Late the the furniture painting party... advice needed!

[IcanandIwill]

I know I'm late to the furniture painting trend.

Have done a few pieces so far using frenchic, I'm happy with the results but they have needed a lot of coats to get a good solid colour.

I have a ton of old pine furniture in the DC's rooms and would like to update it. The thought of 5 or 6 costs of frenchic isn't appealing.

Id like a matt finish and durable paint. Any ideas or tips?

And that should of course say coats!

There's a Facebook group for Frenchic fans. I'm following this post for tips though!

I’ve used Little Green in “intelligent eggshell”. I lightly sanded, sugar soaped, and did 2 coats.
There are no brush marks and it was easy to apply.

Ive also tried b&q own brand furniture paint and it was an absolute pig to use and looked rubbish afterwards!

I’ve heard really mixed reviews of Frenchic (needing loads of coats, mostly), and otherwise a very strong “editing function” on the Facebook page (which I’ve never used to be fair), which put me off trying it.

We had a ton of pine furniture too. I washed it down with sugar soap and applied a coat of Zinnser Bin primer, then followed with with a dulux eggshell. You can put the Zinsser straight on without sanding and then use any paint over the top. It transformed the room and I'm really pleased with the results.

If you use Frenchic Alfresco you do, indeed, need many thin coats, with 2 hours between. But the colours in the Lazy Range need only a couple, in my experience. The finish is a chalky matt, but can be buffed to a gentle sheen as wax is in the mix.

Fusion Mineral paint looks fabulous - never tried it though as there are no stockists in my area.

I've used Frenchic and Annie Sloan in the past. The colours for Frenchic do vary I found. The alfresco blackjack was really good as was Wolf whistle and wedding cake in the lazy range. I had to put a top coat in both though to avoid marks. I did my garden gate in alfresco old blue eyes and that's been really really good. I think in future I will try Little Greene intelligent eggshell though as I've head much better things about it.
Also heard the Fusion mineral paint is good but pricey. Unfortunately I think this kind of thing just is a bit pricey. There is a Frenchic Facebook page and it is a little bit like a cult. Everyone paints their door dusky blush and then paint everything else in sight. Bit weird. But you can get some good tips and inspiration on there occasionally. There is another good fb page called House Talk that has more advise.

@Saz12 - thank you for the Little Greene recommendation. I have just ordered a paint chart!

Thanks. Liking the sound of the dulux and little green eggshell, I shall investigate!

Yes I've been on the fb group for frenchic and it does seem highly moderated... to say the least! So far no dusky blush front door here... I dont think the DC's would approve!!!