Painting our knotty pine bedroom furniture

Our garage has turned into project central.  My husband hasn’t been able to park his work car in the garage for over a month now. We had furniture, paint, and other assorted things going on. I hope to have everything cleaned up at the beginning of April. I am almost ready to reveal our master bedroom.  I just need to finish a few more things.

I’ve wanted to paint our Mexican Rustic pine furniture, that is in our bedroom, for quite some time now.  We have similar furniture in our family room, but I’m ok with that set right now.  I’m over the palm tree/beachy/relaxed look.  I’m into a more bright and colorful style now.  I’ve chosen to paint the furniture black which is probably the easiest option.  When you paint knotty pine, you have to really make sure that it is primed well, because the knots will be begin to come through the paint.

Here are the nightstands BEFORE:

After this picture was taken, we (well Angry Husband) removed all of the hardware from the nightstands and began to lightly sand them.  He used his electric sander.  I’m not sure on what kind or grit of sand paper that he used.

Angry Kid is used to me taking photos of everything.  He never wants to pose for my pictures, yet he wanted to photo bomb the nightstands when I was trying to get pictures this afternoon.

After sanding the nightstands, it was time to prime them. We used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water Base Primer tinted gray. We painted two coats of primer on the nightstands. Yes, I actually helped.  It was my job to do all of the creases, edging, and fine details.  The wood really soaked up the primer.  We did the first coat, then let it dry for a few hours. It dried really fast. We did not paint the interior of the nightstand or the drawers. Really, who is going to see that part?

The next day we started painting the nightstands with the black paint (Valspar Satin in black). It took three coats of black. We wanted to make sure not of the primer bled through.  I did not get a picture of the drawers or doors in the painting process.

During the drying process, Angry Husband spray painted the nightstand door hinges with black primer spray paint. He already had some in the garage. He used primer black because I wanted a “flat” and not “glossy” look. Angry Husband reassembled the doors and hinges on the nightstand after the hinges were dry. If you notice the blue painters tape in the photo below, it is because the drawer and doors were REALLY hard to open without knobs.

Angry Husband gave me a deadline to look for knobs for the nightstands, so I started looking.  I went to several different stores, and ended up at Anthropologie, of course.  I checked the regular knobs, and then I went to the sale/clearance area.  I scored six knobs from the clearance section for $2.97 each with a regular price of $10 each.  I was quite impressed with myself.

We put the knobs on, and of course, they look fabulous.  I forgot to mention earlier, that I ordered glass tops for the top of the nightstands and the dresser.  I wanted a fancier look, plus the tops wouldn’t get damaged from drinks, etc.  The lamps are from that fancy store with the red/white logo, Target.  The bird is from Tai Pan Trading (TPT Home). You can also see a sneak peek of the bedding that I purchased.

The After picture:

Now that the nightstands are done, all that is left is the dresser.  I spent this past Saturday night painting the dresser.  I was home alone and this was my project.  I am still exhausted and my arms are sore. How do these DIY gals do it all the time?  I still have two more coats of paint to apply.

I am excited to finish this project and move onto the next one.  Now, I just need to find the matching knobs for the dresser.  I had Anthropologie do a store locate for the same knobs.  I was very excited when a store called and confirmed that they had seven of the knobs in stock.  When I received them in the mail, I anxiously opened the box.  Unfortunately, they were a similar color scheme, but not the same pattern.  So I am still on the hunt for the knobs.