Create The Perfect Dark Painted Furniture Finish By Hand

Have you ever had problems with getting a streak free finish on dark painted furniture? Let me show you how to create a perfect finish. Below is a list of supplies to use for this look. These are affiliate links, they cost you no money to use but I do earn a small commission if you click and buy through them. Supply List

Time For The Cheetah To GO!

meowwwwwww

Have you ever painted a piece of furniture and maybe added a decor transfer but years later said, NOPE not for me? Well that is kind of sort of the case for this. The cheetah needed to go which was a decor transfer and hand painted. I wanted to do a more masculine and clean look. Dark painted furniture can be a challenge especially if you don’t take the right steps. Let me show you how I do it!

Preparing For A Dark Painted Furniture Finish

First and forest with ANY paint finish you must ALWAYS clean your furniture. Once I had finished cleaning this piece, I removed the transfer by sanding it. My surf prep 3×4 electric ray was great for this job! Afterwards I started with an 80 grit to strip and remove, 120 to start smoothing and remove, lastly I moved to a 220 grit to finish and smooth. The key to flawless dark painted furniture is to have a good canvas to start with. Smooth and clean.

Painting You Dark Painted Furniture!

The color is Inkwell by Wise Owl Paint Company. This color is a beautiful deep almost blue black color. With it being a dark color I knew it would take extra effort into getting the perfect finish. Especially because it will be painted by hand. The first step is to do thin coats with a high quality brush. Thin coats allows the paint to self level better. You can also put a coat of a dark grey primer down as a result you will get better coverage.

Sealing Dark Painted Furniture To Perfection

Once your paint is completely dry, smoothing the entire finish with a 220 or above sandpaper will be the next step. Once you are done, clean the entire piece with a tact cloth or microfiber cloth.

The next step is to mix the matte varnish with a small amount of Inkwell. Mix just enough of the paint into the topcoat that it tints it. This will help you get less streaks. A good rule of thumb would be 1TBS to 1/2 C paint.

Applying Topcoat

Once the topcoat and paint are mixed, I pour it into a paint tray. I do this because I use a wall/deck brush to apply the mixture. You still want to use light coats and stay in one direction. Between each coat, sand with a high grit sandpaper 220 or above to knock down imperfections and smooth brush strokes. Generally after 2-3 coats everything will even out and you should have a really nice clean finish. Be sure to brush any drips.