Painting Our Dresser and Nighstands

Once we had assembled our dresser and nightstands from Ikea, which was a whole project itself, it was time to get them painted! We decided to paint them a color that coordinated with our comforter. The paint department at Home Depot was able to create a color that perfectly matched. After talking with the man that helped us at the paint counter I decided to skip the primer since we were painting bare wood. Another tip that we got from the Home Depot employee was to make sure the paint has fully cured (up to two weeks) before using it.

Dresser Before

Nightstand Before

In hindsight I would have sanded before applying the first coat of paint. I think it would have helped the first coat dry a little smoother. I applied the first coat of paint out on our balcony to try to avoid the paint smells in the apartment. 

The First Coat Drying

Once the first coat had fully dried I used fine sandpaper to get all the roughness off. You will probably have to use multiple grades of fine sandpaper to get a smooth finish. Since I sanded between coats so well I ended up not needing to sand after the second coat. In some places getting a smooth finish required sanding past the first coat of paint, but the second coat covered all those areas.

After Sanding The First Coat

After the sanding was complete it was time for the second coat of paint! Since the weather wasn't so nice I decided to give painting a go inside and hoped the fumes wouldn't be overwhelming. Thankfully the smell wasn't bad at all!

Painting The Second Coat Inside

Deciding Between Knobs

I realized after the fact that I had missed the front of the middle leg with both coats, so I will have to go back and put at least one coat on the leg. We waited a few weeks to use them and so far the paint has held up well without any wax or poly finish. Overall I am really happy with how the dresser and nightstands came out! This experience painting furniture has given me the confidence to tackle my next project of painting and refinishing out dining table and chairs.

As always, thanks for reading!