Go Right Ahead and Paint That Laminate
April 27, 2010
We’ve owned this laminate and particle board media center for about fifteen years. It was purchased in the leaner years from a discount furniture store. Back in the 90s, we used it in our family room to store all of our media equipment, but then we eventually moved it to the kids’ play space. For the longest time (like most moms) I was just grateful for the storage it brought me and I didn’t care what color it was.
Then all of a sudden I just couldn’t take it anymore. I was staring at the faux maple laminate last week and I decided the day had come. It was time to paint it! It’s not that I don’t like blonde wood, I just don’t like faux blonde wood. It’s the fakeness that bothers me.
So it was time to rid my world of the maple tone and give it a fresh coat of white paint. This is a relatively sturdy piece, so rather than go out and buy a new system, or build one myself, I determined the best way to save it was to simply paint it. The best part of all is, I changed the look of this piece in 48 hours!
Here’s the Before:
Here’s the After:
Here’s how I painted my laminate storage center.
Make sure you invest in the right primer. This is absolutely key. You absolutely must prime your laminate surface with a primer designed to adhere to glossy surfaces. No ordinary primer will do. There are several options out there, my best piece of advice is to read the back of the can. Zinsser happens to be my primer of choice. I’ve worked with others and I’ve been disappointed, so I always return to this product.
Oil based Zinsser grips like glue in my opinion, and without sanding. You can use the water based version by Zinsser in the blue can, but you really need to sand your surface beforehand, and you also must wait for the water based version to fully cure, which is a recommended 7 days. Zinsser’s oil based primer dries in two hours, so I was able to apply two coats of primer in one day.
Roll your primer on your piece of furniture, then follow up with a brush in all the crevices. This primer dries really fast, but if you want a longer time to work with your primer and minimize brush strokes, use an additive called Penetrol that I’ve talked about here and here.
Many people shy away from oil based products because they require paint thinner or mineral spirits to clean up. However, if you use a cheap roller and cheap brush (my combo costs less than $2 dollars), you can toss them out when you’re done and not have to worry about cleaning your brush or roller with mineral spirits. But it’s good to have some on hand anyway just to get any paint off your hands !
Sand your primed piece with medium grade sanding pad to remove any drips, buildup or brush marks. Follow up with two coats of your paint color of choice. Use a better quality brush to minimize your brush strokes. You can go right over oil based primer with latex paint.
While I was at it, I even painted these inexpensive mini cabinets to hold the kids movies and other toys. I primed them with the same Zinsser oil based product, then gave them two coats of the new wall color, which is some leftover BM ‘Camouflage’ mixed in with some of the spring green from these chairs.
Yes, my kids watch movies on a VCR – they’re cheap ! $1 dollar each at the local Goodwill, can’t beat that !
And for those of you who are wondering, yes the giant map is still there, just on the opposite wall !
I am loving our ‘new’ storage system !!
Here’s a glimpse of the wall from last year’s post about the map room:
Last year:
Today:
Various bins and baskets from Target, Michaels and Pottery Barn. I made the pillow cover with some Annie Selke fabric.
So if you’ve got a laminate piece hanging around your house that you want to freshen, go ahead and paint it! Got laminate countertops ? Check out this post on Our Suburban Cottage ! Want to use water based primer instead ? Visit Lindsay and see how she transformed her laminate armoire.
I’m adding this to Kimba’s DIY Day over at A Soft Place to Land, hop on over and check out all the great DIY links !
Oh yes you can paint that laminate ! Yeehaw !
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Tags: painting laminate
I always buy my daughter’s Disney movies and others from Goodwill. You would be crazy not to! Thanks for the inspiring post.
Wow! That piece looks great – so crisp and new. I did read Lindseys post on painting laminate so that I could start painting a cheap-o credenza for our office. By the time I let the first coat cure, I had moved on to other projects and there it still sits (only partially primed!) So I think I will go with your primer and finish it up!
The space looks so fresh, great job painting this piece!! Janell
i have painted over laminate before too. not a fast job but it works! and yours looks great!
Very nice outcome! I hate to clean up with mineral spirits too, so I also toss the brushes (stealthily) in the trash. The last time I painted laminate was about 12 years ago. Poor husband was not happy when he came home (from living it up in California, I might add) and saw what I’d done :)
It’s amazing how white makes the pieces look so much more modern. Great job!
It looks great. Like something straight out of Pottery Barn!
Thanks so much for this. I love that you don’t have to sand the nasty laminate. One question…do you find that books/video cases tend to stick to the paint? I’ve painted some bookcases before and had that problem, but I’m not sure what I did wrong. Do I need to follow up the paint with some poly?
Looks so fresh & crisp! Great!! :) I can’t get over the gorgeousness of that chocolate & white pillow…yum!
Blessings,
Stacey
Hi Cecily ! I haven’t had that problem. I used a flat latex paint and let it completely dry, so no problems with anything sticking to the paint. A coat of Polycrylic will help protect your paint job, but I didn’t deem it necessary in this case. In fact, the kids are already sliding their baskets around and no scratches yet – it’s that primer that holds the paint on the piece. Read the post at Our Suburban Cottage that I linked to- she used a protective coat over her paint on her countertops for added protection. Perhaps send AnNicole an email and ask her how the additional coat has helped protect her surface.
:-)
Kate
Lovin the white, it just brightens the whole space and looks amazing against your walls!
Kate, this was so helpful! We’ve got some ugly old laminate pieces leftover from my husband’s bachelor days that I’d love to revamp because we need the storage! This is a much nicer option than buying new stuff. Thanks, girl!
Gorgeous!!! :)
Love it, it looks absolutely fab!
looks great! i wish my goodwill had good items like the ones you find. and my gw is sooo expensive!
Wow, the new storage unit looks amazing! This post couldn’t have come at a better time as I have been wanting to paint an old laminate dresser for a while now. If you don’t mind, could you tell me what kind of white paint you used on the unit? It looks like that “perfect” crisp white I am going for. Thanks in advance!
Hi Jessie !
That’s ‘Swiss Coffee’ – it’s an industry color, most paint companies have the formula. I chose it because it matches my trim and I already had a gallon in my garage !
Kate
Can’t wait to give it a shot! Looks great to me!
That looks terrific! Your blog is great, I’m so glad I stumbled upon it!
Now, I must log off my computer and go paint my ugly laminate kitchen countertops!
This is absolutely beautiful.
It looks like a brand new cabnet
Great post! Lots of good information. Your storage space shows up so much better now. I love it! And we still use vcr tapes too. You just can’t beat the price, and I don’t have the heart to throw out good disney movies just because they are on tape. :)
How refreshing!! It’s amazing what a good ol’ coat a paint can do for a piece of furniture! :)
Kate that looks so much better! Really fresh.
do you have a staple gun? Because I have seen fabric fixed over the back of open shelving like that and it looks really finished…
Bravo!!! It truly is amazing what a transformation some paint can do! I’ve primed and painted a laminate piece before…I didn’t use anything special, but I wish I had b/c I know it won’t hold up forever.
My girls have bunches of Disney movies on VHS too. :) I can usually find them for anywhere from 0.25 to $1.00 at yard sales or Salvation Army. We have some new DVDs too, but I love finding my old favorites on VHS (Pete’s Dragon or Mickey Mouse, anyone?) :)
It looks new and so much better! I would have thought it would scratch too easily to use it like this. I guess it just shows that if you use the correct products, you can paint almost anything.
Good to know! They look great.
I’m with you on the VHS movies – so cheap and we already had an old TV/VCR combo. Plus, easy for the kids to operate!
Wow…that looks fantastic! I love the amazing results that can be achieved with paint.
I have an 8 foot long work table that is made of wood, but the top has some kind of laminate veneer on it. Have you ever painted that type of thing? It is a great table, but the top is U.G.L.Y. After reading this, I am thinking I can probably paint it if I use a good primer…YAH!
Thanks for the inspiration, as always.
~Amanda
I’m getting ready to paint a white laminate cabinet black. Do you think I should have the primer tinted to a darker color?
AWESOME! I’m inspired! I have a dresser that desperately needs some paint, and you’ve given me much needed inspiration. Great job!!
Looks fabulous!!! Great job, my dear!
Totally different and so pretty. It now looks like a really expensive piece. I would use that anywhere in the house. Great job. Hugs, Marty
Kate, it looks wonderful! I personally love Zinssers B-I-N primer for laminate projects. It is shellac-based, so it dries within minutes and sticks like glue to glossy surfaces. Plus, it’s very thin so it doesn’t create a build-up like some thicker primers can (no need for penetrol!). The only problem is you need to clean up with Denatured Alcohol, but that is the same issue as with oil-based, just a different solvent.
Tidy Brown Wren –
If painting a dark color or black, absolutely have your primer tinted ! The oil based Zinsser in the brown can is tintable, but the primer can only be tinted to a medium gray shade at best. Zinsser does have a ‘deep tint’ primer which will tint very dark but note that it’s water based and takes the same week long period of time to fully harden.
Kate
Awesome!! I have an old “wood” IKEA desk that desperately needs some paint :)
WOW Kate that looks gorgeous! I would’ve never guessed it was laminate! I have phased out most of my laminate pieces but still (unfortunately) have a few billy bookcases from Ikea. I doubt that they’ll make it through this move in 2 weeks though…not like I would be unhappy about that lol.
Go on with your laminate painting self. The finished product looks beautiful. Where do you find the time to do it all???
It looks adorable! And it’s way better in white! xo
Thank you for taking the time to share this. I have some old laminate furnature I wanted to paint and well — now I can when the time is right.
Super post. thanks so much for paving the way with laminate! :)
Thank you for this post, I have an old laminate kitchen table that I have been wanting to paint but was not sure how. Now I know thanks a bunch.
Fabulous! Looks like a million bucks! And the white really makes all your goodies pop. Bravo!
Great tips! I’ve been wanting to paint my daughter’s laminate dresser for some time now, but didn’t know how to start. My mother sent me the link to your blog today. Love it!
I’m really hoping we can find the right product to adhere to glossy surfaces. (We live in Argentina.) Sherwin Williams has a store here and that’s where we’ve had the best success finding good quality paint and supplies. We have a kitchen to re-vamp that has old laminate everywhere. And I do mean everywhere!
I was just talking to my girlfriend about painting her laminate tv center, too funny!!! I’m sending this over to her, she will love you for it :)
Dang, Girl….You just don’t ever stop. You are the everready bunny! But yes indeedy…laminate can be happily painted…good step by steps!
This looks GREAT! I always worried about doing this; now I am ready to get my paint on. Awesome after!!!
I just love this post! Thanks for sharing. I saw a little tiny article about painting laminate countertops (in a kitchen) in that 100 decorating ideas under $100 or something like that magazine. There is a NEW product out that combines primer AND the latex paint to specifically use on a laminate countertop. I bought some (it’s even tintable by the paint people) and I can’t wait to use it on my countertops. I thought you might be able to use it on laminate furniture but your way is probably much more economically sound. Thanks again for sharing.
Anna
WOW!!!! GREAT JOB!!! Looks so CRISP….You can’t tell its a FAKE :)
thanks for sharing this I needed it.
Wow, I am sooooo glad you posted about this!!! About 2 weeks ago I painted our laminate kitchen cabinets a white color. I bought a primer (can’t remember the name) that claimed would adhere to slippery surfaces, even tile. I used it, followed the instructions to wait 24 hours, then proceeded to paint them with the standard kitchen latex paint. 2 coats, by the way. To my frustration, the darn paint peels off so easily. If I grab a cabinet to open it and avoid using the hardware, the paint slides right off. I was puzzled but after reading your post I see why. I’ll have to repaint them and this time with an oil based primer. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. By the way, I LOVE your blog and appreciate tremendously the inspiration you give me with all your fabulous ideas. Keep on being fabulous!
~Letitia