Sanding: The Step I Skipped Once and Regretted
Okay. So you've found something good at DI or off marketplace, and now you want to just paint it. I get it. Sanding is boring and it's dusty and it feels like the part between you and the fun part.
Skip it anyway at your own risk. I did it once. I'm not doing it again.
The dresser that taught me
Early on I found a little dresser, solid wood, drawers all worked, ten dollars. I was so excited to have found something good that I basically primed it the same afternoon. No sanding, just wiped it down and went straight to paint because I didn't want to wait.
Two weeks later I bumped a drawer front with my hip walking by and a chunk of paint just popped off. Not chipped—popped, like a sticker peeling. Because that's what it was. Paint sitting on top of old varnish with nothing to hold onto. I ended up sanding the whole thing back down anyway, which took longer than if I'd just done it right the first time. So the shortcut cost me the time it was supposed to save. That's the whole lesson, really.
What sanding is actually doing
You're not trying to strip the piece down to bare wood. You're just scuffing up the old finish so the primer has something to grip. Think of it like the paint needs a little bit of texture to hang onto, and a shiny varnished surface has none. That's it. That's the whole job.
What you need
- 150 grit sandpaper for the first pass, 220 for a lighter second pass if the piece is going to get a lot of hand contact (drawer fronts, a tabletop)
- A sanding sponge or block, not just paper in your hand, it lasts longer and your fingers don't go numb
- A tack cloth or just a damp rag
- A mask if you're doing this inside, honestly even outside if it's an old piece. Older furniture sometimes has finishes you don't want to breathe a lot of, and our air is already dry enough up here that dust hangs around and doesn't settle the way you'd think
The actual steps
- Take the drawers and any hardware off first. Sanding around knobs is miserable and you'll skip spots.
- Sand with the grain, not in circles. You're not trying to remove the finish, just knock the shine off it. When it looks matte and feels slightly rough instead of slick, you're done.
- Do this outside or in the garage if you can. DI opens the garage door up, put a fan in it, whatever gets airflow moving.
- Wipe every surface down with a damp rag after. All that dust needs to come off or it'll sit under your primer and you'll feel every speck of it when you run your hand over the dry paint later.
- Test your primer on the back of a drawer first. You know I'm going to say that every single lesson. Sheen and finish behave differently on old wood than on a fresh board, so don't assume.
A quick honest opinion
People spend so much time picking the perfect paint color for a thrifted piece and then rush the prep, and it's backwards. The color barely matters if the paint doesn't stay on. Sanding and priming are the boring fifteen minutes that make the pretty part actually last. I'd rather you spend an extra day sanding than redo a dresser in a month.
When you can skip it (mostly)
If the piece is already unfinished wood, or it's got a chalky matte finish already, you can get away with a light scuff or sometimes none at all, depending on the paint. Chalk paint especially is more forgiving here. But varnished, glossy, "somebody's grandma's good dresser" pieces—sand those. Every time.
I did a similar redo at my parents' place in Mapleton a while back, a spare bedroom that had basically become storage. I wasn't doing furniture that day, just the walls, but I sanded down a little side table while I was there because it had that shiny orange-y varnish from the eighties and I knew paint would just slide off it otherwise. My mom came in while I was doing it and got quiet, said something about how nice it would be for the grandkids to have a real room to stay in instead of a place we kept boxes. I kind of changed the subject and handed her a rag, told her to help me wipe down the dust. It's not a big deal, it's just sanding. But it mattered to her, so it mattered.
Before next time
Find one piece you already have or can grab cheap, and just sand it. Don't paint it yet, just get comfortable with what "ready for primer" feels like under your hand.
Thanks, Stephanie.