Painting a Desk, Dont know where to put this. Options

[Maccabee]

I was looking for a new desk and i looked all over the place and couldnt find anything. I went into a thrift store and saw this perfect desk for 20$! I would have bought it if it was 100 cause it was what I had been looking for! Well It is probably kinda old and it has this old style wood covering if you know what im talking about.
It looks like wood but it isnt. It is prob a thin layer of plastic that has wood print.

So I was wondering how can I paint this?! I went to Sherwin Williams and they gave us a bonding primer tat apparently sticks to anything. He told us to give the desk a good sand first. I started sanding a leg just to try it and even after sanding really hard it didnt effect it. Im not sure how much I should sand it. Maybe I did it enough. Just to get off the top plasticy layer.

So I guess I just want to here what method you would use. PS: im planning on painting it black.

click to enlarge

(I dont even know why im asking this on a myspace layouts site forum. haha)

[technicolour]

Sand it first. Sand it to where you don't have any of the clear varnish whatever still on there. Uhm. Prime. 2 coats. Just to be safe. And then you'd probably need maybe 2 or 3 coats of paint.


Are you going to use flat or semi gloss or high gloss black paint?

[karmakiller]

It's laminate, right?

If so, you just need to find a sander and take your time sanding it down so it can hold paint. Use an oil based primer since you have a crappy surface and then paint it the color you want with a roller. Sometimes people have put on a latex coat after, but it depends on what the desk is made out of.

[Maccabee]

Like should I sand it till you cant even see any wood texture? Or just so the plastic shiny layer comes off? Cause under the plastic stuff is like cork wood. And we are gonna be paint it with an enamal, satin, black paint. And the primer doesnt specify whether its oil based or not.

O and we tinted the white primer to be black. Since we'll be painting it black.

[brooklyneast05]

it's probably going to look like shit. i mean painting something that resists paint as much as that is asking for it. i hope you're using a low grit sandpaper.

[Maccabee]

...

Well let's say it did work well, which im pretty confident I can get it to do! Do you guys think I should even paint it or does it look good like it is. Im kind od hesitant to do it cause It's a good piece that I have been looking for, for a long time.

[karmakiller]

You could always sand it down (make sure that you wipe it with a damp cloth before you paint it) and then put a layer of paint, sand again, put a layer of paint. If it effs up and looks bad you can always sand the paint off. There are also paints made for plastics, but idk how well those would work. If you google "laminate painting" you can get different ideas. And I'm sure you can google for ways to make it look better doing something other than painting it. It will take a lot of time for it to get right. (But, hey, if in the end you get frustrated and run out of ideas it's not like you wasted a ton of money.)

[Maccabee]

Visual of what the desk may look like after its black.
So should I paint it or not?

[heyo-captain-jac...]

I wouldn't. Use a stain instead of a paint.

[brooklyneast05]

staining fake wood is gonna be worse than painting it i think....

[technicolour]

staining fake wood is gonna be worse than painting it i think....

Exactly. Plus, I doubt a stain would actually stick to the laminate. Even after sanding. A stain would also only highlight the sand marks.

[heyo-captain-jac...]

Painting it isn't going to look good either.

[Maccabee]

You cant stain that stuff. Im not gonna paint it. Im just gonna leave it. I wish I could stain it.

[fire]

Cover it in Pokemon contact paper.

[heyo-captain-jac...]

Cover it in Pokemon contact paper.

This. It will be the most awesome desk ever.


I wish I still had my Pokemon cards. I have one of the Japanese cards still.

[Maccabee]

haha. Good idea.