You have a choice of finishes for white antique furniture.
Restoring an white antique bedroom suite requires patience. You need to take apart the bed and dressers and work on each piece separately. You can approach the task of refinishing painted antique furniture several ways: you can sand and repaint it, you can choose an "antique" weathered finish or you can give it a "distressed" look. You can use these finishing techniques if the wood is already painted white and you want to freshen up the finish, or if it is painted another color and you want to repaint it white to go with your decor.
Instructions
1. Take the bed apart. An antique bed usually has a wooden headboard, footboard and side rails.
2. Take the drawers out of the dressers, empty them if necessary and remove the drawer pulls.
3. Use wood filler to repair any gouges. Let the filler harden overnight.
4. Using a mouse sander, sand . Wear the face mask to avoid inhaling dust. A mouse sander is easy to handle and the narrow end of the sander can get into small areas. Orbital sanders may leave unwanted little circles in the finish. Sand each piece with the grain of the wood.
Choose your sandpaper based on how rough the finish is: the smaller the grit number, the coarser the sandpaper. If the paint is chipped, start with an 80 or 120 grit paper to smooth the edges of the chipped area. If the finish is rough, start 80 grit. To achieve a smooth finish, sand each piece two or three times. Start with the 80 or 120 grit sandpaper and progress to a finer grit. This will leave the piece with a finish that is smooth to the touch, making the filled gouges and chipped areas unnoticeable.
5. Use 000 or 0000 steel wool to go over the sanded areas to remove any sawdust. Wipe down the sanded areas and vacuum the insides of the drawers to remove the dust.
6. Tape the areas of the antique furniture where you do not want white paint. Using a good-quality paintbrush, apply a thin coat of "high hide" primer paint. When primer is dry, apply a thin coat of antique white paint. When first coat of paint is dry, apply a second coat. Do not apply too much paint at one time, otherwise the paint will run and leave drip marks.
7. Add a distressed finish to your painted white furniture, if desired. After the paint is dry, sand the edges of the pieces by hand to expose the bare wood. Lightly wipe the exposed wood areas with the antique white paint so the wood has a light milky look. Apply a satin clear coat of urethane to preserve the finish.
8. To achieve an antique crackled look, after the sanding is finished paint the pieces with a dark color, like dark brown. When that coat of paint is dry, apply a coat of crackle medium to the painted area. The thicker the coat, the more defined the crackle finish will be. After the crackle medium has dried for an hour, apply a a coat of antique white paint. The white paint will crackle and the darker undercoat will show through, giving an antique weathered look. Leave to dry overnight then apply a coat of satin clear coat urethane to preserve the finish.
9. When the paint is dry, remove the tape and reassemble the furniture.
Tags: white paint, each piece, antique furniture, antique white paint, apply coat