Oh okay gotcha! I have primed and painted bare MDF when we’ve built a piece I guess I should have made that more clear. I have trouble getting it to stick when the furniture already has a finish on it… like more of a veneer finish, if that makes sense. It’s almost like the surface is too smooth or not porous enough to grab ahold.

BM advance. It’s usually over SW wall and wood primer. I don’t know why I shop at the 2 different places….I’m usually doing trim work, but I’ve built bookcases out of MDF and just painted with Valspar whatever from Lowe’s. But, BM Advance is the best paint I’ve come across if one desires a smooth, traceless finish with a brush. It cures slowly, but it will be solid after a week or 2. Prime the MDF with a nice primer (the one I suggested above or Zinsser 123) and you’ll be fine with any paint.

Thanks Deb! 🙂

Great to know about the Bondo spreader! I’ll have to pick one of those up. My hubby is much better with spreading it out than I, so that sounds super handy. What paint do you use when you paint MDF? I have never had good luck painting MDF with regular latex paint. Even after sanding It always peels or scratches. If I’m painting a larger piece of furniture, I’ll make my own chalk paint which is super cheap!

Also, any paint can go on mdf. A nice sandable primer helps, especially with the “fuzzy” edges, and then you can put whatever paint on it that you want. With your piece already “finished,” you could have just painted over it, but a light sanding and primer never hurts. No need to use the expensive “chalk paint” unless you want to.

Looks good overall. I like the faux wood grain.