In this post, I will share a complete step by step guide for painting Ikea furniture. Yes, you can paint Ikea laminate furniture. However, you do have to do extra steps to ensure you get a long-lasting paint job.
I want you to achieve a flawless paint job and avoid chipping and peeling. Ikea hacking has become popular. It is so easy to tweak an original Ikea piece and match it to your decor.
Sometimes, a good paint job is all it needs to have a new look.
5 mins 30 minutes
Here is a step by step guide on how to paint Ikea furniture.
- Prepare your piece.
I always recommend a thorough prep with any paint job. Clean your Ikea piece with degreaser to remove any dirt and grime. You wouldn’t put makeup on a dirty face, the same goes for your paint job.
Lightly sand your piece with a 150grit sandpaper. You can sand by hand, or with an electrical sander. I love using this Ryobi cordless sander.
Lightly sanding keys the surface and allows your primer and paint to get better adhesion.
Wipe away and dust before priming.
- Prime your piece.
The secret to getting paint to stick to Ikea laminate furniture is primer! A primer will help your paint bond to the piece of furniture. It will also reduce chipping and peeling.
I recommend Zinnser B-I-N, Colourtrend Prime 3, or this Rust-oleum Primer. Make sure to use any oil-based primers in a well-ventilated room.
- Choose your paint.
I prefer a durable finish for my painted pieces of furniture. I recommend a satin or eggshell finish paint as these paints require no sealer. I painted this Ikea children’s kitchen in Colourtrend Satin, and I painted this Ikea Alex unit a satin finish paint.
You can use chalk paint on your piece. However, this will need to be sealed with wax or varnish when dry.
- Apply two light coats of topcoat.
Apply two coats of your prefered topcoat, and allow the paint to dry completely between coats. I recommend using a roller to apply your paint to avoid harsh brush marks. You can use a brush on intricate areas of your piece.
- Allow the paint to cure.
One of the most common reasons paint chips is because it hasn’t had a chance to cure. Although paint is touch dry within a few hours, it needs a few days for the paint to cure.
Kind of like nail polish, have you ever painted your nails and they smudge even though you thought they were dry? Well, the same is for paint. Allow a week or so before using your piece of furniture, especially if it is a table or in a high traffic area in your home.
Ikea Painting FAQ’s
Yes! You can. You do have to do extra steps to ensure you get a long-lasting paint job. See the steps above.
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.
If you want to avoid paint chipping and peeling, then yes! Some people skip the sanding process, but a light sanding keys the piece of furniture and gives the primer and paint better adhesion. Learn from my mistakes, I have cut corner in the past and paid for it later.
Once you have given your Ikea piece a good prep and applied a primer, you can use satin, eggshell, gloss, or chalk-based paint. Follow the steps above.
I recommend Zinnser BIN, Colourtrend Prime 2 and Rust-Oleum.
You can stop your Ikea paint job from chipping by giving your piece a good prep, apply the right primer and applying thin coats of topcoat. Allow your newly painted piece time to cure before using the piece of furniture in your home.
Get inspired?
Check out these Ikea Hacks that I have created in my home. I hope you get inspired by them.
I would love to know if you found this post useful and if you feel confident that you learned how to paint Ikea furniture. Let me know if you got inspired and painted a piece of Ikea furniture after reading this post.
Please share your Ikea makeovers with me on Instagram, or you can comment below and share. If you would like to learn more about furniture painting, click here.
Thanks for reading!
Catherine.
Thank you so much for this super helpful post. I am planning to paint the fronts of my IKEA Pax wardrobe and was going to use the Rust-Oleum chalk paint, as it seems to work on IKEA laminate surfaces. However, they do not have so many color options. Which paint do you think works absolute best on IKEA laminate surfaces? According to your post, any paint would work as long as the material has been prepped. Any hints would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Very helpful, thank you. I wonder if would consider doing something on powertools eg how to know which drill to buy, what drill bits, how do you know what size bit to what size screw, etc for hard walls and for hollow walls. I’ve got a couple of Ikea bits I’m going to pain now, so thank you.
Author
Absolutely! That’s what the ideas are for, have fun painting your unit, the storage is so useful!
Thanks for the tips. I am robbing your idea for the shoe storage for the hall as also have a narrow one and was struggling to find something nice that fit. Its just been delivered so these tip are perfectly timed. Now to pick the paint.
Author
Thanks for popping over and reading! x
thanks for the direction from your lovely youtube channel to your blog and this very thorough guide. I will try it out.