Furniture painting techniques- to prime or not to prime?

If you have visited my website before or watched any of my youtube videos you know how much I love to paint furniture. I’m constantly getting emails and phone calls asking me questions about the furniture painting techniques I use, the tools that I have, and the type of paint I prefer. This post will mark the beginning of a series on furniture painting tips and tricks.

I often use primer when painting furniture, but not always. Whether I use primer or not is entirely dependent on the desired look. How many layers of primer I apply depends on the type of wood, but I typically apply anywhere from one to four coats of primer. Mahogany, for example, tends to bleed like crazy. It sometimes will take more than four coats of primer to get ride of the bright pink stains that show through.  The type of primer I use depends not only on the desired look I’m trying to achieve, but also on the type of surface I am painting.

TYPES OF PRIMER:

Bonding or Adhesive Primer. Lowe’s offeres their own line of paints and primers that is called Valspar. They have a Bonding Primer that is great. I use this whenever I’m painting formica, metal,  or plastic. It will stick to anything and creates a durable, tough bond.

Tinted Primer: If I am painting something black I will use a tinted primer. Tinted primer is best when the final coat is inteded to be a dark color, such as black or dark chocolate brown.

Primer for all surfaces: Bulls Eye 1 2 3 Primer Sealer Stain Killer is an all surface all purpose water base primer. I use it for almost all other projects.

PROJECTS I DON’T PRIME:
If I want something to look super weathered, aged, and worn I wont prime before painting. When I create a finish that ultimately has little paint on it and lots of wood showing through I never prime. The other time I choose not to prime is if I am painting a color such as green, blue, or black and I intend on distressing it. Distressing removes paint, by sanding the edges of the furniture, and exposing whatever is underneath. If I don’t want multiple colors in my final look I wont prime. Below are some examples of furniture that I did not prime.

PROJECTS I DO PRIME:

If I want a perfect smooth finish I always prime. If I am painting white, and distressing it to expose a little bit of wood on the edges I will prime. If I’m painting mahogany white, or any other light color I always prime. This type of wood tends to turn white paint bright pink, not a good look, so primer is always necessary. Below are some samples of things I used primer on.