Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - painting over mahogany veneer bedroom furniture

My son has mahogany veneer bedroom furniture and we want to brighten his room by 'making over' his current furniture by painting it a neutral colour. We want to achieve a classic but contemporary hand painted look - Is this possible? If so I would be so grateful to receive your advice and suggestions as I'm a single mum and don't have much idea.

I would go to a PAINT store, and see if they have info on doing such. Painting veneer is done a lot, but you first need to assure it is free from any waxes. I find that wiping it down with Lacquer thinner does the trick. It evaporates very fast, but DON'T EVER THROW YOUR RAGS IN A WASTE BASKET. I drop in a bucket of water for a few minutes then wring out and throw away.

You can also Goggle PAINTING FURNITURE for ideas. The Library can be of help too.

This site may offer other thoughts as well.

I wish you well, FOR SURE.

Dale in Indy

As stated above, you need to make sure the furniture is free of any wax or cleaner residue. Liquid deglosser also works well. Dale makes a good point about rag disposal. Any rag saturated with solvent is a fire waiting to happen!

You will need to use a primer like zinnser's BIN to assure bonding to the previous finish. The top coats can be latex, oil base or waterborne. Oil base and waterborne enamels will wear a lot better than latex will.

It's alway a good idea to sand first but with a veneer it should just be a light 'scuff' sanding. Don't forget to remove any sanding dust and repeat beteen coats of paint.

Mark has offerd excellent advice - but as a furniture refinisher for 30+ years doing everything from antiques to junk, I tend to cringe at the thought of painting mahogany - even if it is a veneer!