Refinishing a Metal Bed Frame

Preparing to move into a larger apartment has meant needing additional furniture.  Thankfully, we've been able to "borrow" furniture not being used from our parents and reuse it in our apartment.  However, in this case, the furniture did need to be refinished.

I wish I could say this was my first experience refinishing furniture, and I did everything correctly the first time because I'm awesome.  But, that's not true.  This is the second time I refinished this particular bed frame, and it went much better.  Learn from my mistakes because I had to pay for them the second time around.


Materials:  metal bed frame, medium-fine sand paper, liquid sander/deglosser, drop cloths, paint and primer spray paint

1.  Choose a color of spray paint.  This is where I made error number one (of many) when I refinished this bed the first time.  I don't have any pictures of the bed from back then, but it was a respectable white color.  In my youthful exuberance, I decided to paint the bed bright purple (my favorite color.)  This time, I chose Rust-Oleum Universal Paint and Primer- Metallic Aged Copper.  I recommend choosing a neutral color and a paint and primer in one.  I ended up needing to buy 5 cans of spray paint to paint the whole bed.

2.  Using medium-fine sand paper, sand down any imperfections on the bed frame.  This is where I made another mistake the first time.  First, if there any rusty spots you need to sand down those spots extra.  Trust me, painting over rust will not give you an attractive final product.  I had a few rusty spots underneath the purple paint I needed to sand down.  Additionally, since I did not follow proper spray paint application procedure the first time, I had quite a few drips that also required sanding.  When all the sanding was done, I washed the bed down with soap and water to remove all the spray paint dust and let it dry.

3.  Use Liquid Sander/Deglosser to get your bed (including rails) ready to paint.  Now, you could sand down the entire bed, but that is too labor intensive for me.  Follow the instructions on the liquid sander/deglosser that you purchase.  Afterwards, the bed will not look much different, but will feel slightly "rougher".

4.  Place the bed frame on drop cloths if you haven't already.  Spray paint has a tendency to get everywhere.  Better to paint a drop cloth than the floor.  Since I was painting outside, I weighted the corners of my drop cloths down to prevent any potential breeze from blowing the drop cloth onto my bed frame.

5.  Spray paint the bed frame (including rails.)  Since I bought primer and paint in one, I did not have to prime the bed. To avoid drips while spray painting, follow the instructions on the can.  Two mistakes I made the first time were standing too close to my surface and trying to do everything in one coat.  Keep your spray paint can high enough away from your surface.  Use even sweeping motions that allow to paint one thin but consistent coat.  The spray paint can will state how much time you need to wait between coats. To cover the purple, it took between two and three coats of spray paint.

6.  Let the spray paint dry.  Once again, read the back of the can of spray paint to find out how long you need to wait for it to dry completely.

7.  Repeat Step 5 for the other side of the bed.  I waited 24 hours to flip the bed over to the other side.  Ideally, I would have liked to prop the bed up in a manner that would have allowed me to paint both sides at once, but that wasn't an option for me.

Hopefully, I will not be refinishing this bed again for awhile.  Since I haven't moved yet, I don't have a final product picture to show you, but I will soon!