stenciling on finished furniture

[ktarsha]

Has anyone ever stenciled on already-finished furniture? What paint did you use (liquid, or the solid creamy kind)? Did you do anything to set it afterward?

I want to buy my son a table and chair set for Christmas, and I have a design in mind to stencil on them. But I haven't found any unfinished tables that I really like; I have found several already-finished tables that I love. (Plus, I'm lazy, and don't want to paint if I can help it!) But if it's a huge hassle to stencil on them, I may give in and buy the unfinished one that I don't love.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[carol]

I have stenciled on factory painted furniture.  I do lightly sand the area to be stenciled first.  You can tape your stencil down and lightly sand the areas to be stenciled.  Use fine sand paper, fine steel wool, or even a green kitchen scrubbie to rough the surface up a bit.  You need a "tooth" for the paint.  Use caution if using a scrubbie.  The color will come off onto your surface, so do not use if your furniture is light in color.  I would seal with a clear poly once completely dry.

[ktarsha]

Thank you for the advice! This is a big help.

[merilee]

I have Stenciled on finished furniture two ways.  One by washing it down, then lightly spraying it with Krylon 1311 matt  then stenciling and clear coating it afterwards.  The other way is to mix any all purpose sealer(available in 2 oz bottles with the acrylic paints) in with the paints and it makes it stick to anything, then clear coat after it dries.

Merilee