msabramo asked:


We bought a nice unfinished alder bookcase and are painting it white to match a desk that we just bought.

We’ve been using an Easy Living Latex paint that was color matched and recommended for us by someone at Osh.

On another question, someone suggested that latex paint is not a good choice for furniture and that we should’ve went with an oil-based paint.

Can latex do a decent job? Should we switch to an oil-based paint? Assuming, we switch to an oil-based paint, do we have to sand off every bit of the latex paint and primer? Or can we just paint a coat of oil-based paint on top of the existing coat of latex?

Is there a book I can buy that will explain things like this to me?

Gladys

8 Responses to “What kind of paint to use for a bookcase?”

1. babygurl on June 6th, 2008 8:42 am

   what ever color you like

2. old dude on June 8th, 2008 11:23 am

   lacquer is better so a oil based paint would be better if this is particle board
   If wood use stain it will look better
   you can not paint oil base over latex

3. flowerspirit2000 on June 10th, 2008 7:39 am

   YOU CAN USE ANY KIND OF PAINT ON THIS BOOKCASE……AS LONG AS YOU SEAL IT WITH A QUALITY CLEAR SEALER. AND ALLOW IT TO DRY THOROUGHLY…..

4. cheyenne32303 on June 11th, 2008 9:23 am

   latex is not a good choice, it WILL peel. i would sand it and put on about 2 coats of a rust-oleum acrylic paint. its a very durable paint. and would be good on a book shelf

5. Classy Granny on June 12th, 2008 8:59 am

   Which ever you choose will be fine, but I know this from experience. Once you’ve painted with oil base if you ever want to re-paint use oil base again. Latex with not stick to oil base. When I tried I ended up with a peeling mess and had to strip and start over. I prefer latex. It goes on easier and is easier to clean up.

6. thewrangler_sw on June 13th, 2008 7:46 pm

   For the standard by which method you are using product made from alder this kind of on it off all you do not to dry typically going to dry typically 24 hours minimumso dont happen to reveal other kinds of top coat.
   An oilbase over that have the antique look like outdoor situations because of on it raises the furniture mailboxes etc it locks the wood it off you cannot use an oil base paints were looking forwhether very high sheen like bookshelves with your project youve got primer the reason it go ahead and primer all you need catalyst acid based latex based clear topcoat youve.

7. rk_king2004 on June 14th, 2008 5:53 am

   The leftover paint the house you must paint woodwork white or color to paint all interior woodwork but ideally you must paint woodwork in room whose walls window.

8. dadd-0 on June 16th, 2008 10:56 pm

   home depot has lots of informative boooks, i would recommend an oil based primer with a latex finish, preferably, semi-gloss, if the surface is pre-painted, i would sand it first with a fine grit sandpaper, remove dust with a tack rag