One of my favorite pieces came from an old barn. I found this table on Facebook Marketplace. A man bought a barn full of random furniture and he listed this antique table for $45. I immediately bought it. I could only picture it with a glossy shade of navy.
If you have ever painted furniture, you know how difficult painting a flawless, glossy finish is. The “distressed, chippy” finishes are far easier to do. Here is what I did:
First, I thoroughly cleaned the table using a bit of powdered Tide diluted in warm water. I then took a 120 grit sanding sponge and gave the entire piece a light sand. It was already fairly dull due to the age, so it didn’t need much. Sanding a piece helps the primer and paint “grab” onto the piece.
You can find the exact sponge you need here: Sanding Sponge
Next, I did the most important step for a glossy finish. I wiped the entire piece with tack cloth. Then I wiped it with tack cloth two more times. This is important because the tack cloth (which looks like a piece of cheesecloth and has a light glue-like substance all over it) gets every tiny speck of dust off of the furniture. If I skipped this step, my furniture would never be smooth and glossy.
You can find the tack cloth here: Tack Cloth
I coated the entire piece with a light coat of primer and let it dry. I repeated this step three times. Keeping the coats light prevents drips and uneven finish. It’s always better to use less of it at once and slowly build your finish.
Next, I did a light coat of glossy navy spray paint and let it dry. I repeated this step two more times as well. Once that was dry, I added two coats of spray-on polyacrylic in a high shine finish. I used the following products:
*One of my rules of thumb is to always make sure I choose the same brand of spray paint and spray primer. I know that they use compatible products in their formulation and I will get a predictable end result.
As the final touch, I ordered this adorable brass oyster drawer pull. I was so impressed with the quality of it. It is very heavy and detailed. This is where I found it: oyster pull knob
I love how it turned out. It gives a nice nod to the coastal vibe I am decorating my home with.
