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    Home » Painted Furniture » How To Paint Bedroom Furniture Gray

    How To Paint Bedroom Furniture Gray

    This post may contain affiliate links

    I've been moving toward neutral colors for furniture. I know. That is so not me. I've decided it's better to add the wow color factor with the room accessories and change up the inexpensive decor when with the seasons......or my mood.

    How to paint bedroom furniture gray

    How to paint bedroom furniture gray

    That brought to mind this beautiful piece my granddaughter painted several years ago. Some of you may have seen it but take another look. My granddaughter Tenley was 12 at the time. She is now 17 and will be heading to college in the Fall. Time Flies. Tenley did a great job on the chest of drawers. I think she takes after her grandmother!

    Tenley painted the chest of drawers in August just before she started back to school. She selected the pretty gray color. To say we are total opposites when it comes to color choices for everything from clothing to furniture is a great big understatement.

    vintage bedroom furniture makeover project

     

    This is the chest Tenley picked out to replace a smaller piece in her bedroom. I think we paid $100 for it at a local thrift/furniture store. The chest on chest look is one of my favorite furniture styles. Tenley has great taste.

    solid wood furniture

    Solid wood furniture is hard to come by these days. That’s why I prefer older pieces. Tenley cleaned the chest with Simple Green. She numbered the back of the drawers so we could put them back in the same spot.

    You would not believe what a time saver this is. On some pieces the drawers only fit correctly in one slot. It may not be important to number the drawers depending on the piece. You make the call.

    removing original furniture knobs

    She removed all of the original hardware. Never paint furniture with the hardware in place even if you aren't changing it out.

    FrogTape to cover screw holes

    We wanted to replace the pulls with knobs so we filled one screw hole on each side of the drawer. We opted to fill the inner holes and use the outer ones for the new knobs. I always place painters tape over the screw holes on the back of the drawer fronts to keep paint or wood filler from leaking into the drawer.

    sanding wood filler

    Tenley and I filled the holes with wood putty and sanded the filler smooth when dry. I have a complete tutorial on replacing furniture hardware here....How To Replace Furniture Hardware.

    ready to paint

    In case I didn't explain the hardware screw hole story well you can see what I mean in the photo above. Now there is only one screw hole on each side of the drawer and we can use drawer knobs instead of drawer pulls. Ready for paint.

    Tenley painting furniture

    We used Glidden Gripper primer tinted gray for the base coat. I was afraid the red tone of the original finish would bleed through the paint. Sometimes it even bleeds through the primer but not this time. Yea!

    use primer when painting furniture

    Updated: There is a new name for Glidden Gripper. It is now PPG Gripper and you can buy it at Home Depot.

    Priming furniture

    We got a late start on the project because of the Summer heat. Tenley was anxious the chest of drawers finished before school started back so we just bit the bullet and did it. I guided her through the makeover but she did the majority of the work.

    Tenley priming bedroom furniture

    Priming Furniture Before Painting

    She did a great job too. The primer goes on really smooth and is a nice solid color base for the top coat.

    granddaughter painting furniture Petticoat Junktion

    We applied the primer one day and the latex paint the next day. The paint color she selected was a soft gray. It was just a little lighter than the primer. One coat of paint was all that was needed. By the time the project was finished Tenley was almost a pro.

    beautiful painted bedroom furniture

     

    Tenley picked out the pretty knobs at Hobby Lobby (50% off). I admit to being a little skeptical about her choice. I of course was pushing for something bold. But it's her project and her furniture and I let her pick out everything. As you can see she made a great choice. The chest of drawers is very classy looking.

     

    I mentioned how it's easy to decorate around furniture painted in neutral colors. Tenley's main bedroom accent color is purple. Gray and purple look awesome together. Other accents colors for gray are coral, navy, red, pink, yellow, fuchsia, orange......just about any color.

    how to paint a chest of drawers gray for your bedroom

    How to paint a chest of drawers gray for your bedroom

     

    What do you think? My girl did a good job didn't she.....

    before and after painted furniture makeover

    Paint Bedroom Furniture Gray

    Do you want to try your hand at painting furniture but you are afraid? No Worries! I wrote a post just for you. click here.......Painting Furniture Guide 101 For Beginners.

    As always thanks for being here, Kathy

    Find my favorite supplies here.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lisa

      September 28, 2022 at 8:17 am

      Tenley did a beautiful job! I love the "glow" on some of the surface. Is this what naturally occurred when using this paint or did you put wax on the top? Just learning. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        September 28, 2022 at 8:00 pm

        I think it was the lighting!

    2. Rose Lefebvre

      November 12, 2019 at 12:03 pm

      Looks nice! And the grey can go with any other colors introduced into the room.

      Reply
      • Cher

        May 20, 2021 at 3:39 pm

        What color of paint did she use? I love the gray!

    3. Catherine Klose

      November 12, 2019 at 9:37 am

      Super job and excellent color choice!!

      Reply
    4. Marie, The Interior Frugalista

      August 22, 2016 at 11:43 am

      She did a beautiful job - a stunning dresser makeover and an excellent choice for the hardware! Pinned to share 🙂

      Reply
    5. sherry

      August 20, 2016 at 8:46 am

      The dresser turned out beautiful, and I love the knobs! Great job!

      Reply
    6. Stacey Keeling

      August 18, 2016 at 3:36 pm

      Kathy, this looks amazing and I love that you are passing on the knowledge. 🙂

      Happy Thoughts of Home friend.

      Reply
    7. Dianne

      August 16, 2016 at 10:53 pm

      She did an amazing job! Love the finished dresser.

      xo Dianne

      Reply
    8. Kim

      August 15, 2016 at 9:08 pm

      What a great piece and nice grey too. Thanks for linking up to Merry Monday! Sharing on G+! Have a great week!
      Kim

      Reply
    9. Lisa J. Donath

      August 10, 2016 at 4:57 pm

      Cathy on one of your other painting projects, you added a bonding agent to your paint for durability. I've never heard of this. What exactly is a bonding agent and which one did you use.
      Thank You,
      Lisa J. Donath

      Reply
    10. Marcia Banach

      August 10, 2016 at 10:42 am

      Wow, she did a great job! I see an assistant in your future...

      Reply
    11. jane w

      August 09, 2016 at 9:56 pm

      just perfect! thanks for sharing!

      Reply
      • Rita

        November 12, 2019 at 8:19 pm

        Tenley did a super job. Grandma taught her well.. I like this gray color most of the gray I see is too dark, this isn't.

    12. Tami @ Curb Alert

      August 09, 2016 at 9:02 pm

      Kathy, she did a great job! ?

      Reply
    13. Debbie Manno

      August 09, 2016 at 6:37 pm

      WOW! What a show stopper of a piece! Starting them young I see Kathy:)

      Reply
    14. Gracie Redfield

      August 09, 2016 at 6:33 pm

      She did a fantastic job, painting the dresser! Talent runs in your family!

      Reply
    15. Beth

      August 09, 2016 at 6:30 pm

      I love this! So sweet.

      Reply
    16. Judy

      August 09, 2016 at 1:55 pm

      Beautiful......she did a great job!

      Reply
    17. Shelley

      August 09, 2016 at 12:57 pm

      well done

      Reply
    18. Sandi

      August 09, 2016 at 11:10 am

      The chest on chest looks awesome. Lovely color. Nice job Tenley.

      Reply
    19. Christopher

      August 09, 2016 at 10:57 am

      Beautiful! Looks like you have a protege!

      Reply
    20. [email protected]

      August 09, 2016 at 10:26 am

      Great furniture and great colour choice. Tenley has talent and a talented grandmother.
      Joy

      Reply
    21. Alice

      August 09, 2016 at 9:46 am

      What a lovely job! Congrats!!!

      Reply
    22. Jen @ Girl in the Garage

      August 09, 2016 at 9:31 am

      Kathy, it is gorgeous in the soft gray and those knobs are perfect! Tenley might be your future apprentice, she's a natural!

      Reply
    23. Suzee Bain

      August 09, 2016 at 9:10 am

      Great job Tenley! Obviously the apple has fallen right next to the tree!

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        August 09, 2016 at 9:16 am

        Haha! Thank you.

    24. Jennifer

      August 09, 2016 at 8:07 am

      Wow! She is darling! And she did such a nice job on the dresser! She is way ahead of her age on DIY savvy! 🙂

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        August 09, 2016 at 7:42 pm

        Thank you Jennifer. She loves to get creative!

    25. June

      August 09, 2016 at 8:07 am

      It's awesome, she did a great job!

      Reply
    26. Laura

      August 09, 2016 at 7:50 am

      Great job! What color paint did you use? I really like it.

      Reply
    27. Rhea Kraszewski

      August 09, 2016 at 7:48 am

      Beautiful! I love the style, color and the knobs! Just a question, I followed your directions and painted a piece of laminate. It's done and looks great but anytime I put something on it when I lift off the item it sounds like it has stuck though it hasn't. It was painted well over a month ago. Is it still curing? Should I put some kind of other finish on it? It's a small sofa table and I want to put candle sticks on it but I'm afraid they will pull off the paint at some point. Thanks in advance. Rhea

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        August 09, 2016 at 9:16 am

        I'll email you Rhea and maybe we can figure it out!

    28. Dorothy

      August 09, 2016 at 7:41 am

      Tenley did such a good job. She is also very pretty. It's great that she is taking an interest in such things. Please tell her "great job" for me.

      Reply
    29. BJ

      August 09, 2016 at 6:36 am

      One of my favorite colors! Great job!

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Kathy!

    The creator at Petticoat Junktion and I love decorating my home. My decor is an eclectic mix......

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