I have heard so many horror stories about painting over laminate. Despite all of my fears, I had to try it. This retro table matched my hanging Luby’s light so well that I couldn’t pass it up. It was a Craigslist score! Got it from a place that sells seat belt extenders. Weird. This thing was dated and totally the wrong color… and also a little gross looking.
I did a ton of googling and decided on my plan of attack. I read about this stuff called Zinsser 123. It comes in spray, too! Heart!
So, here’s the deal: It sticks to all surfaces without sanding. What?! Where has this been all of my flea flippin’ life?! The hardest part about this is waiting for it to dry. It dries to the touch in thirty minutes, can be recoated in one hour and has full adhesion and hardness after 7 days. That’s the killer. I primed this ugly-as-hell table with three coats of Zinsser 123, using a smooth roller brush for the top and the spray Zinsser for the metal legs, waiting about an hour between each coat. Then I waited. For seven long days. If you want this to stick and look great, you gotta wait for it to reach max adhesion before painting.
Then I sprayed several coats of Rustoleum Paint+Primer in Gloss White over the top and legs for a smooth glossy finish.
Ready?! Here it is all finished and chillin’ in the kitchen.
Just to be safe, we didn’t put anything on it for 30 days. I wanted to make sure the paint was able to fully cure and harden. We did have a little mishap with a Wendy’s bag. The bottom was wet and left a red ink smudge on the table and it dried before we noticed. Hubs grabbed a blue towel to try to remove the mark and it ended up leaving a blue smudge on top of the red one. Poor thing, he panicked. After a feeling of complete defeat and a holy-crap-all-this-time-waiting-for-paint-to-dry-has gone-down-the-tubes panic attack of my own, I used a tiny bit of Ajax to scour it off and it worked perfectly. So, go ahead and paint over that Ikea furniture! Zinsser, babe!
See more of my kitchen before and after here.
Have a laminate-painting story of your own? Share it!
dena@heartsandsharts.com
MARVELOUS MAKE-OVER! My Gramma Ruby had a white round table that had similar legs. Now, I almost wished I kept it! HeHeHe!
I still have a pair of her laminate 5-drawer art deco chests. We had 3, but my dad already painted one several years back. Don’t know the details (and he’s no longer around to share them). All I know is that he brushed on regular primer and paint to turn it a high gloss bright citrus green. My brother hates the bold color, but I have grown to love it. Plus, the painted finish has held up remarkably well. Your spray paint method has great merit in my book. Q: How did your project hold up? Are you still pleased with it after a year?
Hi Bridget! The table still looks just like it did a year ago! The legs have some scuff marks from use, but the tabletop looks great. I’ve been able to clean it with spray bleach, a magic eraser, and even a little Ajax once, all with no problems! I am actually going to sell it soon, though – I found a great 50’s all-white dinette set and it’s been sitting in my garage for several months and I am dying to get it into my kitchen!
Hi Dena! Great tips and lovely makeover! Let me see if I can find something similar here in India… really have tonnes of things with laminates. Nice to have found your blog (came via Funky Junk Linky).
Thanks Supriti! Hope you can find something similar!
It looks so glossy and perfect!
D,
What about warping on an old laminate table before you Zissner? Thoughts
The table is warped? I am not sure I would mess with a warped table, but that’s just me. The only thing I can think of would be to try to lift the laminate off and then paint and prime, but usually under laminate is some sort of particle board/MDF – If the warping was caused by moisture, then the particle board under the laminate will be damaged as well and your end result will be… not so awesome.