23 Easy DIY Furniture Painting Ideas & Tutorials For Beginners (2024)

23 of the best beginner furniture painting ideas & tutorials that anyone can do! Pick the paint and stains you like to design a custom look.

Step by Step Beginner Furniture Painting Ideas

If you’re looking for inspiration to start your first or next furniture makeover project, I have 23 Step by Step Beginner Furniture Painting Ideas for you today.

There’s tons of different colors and styles on this list. So, I think there’s something for everyone. But, don’t forget, you can use whatever colors you want with these beginner furniture makeover ideas.

For answers to common furniture painting questions, check out this post on How to Paint Furniture for Beginners or this post with more DIY Tips for How to Paint Furniture.

Furniture Painting Ideas With Tutorials for Beginners

OK, here are some of my favorite beginner furniture painting tutorials that I think are super helpful for getting started with painting furniture.

Don’t let any of this overwhelm you. It’s easy to learn how to paint furniture. Everyone makes mistakes, but the more you do it, the more you learn, and the better you get. 🙂

Now, here’s some of my favorite paints, stains, and top coats to use. I’ve had great experiences with these products and feel comfortable recommending them.

Of course, there are a lot of great options that aren’t on this list. So go with what you’re used to using.

5 Best Furniture Paints

Here’s some of my favorite paints to use on furniture. All of these paints are safe, easy to use, easy to clean up, fast drying, durable paints.

And, all of these furniture paints can be used in my step by step beginner furniture painting tutorials.

1. Rust-Oleum’s Chalked Paint
2. Country Chic Chalk Style Paint
3. Retique It Chalk Style Paint
4. Magnolia Homes by Kilz Acrylic Interior Paint or Chalk Style Paint
5. My DIY Chalk Paint Recipe with Plaster of Paris and Latex or Acrylic Paint

3 Easy Furniture Stains for Beginners

Here are the 3 types of wood stains I always pick for furniture makeovers and new wood furniture builds.

1. Watco Danish Oil– I love this because you simply wipe it on, let it soak in, then wipe off the excess. Easy Peasy! But, it’s more transparent than the next 2.
2. General Finishes Gel Stain – Just follow the directions and you’ll get beautiful, rich results!
3. Minwax Wood Finish – Great range of colors available at most stores.

3 Best Top Coats for Furniture

I like a subtle sheen when it comes to top coats these days. These top coats have a professional looking, store bought furniture subtle sheen.

And, I always use top coats that are easiest to apply with a durable finish in just 2 or 3 coats. Here are my top 3 top coats for beginner furniture painting projects.

1. General Finishes Flat Out Flat
2. Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic in Matte
3. General Finishes High Performance Top Coat

Best Paint Stripper for Furniture

I’ve used quite a few types of paint strippers over the years. Some high fume, strong chemical strippers in home remodeling and one stripper that works without all the fumes.

The best paint and stain stripper I’ve tried, that’s easy to dispose of, and that doesn’t have strong fumes is Citristrip Paint Stripping Gel.

Here’s a full tutorial all about stripping paint from wood furniture. It has written steps and a walkthrough video to show you how to get the best results with Citristrip Paint Stripping Gel.

Grab the 19 page free printable version of my Beginner’s Guide to Painting Furniture that includes everything from this post, plus answers to 12 Common Questions about Painting Furniture.

That’s it, guys. Thanks for checking out this post full of Step by Step Beginner Furniture Painting Tutorials. Looking for more of my Furniture Painting Videos? Check out this Beginner Furniture Painting playlist on YouTube.

Make your own beautiful wall art with this DIY Acrylic Paint Pouring Wall Art Tutorial.

You might also like this DIY for How to Whiten Tile Grout. It’s a Game Changer!

And, if it is time to Stain your Front Door, check out these steps for how I restain a front door without stripping it or removing it. 🙂

Here’s How to Clean Car Seats At Home, the easy way.

If you’re into woodworking, try this beautiful DIY Geometric Wood Table Top.

Feeling inspired? Now that you’ve seen these Step by Step Beginner Furniture Painting Tutorials, you can do it too. Let me know if you have questions. Don’t forget to sign up for the Abbotts At Home email newsletter to get DIY, Remodeling, and Crafty ideas in your inbox.