You'll need three types to paint IKEA furniture: a primer, topcoat and sealer. The primer needs to be specifically for laminate surfaces, like this one from Zinsser. Applying a coat of primer to your laminate particleboard surface will allow whatever paint you choose to stick to the surface and not quickly peel off.
Best paint for IKEA furniture
Before you start painting, you need to know what to paint with. Chalk paint is often used for painting furniture. This is because it's available in loads of different colours, applies easily (even in the nooks and crannies), and the majority of chalk paints don't need a primer.
Can you paint over Ikea furniture without sanding? On laminate furniture, yes you can! But remember, when I say no sanding – it means you don't have to use a lot of strength or an electric sander to get the “finish” completely off. We do need very light scuffing on the entire piece to roughen up the surface.
Can you paint Ikea Cabinets? Yes! The answer is yes and they even turn out well! When we did our huge kitchen remodel, we needed to add 3 cabinets and a pantry.
Yes! You definitely need to prime IKEA cabinets before painting! For the Torhamn cabinets, I primed with Slick Stick. I painted one coat of the primer on all sides of the cabinet doors.
Can I use chalk paint on Ikea furniture? Yes, but, I recommend using a primer and satin or eggshell finish paint for a more durable paint job. If you use chalk paint, make sure to seal it with wax or varnish.
You can find many Ikea furniture pieces that I have painted already. The top coat of sprayed, rolled, or brushed paint can be applied in two coats. They're sure to stick – and stay – on IKEA furniture. Make sure you buy shellac-based products as well as the brands called on it, Zinsser and XUSSSER.
Can you paint IKEA PAX wardrobes? Yes, you can paint PAX wardrobes to create a bespoke wardrobe that fits your space.
IKEA offers many types of wood. However, IKEA is mostly known for its furniture pieces made of compressed wood chips that are pressed between plastic veneer. That said, IKEA has a large offer of solid wood such as pine, oak, birch, beech, or acacia. Thus IKEA can be real wood indeed!
You can sand, prime and paint laminate as if it were a solid wood piece of furniture! It's easy to skip the sanding step, because sanding is a drag… but it's especially important with laminate. Because it's often somewhat glossy-looking, and important to sand it down until the finish is very dull before priming.
You'll need three types to paint IKEA furniture: a primer, topcoat and sealer. The primer needs to be specifically for laminate surfaces, like this one from Zinsser. Applying a coat of primer to your laminate particleboard surface will allow whatever paint you choose to stick to the surface and not quickly peel off.
Can you put wallpaper on IKEA furniture? Yes, you can use wallpaper on IKEA furniture. I've used peel and stick wallpaper on the back of a Billy bookcase with success. IKEA furniture is practically made to be hacked with paint and wallpaper!
To waterproof Ikea furniture, it's best to use water protection cream and lather it on the main surface as a coating. This is essential for those who want to learn how to waterproof Ikea furniture and don't know which path to take moving forward.
Chalk paint is a great choice for painting laminate cabinets because it “hides” brush strokes. If you're using chalk paint for a project, you pretty much can't mess it up.
Ikea offers a few unfinished furniture pieces that make painting even easier. (No varnish to strip! To cover up the pine knots, pair paint with a primer and top it with two coats.)
I had some leftover Benjamin Moore Simply White in Semi-Gloss from another project and it ended up being a perfect match to IKEA PAX white.
Stain your untreated wooden IKEA furniture a deeper shade. In this DIY project, I stained my IKEA FÖRHÖJA kitchen cart a richer walnut shade for a more sophisticated, finished look. You can use this process on any of your IKEA wooden pieces — but make sure they're made of actual wood and not just a wood veneer.
Alternatively, you can use spray paint to transform metal furniture; just remember to mask off any areas before spraying to ensure a clean finish. As with latex paint, spray paint comes in a wide range of colors and finishes to choose from depending on your desired effect.
Havsta cabinet offers tons of storage and is made of solid wood so it can be repainted to your liking too! Great for customization.
Step 4 – painting an Ikea dresser
The good news is that most kinds of paint will work just fine as long as you've done the prep work. Latex is usually the most economical choice, but chalk, mineral and ceramic paints all work really well too.
Yes! Furniture made of veneer can be painted with chalk paint. You should, however, prime the veneer first. Veneer can be very smooth, so chalk paint alone will probably scratch off the surface.
After seeing a similar Ikea Hack project here, I thought it'd look great in my office. We purchased a new Hemnes dresser in the white stain finish. If you want to recreate this, be sure to buy the White STAIN finish instead of plain white. The plain white dresser has a veneer over the wood so it cannot be painted!