Emulsion on timber?
 

Hello JT-ers. I need some advice please!!!!
I have a desk collected a while back and thinking of painting it the same coulour as the walls in the room- timber is not great in it and can't just sand it. Did anyone try emulsion paint on timber??? Does it work??? As I have leftover paint from the walls and would be great if I could use it on this desk, even if I have to finish it with clear varnish??!!

desk
 

Hi Hackytza, Yes I have done this and it works well. A couple of coats of your emulsion to get the finish you want and then seal it with varnish or a coat of pva (polybond). If you use varnish the colour will change slightly as the varnish is usually amber colour in the tin and isn't quite transparent when dry. Poly bons seals quite well and dries clear. Just remember it is water soluble so no vigorous scrubbing or cleaning! We have also done wallparer border around the edge of a chest of drawers and sealed it with polybond and it lasted for years, and my son did a collage of comic book characters on hes desk and waste paper bin and again lasted well when coated with pva. Happy restoring and enjoy experimenting, Eibhlin.

Thank you so much. I'll start at it in the morning. I was going to have a go at it anyway, but your advice gives me confidence now. Thanks again :-)

instead of wall paper in a small home
 

anyone managed to do tastefully cover a one wall or part wall with memories i would like to do this behind bed and in front of bed, no frames, just either montague or something, and not for it to become far too overwhelming. most are photos which help
anyone try a mobile lik a kids one with a clip on the end to make the mobile into a two side photo holder, ending up with all potos on each bar etc that hangs, i use a piece of foam board for the middle.

yes you can use emulsion over timber. First make sure timber is clean and sand surface to get a good key. It is best to use a good qaulity emulsion ie acrylic paint such as color-trend or crown easy clean, rather than vynil emulsion.....give a couple of coats and protect using a clear acrylic varnish.Polyvine do a very good dead flat varnish....You can also protect the paint with a coat of clear wax

Great ideas.
 

These ideas sound great, I would love to see some pictures. Tomorrow I am going to search for a tin of polybond.

Is really working great - I should have taken photos of the desk before I covered it all with papers and junk :)

I have used timber clear varnish to seal it, which gave it a yellow-ish shade. I believe polybond will do a better job.

If you use a water based varnish it wont yellow .

Thanks for that tip Clubby.