Design Dilemma Revisited: Painting Over Laminate
Yay! Three cheers for Diane. She’s the first Design Hole reader to send me the After photos from her Design Dilemma.
Last March, Diane asked me for help. She wanted to paint her daughter’s furniture and was looking for instructions. The tricky part was that the tops were laminate, while the rest was wood. She was looking for special instructions for painting over a laminated surface. You can read the entire post here.
I gave her my instructions and off she went to tackle the project. But then she got nervous about tackling a paint job with lots of steps and a glaze. So she went to an expert. James Keith to be precise. He did such a wonderful job I asked him for his technique and he was kind enough to share it with me.
How To Paint Laminated Furniture – by James Keith
- Sand the entire surface of the furniture with 80 grit sandpaper.
- Patch, as needed, with wood filler.
- Sand again with 120 grit sandpaper.
- Wash the surface with mineral spirits, Paso or other grease removing solvent.
- Seal with Vinyl Sealer VS-190.
- Sand with 150 grit sandpaper.
- Undercoat by brushing on two coats of white lacquer undercoater (such as Nitro). Sand between coats with 150 grit sandpaper.
- Sand with 180 grit sandpaper. Remove all residue with a tack cloth.
- Spray two coats of base color (Farmhouse Blue on this project). I use lacquer, some people use latex. If you do, you’ll have to apply a coat of Vinyl Sealer before glazing.
- Then, glaze (I use oil glaze on furniture – Van Dyke Brown in this project) by applying a thin film with a brush and either hand rub with a soft cloth. Or use a brush for a burnished look.
- Seal again with Vinyl Sealer.
- Sand with 220 grit sandpaper.
- Apply 2 coats of Pre-Catalyzed Lacquer. You can choose the sheen: flat, rubbed effect, eggshell, semi-gloss or glossy.
Diane adds that she painted the hardware herself starting with three coats of a clear spray primer – drying between coats. Then she used several light coats of Rustoleum metal spray paint in “Matte Nickel”. James finished it by brushing on VanDyke brown glaze to give the hardware an aged finish. He then sprayed with a clear sealer. using a nickel finish spray paint. She saved a bundle on new hardware by painting. Bravo!
I’d like to add that some of these materials are toxic, so make sure you use proper ventilation and safety equipment.
Big thanks again to Diane for sending me these photos, and to James for sharing his technique. They’re now sporting Design Hole T-Shirts.
Resources
Nitro
2 Responses to “Design Dilemma Revisited: Painting Over Laminate”
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Posted by JAMES KEITH on December 13th, 2009 at 2:15 am
This is the pinacle of praise, Diane has been a great client, has brought me alot of work, I am humbled by the praise, love the explaination of steps taken, as there is alot of technical knowlege and skill when using lacquer based materials for finishing, for the layman it is not only too many steps, but not easily accomplished. I appreciate the information listed in detail to help understand the process to achieve a professional finish.
I can’t say enough what a wonderful job James did. His cost for painting the furniture was very reasonable too. These pieces look and feel like they were originally manufactured in this color/finish. I purchased this furniture for my son’s nursery (he is now 21 soon to be 22) which I passed down to my daughter when she was born 3 years alter. I have the matching crib (which will remain unpainted for safety reasons) so these pieces will now become a family heirloom and remain in our family forever and probably end up in a nursery again. Check out James Keith’s website.