How to Best Repair and Touch Up Furniture Paint

Improve your wood furniture finish with a little touch up furniture paint.

When it comes to sprucing up painted furniture, DIYers can often find themselves overwhelmed. From knowing which materials to use to selecting the perfect color of paint, there can be an endless array of decisions. Luckily, with a little bit of know-how, anyone can take on the task of adding a new finish to their furniture pieces.

In this article, we'll provide helpful tips and tricks to restore furniture finish with the best possible results. So if you’re eager to implement some DIY furniture repair, get ready to spruce up your pieces with minimal effort and maximum impact.

Restoring Damaged Furniture Paint

Every parent hopes that their children will be nondestructive angels when it comes to furniture. But unfortunately, that is only wishful thinking. My kids write and climb all over their furniture, ding cabinets, scratch the walls and the list goes on. But the good news is that most of these have been fixable.

The best part of painted furniture is that you CAN touch up almost any damaged area with great results. A few years ago I refinished this dresser to go in my daughter's room. It didn't take long for small scratches, pen and marker to appear.

After using wipes and cleaner on dirt and coloring, for best results it was easiest to restore the entire surface top.

Supplies to Touch Up Furniture Paint

To touch up a larger area for furniture painting you will need:

• 220 Grit sandpaper (finer grit is best)
• Paint
• Paint brush
• Top coat
• Optional wood filler

A note about paint touch up - If you are buying painted old furniture from someone, always ask if they have touch up paint of the actual paint colors used, or the paint name and sheen.  If you don't have either, you can take a small drawer or piece of the furniture to your local paint store and have them match it.

How to Touch Up Furniture Paint in Big Sections

Achieve outstanding results to your original finish in a few basic steps! This technique is helpful for large surface areas that have been damaged.

Sand the Affected Area

Begin by taking your high grit sandpaper and lightly sanding over the damaged area. I sanded the top of the dresser just enough to remove the top coat so that the finish is smooth. Shallow scratches will usually come out with light sanding.

Apply Wood Filler

If you have any areas with deep scratches, you might need to apply some wood filler. This is optional, but a good thing to do if your wood has a serious surface defect. After your wood filler has dried, sand again for a smooth finish.

Apply Paint Touch Ups

Once the sanded area is smooth and clean, pull out your touch up paint. I had to go to the paint store and have them match this color since I no longer had any of the original paint. It was a perfect match.

Since the top of this dresser had obviously seen better days, I opted to repaint the entire top. Use a small brush to paint across in long brush strokes to prevent streaking. Wait until it dries to determine if you need a second coat.

Use a Top Coat

After painting furniture and the paint is dry, your best bet for longevity is to apply a top coat. I used a clear polyurethane to seal everything. Now it is just like new!

How to Touch Up Furniture Paint or Painted Wood in a Small Area

For small amounts of touching up, I like to use this touch-up paint pen. This is the best choice I have found for wooden furniture edges or for painted wood trim around the house. And it comes in a multipack so you can have different colors of paint touch-up markers at the same time.

Simply fill your pen with your excess paint color and paint away! Allow enough time to dry before touching.

How to Touch Up Paint Over a Stress Crack

Looking to touch up paint over a stress crack on your wall or ceiling? You can easily touch up this area with a few simple tools.

Apply stress crack tape to your damaged wall. The most important factor is to make sure that the tape lays flat. Then, the last thing you will do is use a small roller brush to apply your wall paint directly over the top of the tape. See details here.

Touching up paint on your furniture is the best option for restoring your piece back to brilliancy. These helpful tips are just what you need to save expense of purchasing new furniture. Become an ultimate furniture refinisher by repairing your own pieces.

Happy DIYing!

Brooke