Tips for painting furniture?

[new_mommy25]

MIL has an old wooden shelf/cabinet that I want to turn into a bedside table for DD. It's all wood and I don't know if it's ever been sealed or not. I'm envisioning pink with maybe some glitter or chalkboard paint. I've been googling and it seems as though I need to sand, wipe, prime, paint, seal. I don't know if I should buy a can of paint or spray paint. The glitter paint that I found comes in a spray can. Any tips on painting furniture? Would appreciate paint brand recommendations as well. Thank you!

[smiles33]

You might have better luck posting this on a site like gardenweb (which has a ton of home design and home-related forums). I can say that I spray painted an antique GREEN office swivel chair with white spray paint (no sanding, no priming) and it worked beautifully. Of course, it was a HUGE mess (I did in the garage with the garage door open and the misted paint left a light layer of white all over the floor where there wasn't any newspaper).

[erosenst]

IMHO, the most important thing is to sand it lightly, wipe it off, and prime it. From there, you can do a lot of things. Unless you're SURE that it's currently flat paint, and test an area, you will save yourself a ton of time by priming.

I really like Kilz brand primer. A little (not a lot) more expensive than some others, but covers EVERYTHING. For a child's room, I'd use a gloss or enamel paint. It depends on how picky you are - but unless you've spray painted before it can actually be harder to do (without drips) than using a brush. If you want to use the glitter spray paint, I'd practice on something else first.

Good luck and have fun!

[LMPC]

Just to add to PPs...I would spray paint (not brush paint) and use a really glossy finish to make it a little funky. Spray several coats (vs one heavier coat). Just my .02 but I wouldn't use a glitter paint on something that's going to get a lot of use (like a side table vs a chandelier) because I think the glitter is going to rub off everywhere....again, just my .02. Also like kilz primer.

[new_mommy25]

Thank you all! I will look into the Kilz primer and a gloss or enamel paint. I'm a little nervous about spray painting just because I can forsee it being a big mess. i think I'll just buy a can of paint and use a brush. Good point about the glitter being everywhere. I may skip that. :)