Back in 2002, I was on the cutting edge of the black painted furniture craze, when after doing a kitchen renovation at my house in Georgia, I painted my kitchen chairs black (which I shared about 2 years ago here). And I haven’t looked back since then. There have been many more furniture transformations using black paint since that day.  I think this trend actually started with Ballards Designs (at least to me) when I picked up their catalog and began seeing black furniture, a light bulb went off. I can do that!
You’ve seen countless demonstrations of painting furniture black on the web, but here’s mine….again. 🙂 So, join me today for another black spray paint project.
These 2 harp back chairs are yardsale finds (of course, they are!) and I’ve enjoyed them in their brown state for a few years now, but have lately been eyeing them with black on the brain. So, I got busy and changed them. First, you take off the seats by unscrewing those 4 screws.  I’ve changed the fabric on these a couple of times which is as easy as stapling and pulling fabric.
Outside they went and first I wiped them down with a liquid sander. This step just deglosses wood furniture and helps the paint to adhere better.  I do this instead of priming, which most wood pieces don’t require. I hardly ever prime real wood, but I definitely prime anything that is fake or veneer.
I used Rustoleum Black Satin spray paint on these, but any brand will do. I don’t like using flat or high gloss on furniture, Satin is always my preference.
After drying about 10 minutes, the chairs are ready for their spray paint debut. Try to spray evenly with minimal drips. If it does start to drip, keep a paper towel handy to blot it before it dries that way. Not always easy to do if there is any wind outside. I prefer to do 2 light coats, letting them dry in between.  Easy, easy! 
After they are good and dry, I took the sander to the edges. You want to distress in the areas that would most likely wear with age, like the rails, top and edge of the legs.  I didn’t go too heavy with it, since I prefer a light distressing.
Like this, this looks good.
One little step I like to do after sanding, is getting out a can of stain. This is what I had handy, Cherrywood gelstain.
Grab a q-tip and swipe a little stain on that bare wood that you’ve just sanded down. It will give it a nice deep brown tone and seal it up. I just love the way this looks afterward. Take a paper towel and wipe off the excess.
And you’ll be left with some pretty distressing.
The chairs are back in place and I’m happy with them. They fit in better with the black console table they are hanging out with.
Don’t you think?
I’m likin’ the black a lot. 
Yardsale chairs rescued and saved. You gotta love that!
So, do you have something that needs a can of black spray paint to renew and revive?
Added to:
Sarah’s Before and After Party
Kimba’s DIY Day
Susan’s Met Monday
Your article made me want to run out and start sanding all my furniture down! I was looking for an article on how to do this with photos. Thank you very much. You have a beautiful home!
I LOVE it. I’ve been diggin’ black furniture lately 🙂
Beautiful job. Didn’t know about Liquid sander. Thanks for the tip!
I’m late to the party but had to say these look gorgeous! Great job!!!! <3
Hi! I love the chair it looks great! I just sprayed painted an end table that i wanted to be black. It looks horrible… I am not sure why this happended. the paint seemed to buble in certain areas and craxk in others. All around it looks dull not shinney at all… Any suggestions?
Sounds like a NON-POURS surface or you may have heavier in those areas that bubbled or moisture could have been present?
Try to go back over the table with very fine sandpaper (the finer the better) and give the peice a light sanding.
Afterwards wipe down with TACKY CLOTH to REMOVE any dust particals left from the sanding.
Try to be sure to stay at the recommended distance when spraying & move in a long even stroke motion.
Be sure you are Shaking your can of spray paint OFTEN!
Good luck! If at 1st you do not secceed, try try again.
In short…Dont give up! You’ll get the hang of it and then…LOOK OUT WORLD!
I love it. your steps were so helpful. Saving this website as a favorite.
i recently attempted to paint our old breakfast table black. I first spray painted the base and was impressed, it was easy and looked great but then I got to the tabletop and it looks splotchy even though I tried to spray in even strokes. Now i don’t know how to fix it. Any suggestions?? Please rescue me!
OMG I LOVE YOU! I’ve been searching the net for a paint treatment exactly like this for some garage sale chairs I bought. They’re painted white, but I’m sure I can scuff them down to the wood grain to achieve the same effect. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing!
Loved it and it looks easy! We have a drop leaf table we’re planning to paint black. Thanks!!!
I’m going to redo my dining room table and chairs and your blog and advice was by far the easiest and simple to understand. The pictures just make it perfect. Thank you…….and by the way I noticed your vinyl or painted verse on the wall 🙂 My house serves Him too!
Thanks so much! I’m just about to go out and spray away and needed some extra encouragement. 🙂 I never would’ve thought to do the q-tip/staining thing though. That’s BRILLIANT!
Thanks again, Erika
Thanks for the tutorial! I’m ALMOST brave enough to start my first spray paint/refurbish/garage sale find project. This helps a lot!
I love the chairs. After seeing the chairs I decided to paint a chest of drawers black using the same materials. I’m having problems with the distressing, first time some of the areas I sanded left a dull finish around the areas I stained. I had to repaint. I’m going to use a small piece of sandpaper next instead of the sanding block I used first time. Hope I don’t have the same problem, any suggestions?
I have a chair that I painted with a water base paint and then put polyurothain on it. Can I go back now sand edges & apply stain for this same sort of effect?
Found an old entertainment center at Goodwill. Can’t wait to get started.
I used this method today on a giant hutch and it worked beautifully. Thought the thing was a goner, (solid wood piece sitting on the curb!), but after some reworking and sandpaper, the technique you described really brought it to life. Took 5 cans of paint and probably could have taken one more. Thanks!!