Painting furniture is now IN - and for good reason
Recycled interior design is on the rise and refurbishing used furniture is fashionable and sensible - DIY and reusing old furniture will never go out of style. Ideate and repaint the furniture yourself beautiful and modern - with little effort and one can of paint - You don't always have to buy new!
If you have ever thought that chalk paints are not durable or of high quality, now is the time to try Frenchic at the latest!
Feel free to explore our award-winning series and read here the best painting tips, whether your project is big or small.
New features
When painting with high-quality lime paint intended for furniture painting, there is no need for laborious pre-treatments or lengthy primer work - lime paint is a wonderful choice for various painting techniques, layered painting and wear. With chalk paint, you can easily achieve your own, personal style that suits your home: texture and wear or a modern, smooth surface. Read here how you can succeed and get inspiration for your own project:
Image: Water green Wedegewood Green shade, from the Original series.
Maybe you have an old chest of drawers that you had thought of redecorating or other pieces of furniture that need a new color? In any case, by using chalk paint, you can easily get furniture that matches your own style in a new, clean and fresh color - whether your style is Scandinavian modern or boho - or, for example, 'Country Style' type country romantic.
We want to help you get started, see here for easy tips on how to succeed in painting your furniture
Why would I paint my furniture with lime paint?
You can get started quickly with chalk paint
Frenchic lime paints are non-toxic and water-based paints are pleasant to paint indoors, they dry faster than conventional furniture paints, are odorless and the equipment is easy to clean.
Get to know and test
The best option for you and your project can be found by experimenting. There are many types of sets available and the quality varies. If your intention is to paint furniture, then avoid craft-type chalk paints. The paints of the Frenchic Paint® series are tested and intended specifically for painting furniture. This is why it says 'Furniture Paint' on the side of the paint can. Now it's time to try the Frenchic series!
Composition and shades
Lime paints often have much better pigment and coverage than conventional furniture paints - the composition is also often thicker and non-draining. The wonderful matte surface is perfect for both modern interiors and old buildings. The powdery pastel shades resemble traditional shades and they go well with wooden surfaces or with white and gray.
Implement different techniques and make something unique yourself
In Chalk Paint-style furniture painting, layers are often made and several different techniques are applied in the same project - this style cannot be realized with conventional furniture paints. You can combine shades and layers - techniques and waxes - and make your own personal furniture inexpensively!
Whether your style is modern or romantic, we know how difficult it is to find furniture in your favorite colors ready-made in stores! By doing it yourself, you get exactly what you want and usually at a fraction of the price of designer furniture.
Pictured: powdery pink Dusky Blush, from the Al Fresco series.
Do an eco-deed and save your old furniture from the wind again to the parade ground
Often, older furniture is made of solid wood and made to last - but the yellowed or darkened wooden surface no longer fits today's interior as it is. You don't always have to buy new furniture, but with a small amount of paint, you can easily renew cabinets, chests of drawers and other small furniture into a stylish one again - without the price tag of designer furniture!
Make your home look your own and use the colors you like and feel good about! Don't hesitate to paint again - you can change the color of the wall, doors or furniture often - your home lives in time and it can also be seen in the colors - by painting you can easily change the atmosphere of the space.
In addition to furniture, you can start by looking for smaller painting objects in your home
You can find more small projects on the walls, moldings, frames or stairs - a colored floor or a colored area in the shape of an arched window can brighten up, for example, a children's room.
You don't have to paint the stairs completely right away, but you can try painting the front boards of the wooden stairs or just the railings. Come up with an easy-to-implement colorful half-panel-high stripe of paint on the hallway wall, a gingerbread-edged half-wall painting, or a dramatic dark rectangle on the headboard wall in the bedroom!
The powdery and soft Frenchic shades are beautifully suited to Scandinavian interior decoration alongside wood tones, darker shades suit a bold interior style. Get inspired by decorating with colors and get to know more than 60 ready-made shades of the Frenchic series!
Photo: Denim blue Hornblower, from the Lazy Range series. Gold to FrenShe.
Whether you are thinking of painting furniture for yourself or professionally for sale - high-quality chalk paint for furniture painting is an excellent option.
Also test tones and instruments
Do you have a larger painting project in mind, such as painting kitchen cabinets or similar?
If you haven't painted much before, we recommend that you do a small practice project. Get a small piece of furniture with a drawer and a door - just like in your kitchen and try a few shades on it that you thought you would choose for your larger project.
In this practice piece, you can try different tools: sanding sponge, brush and roller - and you will notice how the paint behaves; dries and covers.
Make the same preparations for this small exercise furniture as you would for a larger one: wash the surfaces with Sugar Soap furniture detergent , rinse off the detergent and dry the surface - remove the handles and check the surface to see if the holes need to be puttyed. Paint.
Take before and after pictures for yourself!
Pictured: Taupe shade, Cool Beans, from the Al Fresco series.
Painting the furniture with lime paint
1. Choose a paint and explore the options
As a rule of thumb, a liter of lime paint is enough for about 13m2. This is roughly a normal-sized dresser or cabinet. The paint capacity of the Frenchic series is approx. 12.5 m2 per large paint container, 750 ml.
Due to the strong adhesion properties of lime paint, it can be used on many materials such as metal, wood, glass, concrete and most textiles.
For most projects, two layers of paint are enough, but if you are painting a dark surface in a light shade, you may have to paint more layers.
Tip! When painting from black to white or vice versa - or dark and reddish wood to white: paint the first layer with a gray tone. It breaks down the darkness and redness and you get by with fewer white layers.
Choose a furniture paint that does not have toxins or a nasty smell - it is important when painting indoors or professionally a lot. You can also choose easy lime paints for furniture painting, which have protective properties already in the paint - 'just paint and go!
Pictured: smargard green Victory Lane shade, from the Al Fresco series.
Lazy Range for painting furniture or kitchen cabinets indoors
For furniture painting, choose chalk paints with which you do not need adhesive paints 'self-priming', and paints whose surface is beautifully leveled by itself, 'self-levelling', and paints whose surface no longer needs to be protected like conventional chalk paints, 'self-sealing' - Frenchic paints do not demand too much effort on your part!
Choosing these eco-friendly, low-maintenance paints is great for our planet, your wallet, and is part of making better use of your time in your painting projects. Renovating, painting and reusing old furniture is recycled interior design at its best!
Al Fresco series for outdoor and indoor furniture and for painting kitchen cabinets and ceramic tiles
Explore the options and choose moisture-resistant lime paint if you're painting garden furniture and a wonderful fully matte wall paint if you want to easily change the color scheme of your home.
2. Invest in a brush
It is worth investing in a high-quality brush that is made for whitewash painting furniture. By using old, worn and dirty cheap brushes, the end result of your painting project may be far from what you want.
Photo: The best brushes for chalk painting are oval-shaped.
There is a separate blog post about choosing the right brush, read it here.
3. Clean the furniture to be painted
You can start by cleaning the surface to be painted. Remove handles and knobs if desired. Wipe off all dirt and grease - always paint only a clean surface. Sugar Soap is the Frenchic series' own paint cleaner intended for cleaning furniture. A lot of dirt can come off even furniture that looks clean. Frenchic series paints have excellent adhesion properties, so make sure with careful cleaning that nothing extra remains between the surface to be painted and the paint.
Sufficient sealant cleans the surfaces for painting easily. Whatever detergent you use, rinse the used detergent off the surface with clean water at the end.
4. Fill holes and surface scratches
Washing the surface to be painted is a good moment to examine the surface for scratches or chips. If you want, use a filler and fill the dents, holes and scratches - let it dry and sand the surface flat. Clean the surface from sanding dust by wiping it with a damp cloth. Dry surface.
5. Tape and trim
Taping is a convenient way to limit the paint where you don't want it: door handles, knobs or glass edges. Taping makes painting borders neat. Choose a high-quality tape when you want really precise cuts.
6. Start painting!
Once you have protected the floor under the furniture to be painted, it's time to paint!
Use your brush from the bottom up with a light hand. Paint with long strokes according to the grain of the wood - remember that chalk paint dries quickly - paint quickly to get the best result.
Do not overwork the paint surface that is already in the curing process, but let the layers dry first - then return to spot painting. Paint layers that are too thin can leave brush marks clearly visible when the thin layer of paint dries quickly.
The paints of the Frenchic series have a 'self leveling' feature, which evens out the paint when it dries. In this case, the layer must not be too thin.
If you paint dark to light (or vice versa), you may have to paint a few layers to cover the surface completely and evenly. Here's a tip: paint the first layer with gray, and you'll get there with fewer layers.
Fortunately, you don't have to wait long, because the chalk paint dries quickly and you'll soon be able to move on. If you want a slightly more worn-in style, two coats may be enough. Frenchic series paints are always painted with at least two layers.
7. Wear to look old (if you want)
This point isn't really mandatory, but we're covering it because it's such a popular style. The most important thing in wear is to make it look natural, so wear should be done on the parts of the furniture that wear naturally: around handles and knobs, edges, corners and maybe a little more here and there.
You can apply wear with many different techniques: use a sanding sponge and lightly roughen the surface, or use a damp cloth and rub the paint surface open with circular movements - in this case, the wear spots will have naturally soft edges. After consumption, wipe the surfaces clean again. Learn how to make different consumptions and techniques, read the instructions here.
8. Finish with wax
The wax protects the whitewashed surface and gives more durability. The wax also deepens the tone of the lime paint and keeps the surface in good condition for years to come.
When the surface is dry and clean, add clear wax to the desired surface using a wax brush . Take furniture wax only a little at a time on the brush, it is really enough and easy to spread. So wax slowly at first - you can add another thin layer of wax if you want.
Always after waxing, the excess wax is wiped off with a lint-free cloth. The wax is dry to the touch quickly, but hardens for another 21 days at normal room temperature. Read more about the use of waxes here.
If you use Frenchic series Lazy Range or Al Fresco series paints and do not use up the paint surface, you can skip this step if you wish. Of course, you can also wax with these sets when painting - and thus add patina and depth to the furniture.
9. Step back and admire!
Your furniture is ready for sale or for your home at the parade ground. Now you can start thinking about new painting projects !
Furniture painting can be done with high-quality furniture paints, such as Frenchic!
Painting furniture is fun and easy - anyone can do it. Start by choosing the shades and if you are trying Frenchic series paints for the first time, we recommend the Lazy Range series - these chalk paints already have wax in the paint - how convenient!
Frenchic series paints are of high quality and durable. They are manufactured and tested in England specifically for painting furniture.
New features in Frenchic paints have won fame and awards. The Frenchic Paint series is now the most popular chalk paint series and the only chalk paint brand that has been awarded the prestigious 'Queens Award' - it is a sign of quality and innovation.
Pictured: pearl gray, waxy chalk paint Wolf Whistle.
Whatever your interior painting project is, you will surely find inspiring example and project photos in the series' own FB group!
In the Frenchic Paint series' own FB group, only the customers' own, authentic pictures and picture series painted with Frenchic series products are published. In the group, you can take a peek at international and domestic homes and gardens, and you can ask other group members' experiences about Frenchic shades or painting projects that interest you.
In the group, you can participate in competitions and you can win Frenchic products - you will be among the first to see new trends in interior painting - in the group you will be the first to hear about new Frenchic products and new shades!
You can share your own Frenchic pictures in the group - you will delight other group members who are thinking about realizing their own projects with your pictures!
Do you have friends who love colors, decorating or renovating?
You can easily invite your skilled and creative friends, whom you want to get to know the Frenchic Paint series, to the group.
Welcome to join - click the link below!
Get inspired and admire Frenchic projects in the 'Frenchic Paint Finland' group!
