cream rather than just varnishing. Paint will cover black marks and damaged parts much better and gives it a brand new appearance.

Preparing For Painting

The first step is obviously to prepare the piece by removing loose or flaking paint. The best is to use a steel wire brush or sandpaper (100 grit). It is not necessary to take off all the old paint or varnish, as long as the surface is solid and smooth, the new paint can be applied. Make sure the piece is clean and dry before putting on the primer.

What Paint To Use

I prefer to use an oil base wood primer and top coat. Most paint suppliers will provide a good primer and for a top coat I prefer to use an eggshell (mat) finish oil base paint in off-white or cream. If you are going to use a compressor sprayer you will also need some lacquer thinners to thin down the paint by adding 10% thinners to the paint and thoroughly mixing it with a flat paddle.

I am a bit skeptical to use water base paint, but many people say that the modern water paint (Latex) will provide a long lasting and durable finish. If you want to be sure that the paint will not eventually start flaking again, use a good quality oil base wood primer and paint. It will also ensure that no brown spots appear after painting where the old paint or varnish was not totally removed.

How to Spray Paint Cane Furniture

I use a small (50 liter) compressor and spray gun with a 1.7 mm nozzle to spray paint furniture. It makes it easier to reach all the little crevices and hard to get places and is also much faster than an ordinary brush. You could also use a spray can but this can become an expensive exercise.

If you are going to spray paint, build a home-made spray booth from cardboard boxes or other material around the piece to be sprayed. Make sure that you have all the necessary protective gear such as a proper respirator, safety glasses and an overall. Also ensure that you have proper ventilation when you spray (use a domestic electric fan if possible).

First turn the piece upside down to paint the underside. Make sure that all the areas are well covered with paint. Turn over the piece and do the top part. At least one or two coats of wood primer should be painted and left overnight to dry properly. When the paint has dried up properly, sand down with 360 grit sandpaper to get a smooth finish. Now apply at least two coats of top coat to provide a well covered surface that will last.

Painting Effects On Furniture

It has become very popular to create paint effects on used or even new furniture. White wash and the distressed look are two of these techniques. Both techniques are simple to master and with the modern water base paints, glazes and varnishes you can get a real professional look.

White Wash

In the past, whitewashing was accomplished through thinning down white paint. That method is still used, but there is an easier way to achieve this classic look. Now, you can purchase oil- or water-based whitewash stains that are specially made for this procedure. Simply apply this to the piece of furniture as prescribed by the manufacturer. You could also take a water based acrylic paint and dilute it and then apply lightly to the object. White wash works best on pine furniture. If you have a piece that has old paint or varnish, make sure that all of this removed to expose the bare wood before white washing. Also remember that washing need not necessarily be white, Pastel colors also give a beautiful wash effect.

  Distressed Look
 

 Distressing is a technique used to age a    painted surface, giving the appearance of being worn and chipped over time. The key to this technique is to concentrate on the areas that would naturally receive more wear such as corners, edges, raised areas and around handles. It is preferable to use water based paints and then seal with a varnish for durability.

If your piece of furniture is dark wood you can paint straight on it and then sand back to the natural wood. On lighter woods it is preferable to apply a dark stain first. On non wood surfaces it is necessary to paint the piece dark brown first.

Candle wax then needs to be rubbed onto the piece where you want the dark color showing through. Two to three coats of acrylic paint, in white or a light color, can now be applied. Once dry the piece can be lightly sanded to lift the acrylic paint off the waxed areas and then sealed with a water based varnish.

The cabinet in the picture was undercoated with a light green and over coated in terracotta. The edges were lightly sanded to produce a distressed look.

Refinish Old Furniture – Enhance Appearance and Value

 Look out for cheap furniture at auctions, yard sales and flea markets. You can refinish old furniture and greatly enhance the appearance as well as the value. The only important consideration is that the piece must be structurally in good condition. Smaller repairs are ok but as soon as you have to replace parts and do major repairs, the costs will quickly be more than what the piece is worth.

I recently got a pine cabinet for a really good price and refinished it as shown in the picture. After removing the old varnish and filling up scratches and small nicks with white wood filler, I sprayed on a good wood primer. After leaving it over night, the next step was to sand it down with a 360 grit sand paper to a smooth finish. Then I sprayed two coats of an off white enamel paint (eggshell for a matt finish) and it came out really good. I used Plascon’s Afternoon Shower Super Enamel Pastel and it was thinned 10 parts to 1 part Thinners.

SA Pine sprays really well but because it tends to have a lot of knots, these should be treated and sealed before painting. A good knot sealer and wood filler will do the trick.

How To Restore Old Wooden Furniture

It is becoming very popular these days to restore old wooden furniture to it original condition. Old furniture can usually be picked up at markets or second hand shops fairly cheaply. By restoring old furniture yourself, you can save a lot of money. Professional restorers are expensive and doing it yourself is rewarding and fun.


Make sure that the piece is made of good wood and that you do not have to replace too many parts. If you have to replace parts, have it made by a furniture maker so that you can just assemble it. You can usually tell the quality of a wood by the wood grain. If you intend to restore your piece and then varnish or stain it so that you can still see the grain of the wood, then make sure you like the look of the wood. If the wood is in a poor condition, consider painting it so that you can fill up holes and cracks. By spraying the wood, all blemishes and wood filler is covered.

The first step is to strip back any paint or varnish that is on your piece of furniture. Once the wood is exposed you can make an assessment of the quality and then decide whether to paint or varnish. At this point you should do any repairs that need to be done, such as fixing legs, leveling or making new parts. Glue parts together and secure with wooden dowels.

When the repairs have been done, start sanding down to a fine finish. Start with course sandpaper such as 67 or 80 grit and follow up with finer paper such as 220 and 360 grit.

Depending on the look you desire there are a few different things you can do for the finish of your piece. When you want a natural wood look, use a suitable stain (consult your hardware dealer to find a stain for the particular type of wood) to stain the whole piece. Use a soft piece of cloth and gently rub the stain in the direction of the wood grain. The cloth gives a very smooth finish and I prefer that to working with a brush. This will give it a uniform colour and now you can finish the piece by giving it a wooden wax or varnish. I prefer a deep penetrating wax to varnish. The wax gives a more natural look whereas varnish creates a more shiny finish. For an alternative to wood stain, shoe polish works well when rubbed into the wood surface, or dyes can be used too.

If you are going to paint the piece, first apply a wood primer and sand lightly before you put on two or three coats of paint. Water based paint works well on wood and you can seal it with a water based sealer if necessary.

Painting Kitchen Cabinets

You can give new life to old kitchen cabinets be repainting them. This is easier than you think. Watch this video to get you started.

White Wash Spray Painting Technique

White washing furniture has become very popular. By spray painting with a water based paint, a very smooth and professional look is possible. It is also very fast and you can be sure that the end product will be very pleasing.  I have done this with the book case shown here. The inside shelves have been painted in solid white to produce a professional effect.

The following materials are be needed:

• Off-white Acrylic paint
• Water based clear varnish
• Sand paper - 220 grit and 360 grit
• Wood filler
• Paint remover
• Dry cloth

Depending on the state of the piece of furniture, you will have to prepare it by doing the following:

• Remove all hardware from the piece of furniture
• Remove old paint or varnish by sanding with 220 grit sandpaper
• If necessary, use paint stripper to remove stuborn varnish or paint ( remember to nutralise paint stripper with wet cloth when finished)
• If necessary, fill small nicks and scratches with wood filler and sand down to a smooth finish
• When bare wood is visible, finish off with 360 grit sand paper to get smooth surface

When the preparation is complete, wipe down the piece to make sure that no dust or grit remains. You can now proceed with spray painting . I use an air spray gun with a big enough nozzle to spray thick Agrylic paint. I also use a water-based varnish. These can be diluted with water and produces a very nice, smooth finish. Do not dilute too much to avoid paint from running. The process is as follows:

• Seal the wood with one coat of water - based varnish
• When dry, flatten unevenness with 360 grit sand paper to a smooth finish
• Dilute paint with water - 10% water
• Spray lightly over whole piece of furniture
• Try and avoid praying edges too heavily
• The inside shelves are painted to a solid white finish

After painting, leave for at least 12 hours to completely dry the paint. Now the fun part starts. Sand down certain areas and edges with 360 grit sand paper to expose wood surface.

The last step is to seal the piece with water-based clear varnish. I find that at least 2 coats are needed to get a nice finish. It should be noted that not all wood is suitable for washing. Pine has a nice solid wood grain that shows up nicely when sanded and lends itself to white washing.

Tip: Always work along with the grain of the wood and try to avoid circular movements.