No-Sanding Secrets: Achieving Picture-Perfect Furniture with Sherwin Williams Primer

I love working with furniture. The way that the look of a piece can change when you paint it or apply a beautiful coat of stain that allows the natural wood grain to show always amazes me. And when you find just the right piece that is just not the right color, but you know that it can be. Paint can be stripped away to allow the wood to shine through and stain can be painted over with the perfect color for your space.

It all sounds so nice when you think about it but can also be difficult to know where to start. In the past, for example, if you were going to paint a piece that had been stained you would have to first sand at least the top layer off of the wood until it wasn’t shiny anymore. That can really be a lot of work, especially if the piece has a lot of details or you can’t easily move the piece to have better access to it.

If you’ve been staying updated with our blog, you may recall my enthusiasm for Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer. This impressive product not only ensures a quick and easy application but also boasts a fast drying time. Its versatility goes beyond wood, making it suitable for use on glass, tile, and various surfaces, regardless of their sheen.

When I decided to repaint our fireplace I was concerned because it has a lot of intricate details and would have been difficult to sand down. So I went to our local Sherwin Williams store and asked them for some advice on how to paint it and they told me about this primer so I decided to give it a try. I was skeptical because when it dried it seemed to have a lot of brush strokes. So I went back to the store and showed them pictures of what I was experiencing. They told me not to worry, I could either sand some of that down with a fine grit sandpaper. I could also use a self leveling paint and that would hide those brush lines.

My other concern was that I was painting the fireplace a lighter color than the existing color. The Extreme Bond Primer doesn’t have stain blocking so I was worried that the color would bleed through since I was only planning to apply one coat of primer. The darker grey paint color was still showing through but there was clearly a coat of primer on top of it. I tested applying the paint over it and when it dried, I was very surprised to see that the coverage was uniform and the grey behind it was not visible at all.

I have also applied this primer with a roller with good results to our bathroom vanity. I applied it with a brush first and used a roller to smooth out the brush stroke marks but in the end, when used with the right paint overtop of it, those brush marks were not visible. So that can be left up to preference about how to apply it. I did find, however, that applying it with a softer brush did help to provide a more even coat.

I have included a list of the materials that I used to paint this fireplace and a few photos.

Materials:
Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer
Purdy Nylox Glide Brush
TSP cleaner
Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel – Alabaster (SW 7008)
Purdy Syntox Angular Brush Extra Soft
000 grade steel wool (optional)