Get The Best Finish On Your Flea Market Finds

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Getting the best finish on your flea market finds is really a matter of preference. Some would say it is you should always use chalk paint or one of the other choices. I believe it is a matter of the look you want to achieve. 

Often a piece of furniture will tell you what kind of finish it should have on it. Let me explain what I mean by that.  A piece of fine furniture with beautiful wood may not scream for being painted. It may just need a good oil for restoring  the wood or just be cleaned up really well. 

When I pick up piece up I usually don’t know exactly what I am going to do with it.  Most of the time I buy it and bring it home. After looking at it for awhile I decide what I want to do with the furniture. 

Supplies

• Choose which kind you want to use:
•  Chalk Paint
•  High gloss paint.
•  Milk Paint
•  Primer traditional paint
•  Topcoat wax

• High quality round paint brush
• 2″ angled paint brush
• A Variety of Sandpaper
•  Dropcloths
•  Clear Coat Finish
• Wood Filler

Somethings You May Need

• Dowel Rods 
• New Handles
• Corner Plates
• Keyhole covers

Milk Paint

Getting the best finish on your furniture is really a matter of choosing the look you want.  Each type of paint offers a different look.  Milk paint has been around for a very long time. Just saying that tells you how long it last.

If your grandmother had a piece of painted furniture it could have been milk paint. Milk paint leaves a matte finish that will have a classic, vintage look to it. 

The piece above this section was perfect for Milk paint. It was old, had a dark finish and I knew painting it would bring out the beauty of it’s age. 

Some qualities of milk paint are:

1. Prep work is minimal.

2. Any peeling or crackling adds to the charm.

3. No top coat is absolutely necessary. 

 

The Transformation

I love the way it turned out. The chippy finish is part of milk paint. You never know if the piece will actually crack and peel. It is part of using milk paint. 

Some pieces just beg for a chippy, old, vintage look. 

This piece was not “fine” furniture. It also was not in good shape. It was very old and needed work. The original handles had never been removed and they were a bugger to get off of there. 

Milk paint was the perfect solution for this piece that is small enough to go in multiple places. 

Chalk Paint

Chalk paint is a totally different paint. It also has many pros.

1. No prep needed. Just wipe a piece down and paint.

2. Leaves a smooth attractive finish. 

3. Can be given a buttery smooth look or a little glossier look. 

4. Is tough, but looks good smooth or distressed. 

5. It dries quickly.

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This was another piece of furniture that was not expensive or nice, but I needed vertical storage in my sewing room. The bookcase cost about 45$ and I wanted to paint it. 

My husband was out of town and so I drove my truck to the house and had it loaded up. The funny thing was, I didn’t know how I was going to get it out of the truck back at my house. Fortunately my sister and her husband walked by at the exact moment I pulled into my driveway. So there was my help. 

After we unloaded it I got right to work. I started painting about 10:30 am and was finished by 6:00 pm. The next day I repainted spots that were not totally covered and I also had more daylight to see. 

Chalk paint dries quickly which decreases the time it takes to finish a piece. It does not chip the way milk paint does and leaves a smooth nice finish. 

Getting the best finish on your flea market find will involve deciding a look that you want. 

Milk paint will have a more rustic, farmhouse look.  Chalk paint will have a more colonial look that can be enriched by wax or another top coat. 

 

Satin Paint Finish

Lacquered Furniture

Sometimes a piece of furniture screams, “I need to be shiney!” They just have a more formal classic look and need to have some gloss to it. 

You can use just about any paint for this type of job, but, and it is a big BUT,  there is more work involved. 

 

Getting a Glossy Look For Furniture.

Glossy furniture just looks cosmopolitan. I find it to be beautiful. It appeals to me in so many ways, but I do not like the work involved in it. 

This type of piece must be sanded first. The sanded helps the paint to stick to the wood. Chalk paint and milk paint both stick to unprepped wood. A glossy paint will not. 

After the piece is dry a lacquer or glossy polyurethane can be added to protect the piece and offer an even shinier look. 

So, Getting The Best Finish On Your Flea Market Finds Is Up To You

When you buy a flea market or thrift store find, take it home. After you get it home make the decision about how you want it to look. 

Do you want rustic, glossy or classic? Those choices will decide what kind of paint to use. 

Another factor will be how long you want to work on your treasure. If you want to quickly finish it the glossy lacquered look may not be the way to go. 

It is really up to you and the look you want to achieve. Think where you want it to end up and how you want to use it. When you finish it, looking at the work you did will make you smile. You will enjoy the piece twice as much because, YOU DID IT! 

My previous post about painted furniture.