Furniture painting that sticks to what's already there.
Wardrobes, beds, dressers and storage units recoated in an opaque finish, laminate and old polish keyed for adhesion first, hardware taken off rather than painted around, and shutters refitted only once the film has hardened.
- Free site inspection
- Written, itemised quote
- 1-year workmanship warranty
- Same-day callback
At a glance
Can old wardrobes and laminate furniture be painted?
Yes, in most cases. Plywood, MDF, solid wood, old melamine polish and even laminate all take paint, but each needs different preparation. The surface gets degreased, abraded to a dull key, dents and edges filled, then primed with something that bonds to that particular substrate. The colour coats are the last and quickest part of the job.
When this is the answer, and when it is not.
Sending you to the wrong service wastes your money and our time. This is how to tell.
This is likely right if
- The carcass and joints are sound but the finish is dated, scratched or chipped at the edges
- You want wardrobes, beds and units in one colour instead of three different wood tones and laminates
- New plywood or MDF joinery has been built and you want a painted finish rather than a laminate
- A study table, children's unit or dresser needs a wipeable finish that takes daily handling
Something else comes first if
- The board has swollen or delaminated from water, a blown MDF or particle-board panel has to be replaced by a carpenter, because coating can't re-bond a swelled edge
- You want the grain to stay visible, that's polishing or staining, which is a different service and a different preparation
- Joints are loose, shutters are sagging or hinges have pulled out, the carpentry comes first, or you end up with a freshly painted shutter that still doesn't close
What the service includes.
Substrate and hardware survey
We identify what each piece actually is, solid wood, plywood, MDF, particle board, veneer, laminate or old melamine polish, because that decides the primer and how far the surface can be sanded. Hinges, runners and handles are checked at the same time.
Hardware removal and masking
Handles, knobs, hinges, runners, mirrors and glass taken off where they can come off, bagged and labelled by piece; masked where they can't. Paint left on a hinge leaf or a runner is what stops a shutter or drawer closing properly afterwards.
Degreasing
Furniture polish, wax, hair oil and kitchen grease sit on the surface as a film you can't see. Primer applied over it bonds to the film, not the furniture, and lifts with it later. Every face is cleaned before anything is sanded.
Keying and filling
Gloss laminate and old polish abraded to an even dull key, dents, screw holes and old handle positions filled, chipped edge banding cut back and made good. Veneer is sanded by hand, it is a fraction of a millimetre thick and a machine goes through it in one pass.
Primer matched to the substrate
A bonding primer on slick laminate and melamine, a stain-blocking primer where teak tannin or old dye would bleed into a pale colour, wood primer on bare ply, and cut MDF edges sealed because they drink coating and swell if left open.
Finish coats and refitting
Applied to the agreed sheen and coat count, denibbed between coats so settled dust doesn't stay in the film, then hardware refitted and shutters rehung once the coating is hard enough to handle.
Not included, or quoted separately
- Carpentry, new shutters, replacing hinges or runners, re-gluing loose joints, or swapping out a swollen panel
- Borer and termite treatment, which a pest control agency has to complete before we coat anything
- Refinishing glass, mirror, cane, upholstery and fabric headboards, those are removed or masked, not painted
- Emptying wardrobes, drawers and lofts, and disconnecting lights, TV brackets or wiring built into a unit
- Re-lamination and edge-banding replacement, which is a carpenter's job and is sometimes the better answer for a piece
The sequence.
Inspection, piece by piece
We open every shutter and drawer, check the substrate, the edges and the hardware, and note what needs repair before it needs paint. The quotation is built item by item from this, not from a room count.
Decide what moves and what stays
Shutters and drawer fronts are usually unscrewed and finished flat, which is how you get an even film without runs. Fixed carcasses are done in place. Whether anything goes offsite is agreed here rather than assumed.
Colour and sheen approval
A sample on the actual material, seen in the room's own light. Sheen matters more on furniture than on walls, a high gloss shows every dent and sanding scratch, a flat matt shows every fingerprint.
Contain the dust
Sanding laminate and old polish makes fine dust that travels through a flat. Floors and adjoining rooms are sheeted, dust is controlled at source, and ventilation is arranged for the coatings being used.
Prepare, prime and build the coats
Degrease, key, fill, spot-prime, prime and then the finish coats, with a light denib between them. This stage decides whether the finish survives handling or peels at the first knock.
Cure, refit and hand back
Hardware goes back and shutters are closed only after the film has hardened, because two freshly coated faces pressed together will stick and tear. We walk the pieces with you and close out touch-ups.
What moves the price on this job.
We do not publish a rate, because it would change once someone measured your property. These are the variables that decide it.
- The number of pieces and the surface actually coated, a wardrobe's interiors, shelves and edges can be more area than its front
- What the substrate is: laminate and old melamine need degreasing, full keying and a bonding primer, bare plywood doesn't
- How much filling is needed for chipped edges, screw holes and old handle positions
- The sheen and system chosen, a hard, high-gloss finish needs finer sanding and more coats than a matt one
- Whether shutters and drawer fronts can be removed and finished flat, or everything must be coated in place
- Whether wardrobe interiors and drawer boxes are included, or only the visible faces
Furniture Painting — your questions.
Can laminate and laminate-faced furniture actually be painted?
Yes, but never directly. Laminate is a hard, closed, glossy sheet and paint has nothing to grip on it. We degrease it, abrade the whole face to a uniform dull key, then use a primer made to bond to slick surfaces. Skip any of those three steps and the coating comes away in sheets the first time a fingernail catches an edge.
Will the paint chip where we handle it every day?
Any coating on furniture can chip if something hard strikes an edge. What decides how often is adhesion and film hardness, not colour. We use a joinery system rather than wall emulsion, keep the film even instead of thick, and let it harden before hardware and loads go back. Shutter edges and corners take the most punishment, so those get the closest attention.
Will the old dark polish show through a pale colour?
It can. Teak and other open-grain timbers carry tannins, and old polish carries dyes; both can bleed up through a pale finish and leave a yellow or brown haze weeks later. Where we see that risk we use a stain-blocking primer and prove it on a small area first, rather than discovering the problem after two coats of ivory.
Do you take the furniture away to a workshop?
Usually not. Fitted wardrobes and built-in units can't move, so they're prepared and coated in place with the room properly protected. Loose pieces can sometimes be finished offsite where dust is easier to control, though transport carries its own risk of damage. We agree the approach for each item at the inspection, so you know before work starts.
When can we put our clothes back in?
A coating is touch-dry long before it is hard. Hanging clothes against a fresh wardrobe interior, stacking on a new shelf or closing two coated shutters onto each other too early will print the surface, or bond the faces together so they tear when opened. We tell you which items can be loaded and in what order, and we refit the hardware ourselves.
Let us look at your walls first.
Tell us about the property and we will set up a free colour and wall inspection. You get a written, itemised quotation afterwards, with no obligation to go ahead.
- We call you back the same day to get a picture of the property and the surfaces.
- We agree a time and come out for the free inspection.
- You get the written scope and itemised quotation.
- Nothing starts until you approve it.