Last September, my roommates and I moved into a new apartment in which my new bedroom is much larger than my previous one. This is both great, because my last room was literally the size of a closet, but annoying because I spent most of my extra cash on summer happy hours moving that I had very little money at the time for furniture, which I needed, badly! Luckily, my dear friend Hillary was moving from her sprawling one bedroom in Queens to a much smaller, but much more conveniently located apartment in Manhattan and let me rummage through her extra furniture before she gave it to charity. I found this table, that I thought had major potential:

Before, waiting to be painted!

It was wicker, which I thought was cute, and the shape was perfect for a nightstand. It also had two decent shelves that I badly needed for my overload of books. But it’s brown hue didn’t fit my otherwise pretty girly-colored bedroom.

After some thought about what color direction to take it, I decided to go with white. I absolutely love white wicker, and I figured it would look darling in a bathroom or guest bedroom in the future. Wicker can be tricky to paint, so on the advice of my Aunt Kathy, who handily happens to be a furniture restorer, I chose spray paint. The spray paint was super easy to use (just follow the directions on the can!) and gave it solid coloring with a few coats.

Here’s how I did it:

Tools:

1. One can primer (white)

2. Two cans white spray paint, glossy. Pay the extra bucks for the pricier brand; I’m told it works much better. It turned out good, so I’m sticking to that thought.

3. One sheet very fine sandpaper, around a 220 if it’s numbered.

4.Outdoor Space – Spray paint is an outdoor project. The fumes are rough. Luckily, our new Brooklyn place has a patio, so that was all fine and dandy.

Directions:

1. Protect your surface! I used some moving paper we had leftover from the move to make sure I didn’t paint the patio white. A tarp or an old sheet works too.
   

   Sanding

2. The paint was chipping off of the table in a few places, so I gave it a light sanding with the sandpaper. This was mainly just to remove any rough spots where the paint was sticking up, not to remove the paint from the whole table. A good once-over with the paper did the trick.
3. Next, I broke out the primer. I read the directions on the can of how long to shake it before using. Then I sprayed a light film over the nightstand, making sure to even get the legs and the back of it. I held the can close, and kept it constantly moving in rows, to evenly spread the paint and prevent it from globbing in one area.
   

   covered with Primer...

4. I let that dry for a number of hours (again, defer to the can.) Then I got out the first can of spray paint. Using short, thoughtful strokes, I painted the whole nightstand, going over each part several times. Remember to keep the can constantly moving in rows to spread the paint evenly.
5. I let it dry overnight, and in the morning, I put another coat of paint on, everywhere, again using the same movement the whole time.

And that’s it! I let it dry for a good 12 hours before I carried it upstairs. I have to say, I think it looks great! Before I move it into a bathroom or outdoor space, I will definitely cover it with polyurethane. I recommend that you add this step into your process to further protect it. I was too eager to get it into my room!

In place!

A few tips:

I did learn a valuable lesson on spray painting: The knobs were hard to get because the paint slid down them. You should use a brush to fix those. When I was trying to focus on the knobs with the spray cans, the wicker around the knobs became saturated with paint. I tried blotting it with a paper towel. Bad move. Paper towel definitely sticks to paint, and left a mess on the front part of my nightstand. I let that section dry, and I sanded it down well, and started over with the primer on that portion. Worked like a charm!

Let me know if you have a similar project in the works!