Painting a Crib

[mariabridge]

Does anyone know if I can paint my old natural crib white for the new baby - and how I would do it? Don't want to buy a new crib if I can help it and I really want a white crib with the new baby.

Thanks.

[SeekerMage]

You can definitly paint the crib...what you have to get is a non toxic paint and sealer so that the paint wont chip. If Im not mistaken they say to get waterbased...cant remember this late at night. If you go to your local home depot.menards. etc...they will help you pick out the paint though and thats your best bet. Another thing you can look into is getting rail covers incase they decide to chew on the rails. I know there are ones that just fit on the rail that are removable...the little one I babysit for has them but he just takes them off so I would look to see if there is one that you can attach, or find out if the sealer you use is child proof incase of chewing. Either that or im sure depending upon the type of crib you might be able to order a rail guard from a crib manufacturer that has a similar style crib? Never know.
We are planning on painting our furniture so I know all about these things...we are just buying a white crib though but have dressers and a headboard for my older daughter to paint...eeep...good luck!

[Laila]

Yes, I just touched up my used crib. My doctor told me to use a water based paint. I took a piece of the crib to Ace hardware, they put it infront of their scanner, and mixed the exact color for me. It cost $10.

[ecarley]

How old is old? If it's more than maybe 10 years, you might want to ditch it and start over. The current regulations for cribs all for no cutouts in the head or footboard, no corner posts, and slats being no more than 2 3/8 inches apart.

Also, prepping the crib and then repainting might be more of a pain than you expect, especially if you'll have to sand down a glossy finish. And in the end, you really won't know if the paint job was successful (ie no peeling) for several months.

[grannyg0416]

For a while on ebay Life-Stages Store, there was an unfinished "ready to paint" crib available. Some of the auctions were very inexpensive so that might be worth a look.

[berob]

To do a truly professional job, you're probably going to need to do some intense sanding followed by a primer coat and 2 top coats. Before investing the time or the money, I'd inquire at a paint shop/cabinet shop/furniture shop to see what they'd charge. You'll get a much better looking job and the cost may not be too much more than the time and materials you'd put into yourself. My parents just had a crib refinished with stain for $125. Stain is probably more labor intensive than paint as the paint can be sprayed. Just my $.02.

[jd11365]

For our cradle we used a spray paint primer...cheap and easy...it won't work without the primer...