~WHAT PAINT IS BEST FOR COTTAGE FINDS and Other Vintage Treasures?

CHARMING HAND PAINTED CABINET

I started selling my wares on eBay in late 2002 and offered up my first hand painted item early that next year. Although I primarily sold hand-sewn pretties in the beginning, I found myself growing a bit tired of only offering things made of fabric. The thought of including hand painted finds was very exciting to me... So~ that is what I did. I learned to paint!

The first few things I painted for sale were simply dreadful. THEY WERE! I'm not showing you the photos of the first keepsake box I painted because it was honestly that bad... What I have learned since that day I didn't get out of a book. Instead I figured things out through trial and error and to spare you wasted hours and heartache I'm going to share with you some of what I've learned.

1. Be it wood or metal, PRIME FIRST! I've shared this with you before and I can't stress to you enough how important it is to NOT skip this step. I use ZINSSER PRIMER for all things wood because it is the best at blocking old stains and those colors from China that ALWAYS bleed through. Nothing blocks everything, but this brand is the BEST I've found! If you are painting metal, use a metal primer from Krylon or something comparable (like Rustoleum).

2. When painting wood you have the option after priming to either use a flat paint or a satin paint. If you opt to brush paint (which I love!), almost any Behr Paint is good (Home Depot) or Valspar (Lowe's). I use Interior Paint as almost everything I paint is for the inside. But...you can use exterior...it's up to you. I personally use Satin. I like it better and it has a very soft sheen. Flat absorbs my decorative paint far too quickly for my liking~ When I use satin paint I lightly sand with an extra fine sandpaper. This helps prepare my item for decorative painting.

3. When painting metal (anything from old lamps to jar lids, etc.) remember this. Most of the quality spray paint on the market today just recently changed. Krylon (spray paint) could once be used on objects within minutes of the initial painting and then recoated as one desired. Not any longer! Now if you wait more than an hour to repaint you are instructed to wait about two days for the paint to cure before recoating again. If you don't WAIT then you run the risk of your painted object wrinkling and flaking. IT WILL WRINKLE and fixing it is a pain (and that is if you even can)! Trust me. I hate the new stuff and I rarely use it anymore. If I do then I'm VERY careful. Krylon comes in lots of colors so you'll have many to choose from. Additionally...I've grown VERY frightened by the poisonous fumes flying through the air I breathe. I value my health more than ever these days... so, if I can paint with a brush, I do! My health is worth the extra time it takes and I love the results...

BRUSH PAINTED - TRUE COTTAGE DECOR

4. I use sponge brushes! Again, I've shared this before and sorry for the repeat to those of you who have heard me say this over and over! They are cheap, give a good coating with less brush marks and when you are finished (or it gets gunky), toss it out and grab a new one. They come in lots of sizes! I like Lowe's Sponge Brushes better than Home Depot's...they are not made by the same manufacturers!

5. Craft Paint is pretty much to your liking. I use several brands but my favorite is Folk Art. I love how it blends and I love being able to custom mix/blend my favorite shades. I do not use white craft paint or other craft paints to base coat my items. I was never happy with how it covered so now I only use paint with the latex additive.

6. If you like things "shabbied up" then after your item is thoroughly cured you can rough up the edges, corners and trims. I love this look but I know some of you do not. When something is heavily distressed it will show a great deal of the wood (or original coloring underneath). Light distressing usually shows only the bare minimum of wood. You can distress metal, but be careful. Metal (even when primer is used) can sometimes chip when you don't want it too...

SIMPLY PRECIOUS CLOCHE

7. Clear coat! I use Polycrylic non-gloss sealer. If even a satin sealer offers up a bit too much shine I use a LIGHT dusting of spray sealer (Krylon). Spray sealers will change the color of most brush paint!!! Remember though...nearly all the sealers out there will YELLOW! To this day I haven't found one that doesn't! Do not use VARNISH... If you are afraid that your newly painted pretty might turn color...skip the sealer and just use wax.

8. One other option for painting your pretties is to use a paint gun. When I have lots and lots of pieces to paint this is the option I use. However, using a spray/paint gun is a huge mess and the clean-up is rarely worth the results. I still love brush painting best!

Hope you enjoying the information about painting! Now...go out and get your favorite paint and get started!

Blessings to you as you wile away the hours painting your own special finds...Rebecca