Favorite Furniture Painting Supplies For Refinishing Furniture!

We're sharing our very favorite furniture painting supplies and tools for refinishing furniture!

Over the years I have been asked a lot of questions about painting furniture. 

Many of those questions are usually centered around what's the best paint brands are or products are for painting furniture.

These were a few questions I got asked just last week-


"What paint brands do you recommend?"

"What brand of primer should I use?"

"What should I use to seal and protect my furniture after I've painted them?"

"What kind of paint brushes are the best?"

For those of you that are learning how to paint furniture, you've asked some great questions!

I've put together a comprehensive category list containing my Top 10 Favorite Furniture Painting Supplies that I like to use to prep furniture, paint furniture and protect furniture and I'm excited to share them with you!


(Mostly because now that it's written down I can just direct those curious folks to this link! ;) I'm teasing... Keep those questions coming, I love it!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. If you purchase any of these items, I may receive a small commission. Unless noted, please know that I ONLY recommend painting tools and supplies that I have personally used and love! Please read our full disclosure here.

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BEST FURNITURE PAINT & TOOLS FOR PAINTING FURNITURE 

#1. Favorite Furniture Paint Brands

I love talking about paint and color choices-maybe even more than eating dessert! 

I'm excited to share with you some of my most favorite brands of chalk style paint that I like to use when I'm painting furniture. 


Unless noted, all of the paint brands that I have listed are ones that I have personally used and love! 

Paint color selection, paint durability, paint coverage and usability are all taken into account when I review and try different furniture paint lines. 

In my opinion, this is some of the best furniture paint out there!

• Dixie Belle Paint Company- is probably one of my favorites! Their paint goes on like butter. It's so easy to use! Check out the paint finish on this colorful nightstand makeover.

• General Finishes Milk Paint- Our painted emerald green desk, white painted armoire , emerald green painted cabinet were all painted with General Finishes Milk Paint. 

• General Finishes Chalk Style Paint - I used General Finishes Chalk Style Paint on this DIY Farmhouse Desk.

• Country Chic Paint Furniture & Home Decor Paint

• Fusion Mineral Paint

• Annie Sloan Chalk® Paint

• Renaissance Chalk Finish Paint

Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company:

Here are a few examples of repurposed furniture projects using Old Fashioned Milk Paint here. 

- Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company Green Painted Dresser
- The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Farmhouse Dresser Makeover

Pure & Original Classico and Fresco Lime Paint:

You can see refinished furniture projects painted in Pure & Original Classico paint here:

- How To Paint Wood Furniture With Pure & Original Paint

- Refinishing Furniture With Pure & Original Paint

- How To Transform Second Hand Furniture Easily

- Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest With Pure & Original Paint

I've never personally used Miss Mustard Seed's products, but I've heard nothing but raving reviews about them from my furniture artist friends! 

#2. Top Favorite Brands for Wax and Top Coats

Hands down, this $3 Top Coat Applicator Sponge is my very favorite way to apply top coat! 

Why do I love it? It doesn't leave brush strokes, you can rinse it and reuse it over and over again. It's fabulous! 








For low traffic furniture pieces such as buffets, hutches, mirrors, etc... I like to use wax. 

I love the low sheen and buttery smooth finish that it gives. Here are a few of my favorite furniture waxes:

• Daddy Van's All Natural Beeswax and Furniture Polish
• Dixie Belle Paint's Best Dang Wax goes on SO smooth!
• Miss Mustard Seed's Wax is also fabulous!

For high traffic furniture pieces such as nightstands, table tops, coffee tables, etc., 

You know those furniture pieces that get touched a lot, get things set down alot, etc. I like to use the following sealing products:

General Finishes High Performance in Flat

Dixie Belle Clear Coat-Dixie Belle Clear Coat was used on this pair of colorful painted nightstands. 

Dixie Belle Gator Hide- This stuff is so durable! And with that $3 top coat applicator sponge, it simply goes on SO easy!

I haven't used Polyvine Wax Finish Varnish in Dead Flat or Polyvine Hard Wearing Varnish. It's on my bucket list to try for 2022 because all of my furniture refinishing friends say it's amazingly durable!

#3. Best Paint Brushes To Paint Furniture

I have a few favorite paint brushes that I like to paint furniture with. 

All of which have different purposes (solid coverage, shading, distressing, etc.).  In no particular order, the following paint brushes are my go to brushes!

Country Chic Paint Oval Paint Brush- Their oval paint brush was used on this Classy Rustic Black Nightstand Makeover.

Purdy 2.5" Angled Paint Brush- Standard size brush for most projects. 

Inexpensive Set of Artist Brushes- for shading and getting into detailed areas.

These Cling On flat paint brushes for chalk style paints get RAVE REVIEWS and are amazing to work with! 

#4. Best Paint Sprayers/ Paint Guns For Painting Furniture

I invested in a Titan Capspray HVLP which I LOVE! But, it was definitely an investment. 

If you want to try your hand at spraying furniture, I've also used an inexpensive HomeRight Finish Max Pro Sprayer. 


It's the perfect paint sprayer for beginners because it's so easy to use! Here are some other paint sprayers that my furniture painting friends have used and love as well!

• Graco FinishPro Project Painter Plus
• Earlex HV5500

#5. Best Products For Repairing Furniture

These are some of my favorite go to products when I repair furniture.


Filling gauges and hardware holes is an almost daily occurrence when you're refinishing furniture. 

Some are large repairs and some are minor fills.

The following products are my absolute must haves when I need to fill wood and repair furniture!

For major repairs, I like to use:

• Bondo! I reach for this magic in a can for all of my major repairs.
• DryDex Spackling- Is inexpensive and also works great!

For minor repairs, these products get the job done in a pinch!

• DAP Plastic Wood Filler
• Miniwax High Performance Wood Filler

#6. Best Products To Prevent Stains, Bleed Through & Odors

Mahogany stained furniture will almost always bleed through tannin, a pinkish discoloration that seeps up through your paint no matter how many coats of paint you try to apply.


What can you do to block and stop the bleed through? Here are my favorite products to prevent water marks, stains and tannin!


First things first. Don't waste anymore of your paint. You will need to block the stain before you can fix the problem.

My favorite remedy for bleed through/stains is shellac or shellac based primer. It also comes in a spray!

• Zinsser Shellac Base Primer & Sealer
• Zinsser Bulls Eye Shellac
• Zinsser Spray Shellac

If you're trying to remedy a piece with strong smoke smell or pet odors this Spray Shellac is like magic in a can!

#7. Favorite DIY Tools For Refinishing Furniture

Below are some of the most common tools that I use to repair and fix furniture. 

Like my HPLV spray paint gun, these DIY tools are also an investment. 

I'm listing these as my favorite tools for refinishing furniture because these get used almost every week!

• DeWalt Orbit Sander Great for overall surface sanding!
• Makita Multipurpose Tool Great for sanding in tight corners!
• Cordless Milwaukee Compact Drill
• DeWalt Measuring Tape 
• Shop Vac- Not necessarily a tool, but I LOVE my shop vac! It makes cleaning my furniture pieces so easy!

#8. Must Have Painting Supplies

Layering furniture paint on furniture has never been easier with this continuous fine mist spray bottle! It works SO good and helps blend my paints so well. 

When you are sanding or painting furniture you should always wear a respirator mask to protect your lungs from chemical fumes and particles. This is a great one!




DeWalt Orbit Sander Replacement Discs in medium and light grit.

Drop Cloths- I like to use inexpensive shower curtains from the Dollar Store. ;)

Floetrol- Adding a little bit Floetrol into your paint to dramatically reduce brushstrokes.

Gorilla Wood Glue

Clear Plastic Wrap- I wrap my paint brushes in this so they don't dry out. Ziplock baggies also work!

#9.Furniture Dolly

Absolute Life Saver! My sweet husband made me this wood dolly pictured here but these furniture dolly wheels are so easy to use and maneuver!

#10.Favorite Wood Stains

I like several brands and colors so I'll share some of my favorite go to stains that I like to use on my furniture projects.


Minwax Walnut Stain

Minwax Jacobean Stain

General Finishes Java Gel Stain

Minwax Grey Stain

There are a lot of amazing DIY paint and furniture products on the market. 

Over the years of painting furniture these are the painting products and supplies that continue to use on a regular basis.


I hope we've introduced you to something new! If you have a question or a product not listed that YOU love, please leave me a comment below I'd love to hear some of your favorites! 

Learn more with Thirty Eight Street's furniture refinishing tutorials.




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See our Top 10 Most Popular Furniture Makeovers here!


Happy furniture refinishing!
Carrie || Thirty Eighth Street

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