So after watching multiple episodes of "Sarah 101", I started to become increasingly jealous of all these vintage finds that she sends to get professionally painted. They come back absolutely gorgeous - a flawless finish with a beautiful sheen.
Today I went searching. I read blog after blog of 'how to paint furniture', and I think I finally nailed it. There's a step process that's important to follow each step. Mark had some end tables sitting in the garage that he found on the side of the road, so I decided to experiment on those.
First, I sanded them down and filled in all surface scratches and dents.
Once I was finished painting on this oil-based primer, I was ready for paint. The second trick is to use a FLAT paint. Why flat, you ask? Why, I don't know. I suppose so the varathane adheres to it, or something. But for some reason, it did the trick. I, of course, used milk paint. Why? Because I'm in a love affair with the stuff. It's so cool. And it's VOC safe, safe for my babies, safe for the environment, and it's supporting a local Toronto company, so it's economically friendly. Killing a few birdies with one stone there, I say. Of course, if you don't want the streaky look, just use a regular interior Behr flat paint.
When I was done painting (I put on two coats), I sanded the heck out of the thing. That's how I got the different colours to come through. I was pretty pleased with the finish. However, if I were to do it again, I'd apply the primer with a foam roller, so there weren't those streaks. Foam rollers, foam brushes.... when it comes to oil-based paints, these things are your friends. They work miracles.
Finally, I applied my varathane. This is the one I used. And much to my delight, it didn't yellow. After many months of painting furniture, I feel like I've had a breakthrough. Now I, too, can have high-gloss painted vintage furniture just like Sarah Richardson. And I don't have to pay $350 to have it done for me :)And those are them! ------------------>