[Walter]

I'm going to put this thread in the patch for right now, but I'll move it to the Arts and Crafts forum when Michael gets around to making it. :D

Does anyone know what kind of paint I should use if I'm painting a kitchen table? I've had two experiences with paint -

1) Painted furniture and moldings in old houses that is 30 years old and looks just like new. No scratches, no peeling, perfection (perhaps it's the lead.)

2) Whenever I paint anything the paint bubbles, breaks, peals, and chips off over the course of a few months and I might as well repaint the thing again! This happened when I painted my apartment once, and also when I painted my dresser.

Now, I want to paint my kitchen table, and I plan on decoupageing the top of it and making it really nice, so I want to make sure the paint job is done really well. Any ideas?

(Expect a decoupageing thread in the future in the Arts and Crafts Forum. :D)

[kat]

Sounds like fun. Perhaps sandpapering it down to provide a "key" for the paint would help. As for what paint it depends on the effect. You could go for a stain, which may be nice. I've seen gloss used to paint wooden furniture, any details are lost and it's a shiny finish. Emulsion can also be used. On the makeover show I worked on someone had painted red gloss over everything in the kitchen. Including the washing machine and fridge. It seemed to work fine. Though was a bit overpowering. You'll have to post some pics.

Kat

[renaissancesun]

You need to determine what kind of paint the pre-existing paint is. If you paint with a latex over an oil based paint you get "bubbles, breaks, peals, and chips off over the course of a few months and I might as well repaint the thing again! "

To determine that, you can use nail polish remover. Rub a bit on an inconspicuous area and if it gets soft, you have latex. If it does not affect it, you have oil based.

If it is oil based, you need to use a primer that will adhere to the oil based paint and allow the latex coat to adhere to it, if you wish to use latex for painting.

You can also paint over oil based with oil based but you should read up on them. They take a lot longer to dry and most of them have a stronger smell and they can not be cleaned with water. You have to use solvent.

If you have latex paint and you want latex over it, you need to make sure that it is clean and shiny surfaces have been sanded or treated with a "no-sand" type of product.

I get sick around oil based paints, so I only use latex.

Either way, ventilation, ventilation, ventilation (especially important for oil based though). Take care of Mikie, OK?

Feel free to Pm me if you have any questions.

Sunny

[Walter]

Whoa, Sunny, you're amazing! :D

This table top isn't wood, I think it might be plastic. It hasn't been painted before. I'll go take a picture and post it in a bit -

[Walter]

The first one is the table - I took a picture of the chipped part so you can see that the inside is chipboard, and the top is some sort of plastic. The legs and the chairs are actual wood though.

http://www.mwparente...http://www.mwparenteau.net/LJpics/20041205/IMG_4054.jpg
http://www.mwparente...http://www.mwparenteau.net/LJpics/20041205/IMG_4055.jpg

I should probably sand the legs and chairs, but the top of the table? Do I use a different paint there?

Which is better, latex or oil based? Is one shinier or glossier than the other? Do they have different appearences?

[spud]

I've got painted old pine shelves in my kitchen. I sandpaper, primer, undercoat and then satin them.
I'm starting on my kitchen units. The doors are real wood and I'm leaving them, but the underneaths of the wall units are formica [ or whatever that laminated stuff is called nowadays]
I cleaned them vigorously, then cleaned them again. Then lightly sanded them then wiped them with white spirit. I then applied a paint I bought called "paint for kitchen units" . It dries super quick to avoid brush strokes, so there's no overpainting of wet areas possible. It's going to need a second, maybe third coat, but i haven't got around to that yet.
I've painted loads of wooden chairs etc, using gloss paint, they've all worn fairly well, but eventually chip.

My experiences with decoupage is on wooden boxes. I prefer to use PVA adhesive. wallpaper paste did work but spoilt thin paper cut from magazines. Then coat it all with varnish. Several coats. I have thought about using sticky back plastic (buy it in rolls, used for covering kitchen shelves etc but they make a transparent version) but haven't tried it yet.

re your tabletop, whatever you do you'll probably want to fill in the chip where the veneer is missing. Maybe woodfiller? I'm a fan of woodfiller. We had a massive hole in our laminated flooring where an old iron drill was knocked over. I filled it with woodfiller and coloured it with felt tip pens to match the existing colours and it works.

is it 'your' table? Some landlords would have a fit if you decorated 'their' furniture.

[Walter]

Haha, yeah, it's definitely my table! I wouldn't dream of painting any landlords' stuff. What is an undercoat? Is that the British way of saying the first layer? And "satin" - does that mean either latex or oil-based or something else?

I'm really not down with paint lingo. :worried:

I'll let you guys in on a little secret... I've been collecting shopping lists at work. The ones that customers leave in the carts, and baskets, and on the register stations. I have almost two dozen, and after I collect many more I'm going to decoupage them onto my tabletop. I'm so excited. :D

You've got to see some of these lists. They're genious.

"Egs"
"Wine, Reggiano Parmigiano, Veal (cutlets)"
"cereal for Adam"

:lol:

[Walter]

http://www.mwparente...http://www.mwparenteau.net/LJpics/20041205/IMG_4056.jpg

That's my collection so far. :D

[ynaffit]

mikie][url said:

http://www.mwparente...http://www.mwparenteau.net/LJpics/20041205/IMG_4056.jpg[/url]

not found.

[spud]

I think you should google for some DIY sites. ( B & Q is a good one) I'm not sure english paint terminology is the same as US. But the basic theory is - the better you prepare the surface, the nicer the top coat will be. Like 6 hours preperation for 1 hour topcoating or something.
I have no idea about latex? Most of my paints are water based or oil based. From experience, the quick fix paints have a lesser gloss than the old fashioned slow drying oil based paints.
Confession:I collect paint. I find it in "reduced to clear bargain" areas for say 20p a litre for gloss or £2 a gallon for emulsion and I have to have it... I have maybe 50 tins.
Store partially used paint with a layer of clingfilm over the top of the can before you put the lid back on.