Paint Over Stain Easily with these Simple Steps

This dresser was the typical ugly orange maple and is now transformed with a beautiful white paint.

Before you paint over stain, the furniture needs to be sanded down. How much sanding depends on how glossy the finish is. If you can see your reflection in your wood furniture, it’s going to take quite a bit of elbow grease to prepare the piece for sanding. If it is still rough to the touch, or has a matte finish, all you need to do it run sandpaper over it a few times. Stain does not need to be stripped off or chemically removed, and doing so will likely cause more harm than good. Just a good sanding to rough up the surface enough to allow the paint to adhere.