• Not all furniture requires professional finishing.wooden furniture design image by araraadt from Fotolia.com
  
  The best way to finish furniture is with an air spray gun. It's the method used by professionals, who usually apply several coats of lacquer, sanding in between to get a smooth and shiny surface. There are easier ways to paint furniture that don't require a spray gun, though, and if you have a chair or table that isn't exactly a showpiece, you can use them to exercise your creativity and create some conversation pieces.
  
  

Painting With a Brush

• Using a paintbrush is the most basic way to spread paint, and it is the least expensive. Brushes work better with slow-drying oil-based or latex paints and varnishes than with lacquer, because the paint needs time to level out to hide the brush marks before it dries. The greatest challenge when using a brush is to cover the edges of the workpiece sufficiently without producing drips, but it's only a matter of care and patience to get it right. Brush on at least two coats, sanding each lightly before applying the next, to get the best results.
  
  

Painting With a Roller

• You can improve on the finish produced by a paintbrush by using a short-nap or foam roller. Glenwood Sherry of Bella Online uses this technique to create a base coat for faux finishing. She uses a high-gloss alkyd paint, rolls it on, and gives it plenty of time to dry before she wet-sands it with fine sandpaper and rolls another coat. The slow-drying paint levels to a smooth finish, which she then sands with 600-grit paper or polishes with automotive rubbing compound.
  
  

Spraying From a Can

• Furniture-grade lacquers and enamels are readily available in 12-oz. spray cans that give you the benefits of a surface without brush marks without using expensive spray equipment. You can get results that are almost as good as a professional finishing job if you follow the instructions on the can and apply several coats, sanding in between. You'll probably need more than one can to finish an average chair, but the cost will still be comparable to that of buying a can of paint and brushing it on. Be sure to work in a ventilated space and wear a respirator.
  
  

Wiping on Paint

• You can get interesting color effects by wiping on a thin coat of milk paint. It is formulated with a pigment in a weak, milk-based binder that penetrates more readily than alkyd or latex. By wiping it, you can create an artistic effect with the streaks to give the piece character. This technique won't work if your piece already has a finish coat, but it will work it has been sanded to remove enough of the finish for the paint to penetrate. After the paint dries, spray on a clear finish from a can to protect it.