Learn How To Paint Furniture And Breathe New Life Back Into It

Published on: 14 Jun, 2018
Updated on: 14 Jun, 2018

A two-day course at the Guildford Institute is aimed at people who wish to paint furniture and breathe new life back into it.

Tutor Songul Yilmaz Meier.

The tutor is Guildford-based artist Songul Yilmaz Meier. As well as helping people spruce up their old furniture, she is an established painter and drawer and has exhibited in London and Switzerland. She also organises painting holidays in France, Switzerland, Italy and her native Turkey.

Furniture Painting Techniques – for Beginners. runs on two consecutive Tuesdays, June 26 and July 3, from 10am to 3pm, It costs £93.50, £88 concessions and £83 for Guildford Institute members.

Click here to see some of Songul’s work.

Students will learn the process of painting furniture or small household pieces. The painting will be on wood, using gesso, wax and brushwork.

Students are encouraged to play around with a number of small sample panels, to practise techniques such as painting, distressing, finishing and applying decoupage.

In the second session, students will apply their new-found techniques to a tray. All paint and painting utensils are included in the cost of the course, and the tray, of course.

Songul said: “It’s an exciting process of getting something old and raw and creating it as your own. You can even use it to change the colour scheme of your house.”

Some of the techniques she teaches include layering paint and using sandpaper to create the “distressed” look, as if something is genuinely old but still in good condition.

“You don’t have to be an artist”, Songul said, “you just need to have a passion for taking something old and making it look unique.”