Varnish: Painting for beginners | First steps

Do you admire our customer projects on Instagram or have you even had a look around our site? Then you've probably already seen countless examples of ingenious DIY and painting ideas that our customers have used to beautify their homes with colour.

Now you've got the urge to try it yourself? Then we have good news for you: Varnishing furniture, tiles & co. is super easy! We've put together everything you need to know here - from choosing the right colour to the right painting technique!

Table of content

• selecting the colour shade
  
• Select colour quality
  
• calculate paint quantity
  
• Clean correctly
  
• Primer

• Sealing
• Allow to dry and harden

The right preparation

Select colour shade

First of all, the most important thing for you is to find the right colour. Colour is difficult to determine via the screen because the quality, colour reproduction and lighting of the screen vary from device to device. That's why you'll find colour-cards in our shop.

Our MissPompadour colour cards from the Just paint Collection reproduce the varnish Eggshell Varnish almost one-to-one. The colour cards of our CosyColours chalk collection are even painted with the original varnish, so you can easily judge the colour shade and the feel of the paint. The colour cards of the LittlePomp chalk paints are also painted with the original paint

Now you have ordered the colour cards and they have arrived. How do you find the right colour shade now? The most important thing is that you like the colour. But it should also match the rest of your interior. Think about whether you want your painting project to be a real highlight and whether an intense colour appeals to you, or whether you want to let something fade into the background with a subtle colour shade

It's best to place the card next to the piece of furniture or tile you want to paint. Make sure you look at the colour-cards under the different lighting conditions in the room! This is because chalk paints in particular are very lively and look different in every light. After all, the new colour shade should always look good and appeal to you, whether in dim or fixed lighting

Choosing the right colour quality

Varnish colours are used to paint wood, metal, stone, concrete and tiles, whether on walls or floors.

In the MissPompadour Just paint Collection you will find 2 varnish qualities: The robust varnish Eggshell Varnish, which impresses with its subtle sheen, and the completely matt varnish Matt Varnish with its sophisticated look. Use Eggshell Varnish for all surfaces that are subject to heavy wear, such as tiles, kitchen fronts, tables and floors. Eggshell Varnish can also be used outdoors.

Matt Varnish, on the other hand, can be used on furniture that is less exposed to stress, for example on furniture such as chests of drawers, buffets, a cupboard or for a project where you want to achieve a more elegant, understated style. Matt Varnish is for indoor use only.

The CosyColours chalk collection contains subtle pastel colours and some matching accent colours. With these varnishes you have the opportunity to achieve a chalky-matt character with a sophisticated look. CosyColours varnishes are particularly suitable for upcycling old pieces of furniture. The CosyColours varnish is washable and hard-wearing. These varnishes are also VOC-free and easy to apply. CosyColours are suitable for painting wood, metal veneer, plastic and painted and unpainted surfaces

The varnishes from the LittlePomp children's collection are also chalk-based varnishes. The 15 soft, matt-varnish colour shades, developed in collaboration with child psychologists, are not only appealing to children. The colours are also VOC-free and saliva-proof.

Calculate paint quantity

Once you have decided on the colour shade, you now need to find out how much paint you need

To do this, you can simply add up the individual surfaces. Once you have calculated the area to be painted, you can enter it into the quantity calculator for the respective colour shade. This will show you the average paint quantity required.

Please note that this is only a guide value! Depending on the nature and absorbency of the surface, you may need more or less paint. On average, 1 litre of varnish is enough for 8 - 10m2. If you are unsure, please contact our customer service team with your project. They can give you a more precise assessment of whether your project needs more or less paint.

Clean properly

Even if it seems like a trivial and negligible step at first, correct cleaning before painting is often the most important pillar for your perfect painting result.

Because even if the surface appears clean at first glance, there may be wax, traces of silicone or dust on it. However, this doesn't just affect old furniture from the flea market. Even most new furniture, fresh out of the box, needs to be cleaned well. This is because it is often coated for a better grip.

So before you paint your furniture, it must be completely free of dust and grease! Of course, this also applies to all other materials such as tiles and plastic surfaces, especially in kitchens. You can use our To Clean cleaner for this purpose

Primer - yes or no?

You do not normally need a primer on surfaces that have already been painted.

The situation is different with unpainted, untreated wood. It absorbs a lot of varnish colour. It is therefore worth priming with MissPompadour To Bond & Block to close the pores. There are also woods, such as oak, where tannins can still be released from the wood after years of painting. Priming with To Bond & Block is recommended here. Even if there are old stains such as ink or soot on a wooden surface, it must be primed before varnishing

Priming is very important on smooth surfaces such as plastic veneer, metal or tiles. By priming, the varnish will also adhere securely to very smooth surfaces

The right coating technique

The right tool is important. It's best to use one of our great MissPompadour brushes with the fine bristles and bevelled edge. This makes it easy to reach all corners and angles when painting. For larger areas, use a paint roller

Now it's time to paint

1. First, you should mix the paint well with the supplied stirring stick so that the pigments are evenly distributed in the paint.
   
2. Pour the paint into the ingenious compostable MissPompadour The paint tray! Wet the brush or roller well with the paint and spread the paint well over the entire Roller on the unrolling part of the paint tray. Do not press too hard so that the colour is not squeezed out of the Roller.
   
3. Do not apply the paint too thickly and evenly to a section of the surface to be painted. Rollers loosely and without pressure from the wrist and brush over the area with the wet paint a maximum of 2-3 times so that the slightly dried paint is not torn open again
4. Wet the Roller again and paint the neighbouring area. Always paint wet-on-wet and overlap as little as possible. The paint is already partially dry in the previously painted parts - if you roll over it again, you will pull off the dry layer again. This common mistake results in the various glossy spots, streaks and orange peel effect.
5. The varnish will smooth itself out if you use enough paint.
6. Paint once and leave the paint to dry for approx. 4-5 hours. Then apply a second coat of paint. In the meantime, you can wrap the brush or Roller in cling film to keep the tools moist.

After painting

To Seal

If you want to give the paint on your furniture extra stability, you can seal it afterwards. Floor tiles, kitchen cabinets and other heavily used surfaces should always be sealed.

Leave the varnish to dry for 24 hours and then use MissPompadour To Seal. This topcoat is matt and forms an additional protective layer for the paint. Prepare the room in which you are painting well, especially during the heating period. Because the topcoat has a strong static attraction, we recommend thoroughly removing dust beforehand and hanging up damp towels. Otherwise, dust particles will be stirred up by the heating air in the room and then settle in the topcoat. Always use a new, unused Roller and wash it well before using it for the first time.

Allow to dry and cure

Another step that is often underestimated and requires particularly little effort is to allow the paint and topcoat to cure sufficiently. As our wall paints and varnishes are all water-based, they dry from the outside in. This means that although they look finished, they are not yet, because the varnish has not yet bonded to the surface. But don't worry, because it continues to harden every day.

After around 14 days - depending on the humidity and room temperature - the varnish will have hardened to the point where you can put normal weight on it.

Pro tip: Please do not carry out any scratch tests with the varnishes! For one thing, they will not pass the tests before the drying time has elapsed. On the other hand, all our varnishes and colours are stable enough for everyday use and will withstand it perfectly.

Do you already have a specific project and are looking for the perfect instructions? Then take a look at our blogs with step-by-step instructions! There you'll find how-tos that are already tailored to painting projects!