Help with paint How-to guides

Refreshing wooden furniture: paint, wax, oil or stain

A piece of wooden furniture is refreshed in four stages: clean and remove the wax, sand, prime the bare wood, then two thin coats of finish — Multi-Surface Eggshell for a soft sheen, Dead Matt for a chalky matt. If the wood is beautiful, do not paint it: a Mylands oil, wax or stain revives it in an afternoon. Allow a weekend for a chest of drawers, and a week of care before loading it.

Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team

Old three-drawer chest painted a powdery pink-brown in an eggshell finish, brass knobs, against a warm white wall, on an oak floor — Bloomsbury No.267 in Eggshell: a junk-shop chest, one weekend

Deciding

Paint it, or let the wood speak

Before opening a tin, look at the piece. A thin veneer, a tired oak, a junk-shop pine: paint gives them a second life and brings them into a palette. A walnut, a mahogany, a sound oak with good grain: do not paint them; a wax, an oil or a stain revives them and you keep the wood. Mylands makes both — paints for the first case, wood finishes for the second: oils, waxes, stains, varnishes.

If you paint, two multi-surface finishes suit. Eggshell, at about 15 % sheen, is the safe choice: washable, soft under the light, resistant to hands. Dead Matt, at about 5 %, gives the chalky look of an old painted piece; more delicate on a table top, perfect on a chest or a wardrobe. For a chair or a kitchen table, Satin resists more.

The method

Painting a piece of furniture in seven steps

01

Dismantle, empty, take out the drawers

Handles, knobs, hinges, doors and drawers: whatever unscrews, unscrews. A drawer is painted on its front only, never on its runners. Put the piece on trestles or a dust sheet, in a ventilated room, above 10 °C.
02

Clean, and remove the wax

An old piece is almost always waxed, and nothing holds on wax. Wax remover (or furniture cleaner for light grime), with a cloth, until the cloth comes away clean; then a rinse. On a varnished or already-painted piece, a wash with mild detergent is enough.
03

Sand, fill, sand

With 120 to dull a varnish or an old paint, with 180 on bare wood, always along the grain. Fill chips and holes with wood filler; sand again once dry. On pine or any resinous wood, seal the knots with knotting solution, or they will bleed yellow through the paint within six months. Vacuum, then a damp cloth.
04

Prime the bare wood

One coat of Multi-Surface Primer wherever wood shows, and everywhere if the colour changes a lot. On an old painted piece in sound condition, primer only serves for a big jump in shade. Let it dry 3 to 4 hours, then rub down with 240: that sanding is what makes the piece smooth to the touch.
05

First coat, thin, along the grain

Flat brush on the large surfaces, cutting-in brush in the mouldings and corners, small foam roller on a top if you want it perfectly smooth — then one pass of the brush to erase the roller's texture. Thin coat, laid off in one direction, without going back over what is drying. Touch-dry in 2 to 3 hours.
06

Second coat, and sometimes a third

After 3 to 4 hours, the same movement. Two coats are enough over a well-brushed primer; a red or a bright yellow may ask for a third, thin. Let it dry overnight before refitting the drawers and handling the piece.
07

Refit, and go easy on it for three weeks

Handles and doors the next day. The film is dry, not hard: no heavy vase on the top, no books pressed against the sides for two to four weeks. After that, a soft sponge and mild detergent keep the finish for years.

The chest dismantled on trestles, drawers out, one side sanded to bare wood and the other primed white, a cloth and a sanding block resting on it — Steps 3 and 4: sand along the grain, prime the bare wood, rub down

Not painting

When an oil, a wax or a stain is the better choice

For wood you want to keep on show, the Mylands wood finishes — made since 1884 for cabinetmakers and film sets — give you the choice. Always on wood that is cleaned, stripped of its wax and sanded.

The piece	What it needs	The result
Dulled, sound walnut chest	Furniture cleaner, then a wax (clear or tinted)	The wood gets its depth back, soft sheen, renewed once a year
Oak or beech kitchen table	Hard wax oil or finishing oil, two thin coats	Natural matt, resists water and glasses, repairs locally
Pale pine you find too yellow	Water stain or earth stain (grey, oak, white), then oil or wax	The wood changes tone and keeps its grain
Scratched top, flaking varnish	Strip, sand, quick-dry varnish, matt or satin	Hard protection, looks new, colour unchanged
Junk-shop bare pine	Liming wax or paint, your choice	Liming wax keeps the grain; paint erases it

Oils and waxes cannot be painted over; if you change your mind later, you will have to strip. Each product's page gives its drying times.

The colours

Six pieces, six shades

A painted piece is a movable touch of colour: you can dare more than on a wall. Six pairings, with the colour of the wall behind.

The pink-brown chest

A muted, very grown-up powder pink on an old chest with brass knobs, against a warm white.

Piece · Bloomsbury No.267 Wall · Whitehall No.9

The deep green sideboard

A bottle green on a low sideboard, wooden top kept oiled, stone wall: the piece becomes the dining room's focal point.

Piece · Pleasure Gardens Green No.214 Wall · Cadogan Stone No.59

The honey-yellow chairs

Four mismatched chairs unified by a honey yellow in Satin, around an oak table, off-white walls.

Chairs · Cornhill No.128 Wall · Holland Park No.5

The tone-on-tone wardrobe

A wardrobe in the exact shade of the wall, in Dead Matt: it melts away and the bedroom looks bigger. The rule of colour drenching.

Wardrobe & wall · Beauvais No.195

The midnight-blue bedside table

A deep blue on two small bedside tables, very pale blue walls: a contrast of value, within one family.

Bedside tables · Observatory No.34 Wall · Morning Blue No.32

The brown-black desk

An old pine desk, painted an almost-black brown in Eggshell, top included: the colour gives the presence the wood never had.

Desk · London Brown No.287 Wall · Temple Bar No.70

To avoid

What makes a piece that flakes

Painting over wax. Nothing holds on it: the paint peels away at the first knock.
Forgetting the knots. The resin bleeds through primer and finish in yellow rings.
Painting the drawer runners. They will no longer fit; paint the front only.
One thick coat to cover in one go. Runs in the mouldings, a film soft for weeks.
Loading the piece the next day. Three weeks of curing, or objects print into the paint.

Bedroom with the finished pink-brown chest, a ceramic lamp on it, warm white wall, linen curtain, morning light — The chest in place, a week later

Frequently asked questions

Your questions, our answers

Does old paint have to be stripped completely?

No, if it is holding: sanding with 120 to dull and even it is enough. Strip only what flakes, down to sound wood, and prime those areas. A piece painted before 1990 may carry lead paint: do not dry-sand; dampen and wear a mask.

Can melamine or laminate furniture be painted?

Yes: careful degreasing, dulling with 180, Multi-Surface Primer, two coats of finish. It is the same method as for kitchen cabinets.

How much paint for a chest of drawers?

A 100 × 80 × 50 cm chest is 2 to 3 m² of visible surface: a 250 ml tin of multi-surface finish is enough for two coats, or a 250 ml sample pot to try the shade on one drawer before deciding.

Can children's furniture be painted?

Yes. Every Mylands paint is water-based, low in VOCs and compliant with the EN 71-3 toy standard. See Upcycling children's bedroom furniture.

How do I get a distressed look?

Two coats of close colours — the darker underneath — then a light sand with 240 on the edges and mouldings once dry: the coat beneath reappears where the piece would wear naturally. Seal with a clear wax if you like.