After painting many pieces of furniture, I came across a few photos where people were using black paint to bring old furniture back to life. It really got me thinking, is there a certain way how to paint furniture black?
The easiest way how to paint furniture black is to first sand your piece of furniture down lightly with 120 grit sandpaper, then paint 2-3 coats of interior black paint with a satin finish (allow for drying times), and lastly add 2-3 protective topcoat layers.
These steps sound rather easy and they are, however, it can be quite time-consuming and there are things you need to be aware of. So let’s get started on our ultimate guide for painting furniture black! However, if you’d rather go white read our How To Paint Furniture White guide here.
How to Paint Furniture Black?
Like I mentioned above, you can do a quick paint job by sanding, painting, and applying a top-coat, but to get the best results when painting your furniture piece black you must have patience.
But if you don’t no worries take a look at this video I made where I refinish a nightstand and paint it black. Follow these steps thoroughly and you shouldn’t have a problem painting your piece.
For the ones who would rather read the list of how I paint furniture black follow the steps below.
9 Steps on How to Paint Furniture Black
1. Clean Your Project
Before any project, I make sure it is completely clean. I mean grab my shop-vac and vacuum clean. That’s my first step cleaning. Next, I will grab a clean cloth or rag and pour mineral spirits down. I begin wiping the piece of furniture from top to bottom.
Remove your hardware while cleaning too!
2. Sanding
Step number two is sanding down the project. It’s important to understand the difference between sanding to paint a project and sanding to stain a project. Sanding to paint is a lot less work.
If you are staining a surface, any old stain or paint must be removed for the stain to properly soak into the wood. But, if your painting the surface, just go ahead and sand lightly until the surface is smooth. There’s no need to remove the entire surface of paint or stain because when painting the paint will hide all of that.
Use 120 grit sandpaper to scuff up the piece before painting.
The reason we sand it to increase the overall durability of the paint job, the paint sticks better to a sanded surface.
After lightly sanding your project smooth, now grab that mineral spirits rag that’s still damp and wipe the remaining sanded dust off of the project.
3. Apply Black Paint
Finally, its time to get that black paint out. There are a number of ways to paint a piece of furniture, if it is a small project I will use a professional paintbrush, but if its large I usually grab my paint sprayer.
Either way, paint your first coat! I usually take out the drawers and paint them, but if they will get fully painted left in then that’s your choice.
4. Sand With High-Grit Sandpaper
After each coat of paint, except the last, I like to sand in between layers. Why? Well, it keeps my surface completely smooth rather than dealing with issues at the end, fix them as I go. Dust could land while its drying or other things, just sand it with a 300 grit paper or higher, that’s what I use and it works fine.
Again wipe up sanding dust after each step, but I use a dry rag now, not that mineral spirit one from earlier.
5. Apply Second Coat
After lightly sanding, begin applying your second coat of black paint to your piece of furniture. Same as your first coat.
Typically you can get away with 2 coats of black paint, but for an extra layer of protection and durability, I like to do 3 coats. So let’s keep these steps going!
6. Sand With High-Grit Again!
Do another light sanding before adding your final coat of black paint. Of course, clean the dust before you paint.
7. Add Final Coat of Black Paint
Simply spray or brush another coat of black paint on your piece of furniture. After this coat, let it dry and do not sand anymore.
8. Add Topcoat Protection
There are a number of topcoats to choose from when painting furniture black, in this nightstand project I used a Lacquer spray to add the durable topcoat finish. Spray back and forth the project, ensuring the lacquer reaches all parts of the furniture surface layer. If not it could look splotchy.
Lacquer is very toxic so if you are going to use it make sure you wear a quality respirator and you’re in a ventilated area. Outside or near the garage door is a decent location.
UPDATE: I now spray water-based polyurethane with my spray gun, here is an in depth guide on how I spray furniture with a spray gun.
Anyway, this is how I used lacquer: After letting the first coat dry, apply another coat of lacquer finish. And when that’s dry add another! In total spray 3 coats of lacquer as a topcoat finish over the black paint.
When it’s dry your still not 100% finished yet…
Be careful when using lacquers over enamel paints, I haven’t had any issues on smaller projects but on a larger project (TV Cabinet Upcycle) I had some zebra stripes on the sides. This can happen with most spray can topcoats, just because if you do not properly spray them you can get an uneven finish making the lines very visible on dark paints. That is why I spray my top coat with water-based poly now.
However, lacquer can also react with enamel paints. The reaction you may get is called crazing, this looks like little hairline cracks throughout the finish. I haven’t had this issue over enamel paints though. If you spray the lacquer over the enamel paint before it is dry you are more likely to have issues with lacquer over enamel paint. It’s best to test an area, like the rear side of the furniture, just to see how it dries.
Best Topcoats for Black Painted Furniture:
- Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane
- Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish
- General Finishes High-Performance Water Based Topcoat
9. Install Hardware
Finally, the last step.
Now, I sometimes buy new hardware or re-use the old stuff. When refinishing furniture black I like to buy new hardware, just because it truly brings it back to life! I chose black hardware from a company called Richelieu Hardware. They have some cool pieces of hardware!
Many people love gold hardware with black refinished furniture, and I must say it looks pretty good on it! Take a look at some gold hardware by clicking here on Amazon.
After finishing up your painted and refinished piece of furniture you need to figure out how much you can sell it for. Go over to our pricing article and plug in your details on my custom-made furniture flipping calculator!
Painted Black Furniture Before and After Photo
5 Best Black Paints for Refinishing Furniture
Many people ask me what’s the best black paint for furniture? But the thing is, there are many nice black paints that you can use on furniture. Here is a list of my favorite black furniture paint:
1. Fusion Mineral Paint – Coal Black
I have used this paint many times now and I LOVE it, you can see that I used it in my Wooden Buffet makeover.
But remember that paint is only as strong as the surface it’s on, so sand down any gloss or wax finish beforehand for the best results. On wood, Fusion paint will stay on strong and provide a durable finish. It has a topcoat built-in, meaning fewer steps for its users, which saves some time! One pint covers 75 sq feet, and that would cover 2 and maybe 3 dressers.
Does not contain any formaldehyde or ammonia, which means this paint is extremely eco-friendly and not as harsh on your body to breathe in.
- 2-4 hours between coats
- eco-friendly
- self-leveling
- coal black color
Watch my latest Black Furniture Makeover Video using Coal Black Fusion Mineral Paint:
2. KILZ TRIBUTE Interior Satin Paint and Primer in One
Another black paint by KILZ TRIBUTE is called Mystic Black, it’s not as dark but it still has a beautiful black touch for furniture projects.
3. Dixie Belle Paint – Caviar
Dixie Belle Paint is another famous paint that is known in the furniture painting community. This is a super easy to use a product that you can clean and no sanding or priming is not required!
Many famous painters use this brand product, for example, That Shabby Guy in this Youtube video uses Dixie Belle Paint, Christina Muscari has many videos using it, you can find her at PrettyDistressed.com, and many others on Youtube.
This Caviar Dixie Bell Paint option is a popular color choice, it is a chalky black finish that you can easily distress or leave as is. Applying a topcoat is recommended when using Dixie Belle Paint.
4. Rust-Oleum Ultra Matte Interior Chalked Paint
Rust-Oleum is the number one known paint, you can find this stuff almost anywhere. The best thing is that it is affordable and you can still get some pretty decent results. This Rust-Oleum Charcoal Paint is very popular, although it isn’t a pure black paint I think it deserves a spot on this list.
If you are interested in a pure black paint by Rust-Oleum click here. However, I think their Chalked line is a better quality finish compared to their original Painters Touch line.
The chalky smooth finish gives a matte look that is very popular with today’s furniture finishes, give this Rust-Oleum paint a try!
5. Black Behr Paint
I use Behr paint because it’s easy to pick up locally, its exclusive to HomeDepot. The highest quality at a great price is their “Paint and Primer in One” choose the interior satin enamel finish. This finish is most durable for furniture painting, and the best thing is you can choose from so many colors! The black I used was called “Totally Black” and it turned out amazing.
If your interested in checking out some of their colors click here to open up Behr.com and see the Explore Color page.
I have also used their scuff defense and it works well too, it just cost a few more dollars.
Here is the first video I made on how to paint furniture black, I used Behr paint!
Commonly Asked Questions
Can you paint furniture black without sanding?
Yes, you can paint furniture black without sanding, although the results are much more durable when you sand your furniture lightly. If you do not want to sand down your piece of furniture, make sure it is free of any grease or grime that would cause the paint to quickly come off.
Use a good cleaner to remove the grime, I use mineral spirits but you can easily use a cleaning pad or an all-purpose cleaner that you likely have under your kitchen sink.
How to paint furniture black distressed?
There are many ways to distress furniture, aiming for a certain outcome will determine what you do leading up until this late step. If you want a plain distressed piece of black furniture with no other colors, lightly sand around your furniture for a desired distressed look after a few coats of black paint. This method you might see natural wood underneath depending on how hard and far you sand down.
If you want some white distressed look behind the black paint, I recommend spraying your furniture with white paint and primer. But remember, painting black over white means you’ll likely have to do at least 3 coats of black paint. After your paint dries, grab your higher grit sandpaper, around 220 is fine, and sand in your desired area for the distressed look.
If you want a metallic distressed look without sanding, get some gold or silver gilding wax and rub on how you want it to look. Typically, I see this stuff used on furniture with vintage designs and it really brings that aspect out. But, it still can be rubbed on the corners lightly for a nice black distressed shiny look.
How to paint furniture black like pottery barn?
Many people like pottery barn style furniture, but it is possible to create your own DIY pottery barn black furniture piece. This will save you a few dollars…
Pottery Barn uses a lot of matte finishes, so you can use chalk paint to get a similar sheen. They also like to distress their pieces of furniture, and as I mentioned above, you can use sandpaper to distress your black furniture to look like Pottery Barn furniture.
Can you spray paint furniture black?
Yes, you can spray paint furniture black following the simple steps of sanding, painting, and applying a topcoat. Using spray paint means you have to be careful with how you paint. It is easy to spray a lot of paint on one corner, and lightly spray the other. This will be noticeable and you don’t want an uneven looking paint job.
Use a back and forth motion, its really a common spray paint method. Look at the video above, and I use spray-on Lacquer as a topcoat. The spraying method is the same, start from one side and rather quickly spray evenly to the other. Once you pass the edge let go of the spray bottom.
You spray flat facing to the surface for an even level paint job, but you will need to move according to the individual piece you are painting. Some corners and designs are hard to spray, it just takes some time getting used too. Watch some spray painting videos to learn how to properly spray paint.
What the difference between black stain and black paint?
Black stain and black paint are completely different products. Black stain is much thinner and is meant to penetrate a wooden surface, as the name says, it’s staining the wood. While black paint is thicker, it is applied over a surface and it doesn’t penetrate wood as stain does.
If you are to paint a piece of wood it is going to hide it away, but if you are to stain the piece of wood you are still going to be able to see the beauty it holds.
Read my full black stain article here: Can You Stain Wood Black? (Step-by-Step Guide)
Final Thoughts
At this time I hope any questions you have about painting furniture black have been answered, if not feel free to shoot me an email at furnitureflippa@gmail.com I’d love to help.
This guide is meant to help teach anyone how to paint furniture black, I list step by step details with a video of me painting a full piece black.
I hope these instructions help you get started on your next furniture makeover!
