Can you paint cheap Ikea furniture?

[EarlyInTheMorning]

You know the kind. White with veneers, like. I have a cupboard that I thought might look hip and revived with a lick of yellow paint, or will it be pants?

We stayed in a holiday cottage with painted furniture. It was all in a matt sage green and looked really effective.

Not sure how you'd prep the surface though. Maybe some of that ESP, EPS whatever it is...will Google and return...

ESP primer!

Zinsser BIN is a very good primer which sticks to pretty much anything.

Than you, I'll look those up!

yes! I took the gloss off with sandpaper then primed it and painted with spray paints and then leave to cure for way more time than you think necessary (ours sat in the back room). The bookshelves have stood up to my two boys.

Aaaagh just lost my post!

Anyway was saying that I looked into this recently following a recent obsession with Annie Sloan paint. Apparently (after a quick google search) this can be used quite successfully to paint ikea stuff with no priming needed.
I have an ikea wardrobe that is destined for the tip, so I'm thinking of trying it out on that for a test run. I might use the BIN primer first as I uses that on a chest of drawers recently before using Annie Sloan and found it went on a bit more easily than when I put it straight on wood.

You might want to have a look at this for inspiration:
www.ikeahackers.net/2011/12/brave-new-upcycled-billy.html?m=1

amazing inspiration

I did an old Robin wardrobe, 'twas navy blue. Now orange and pink. Primed it first, then painted it with emulsion and a gloss roller. Took a few coats but looks fine. ish

I have painted loads of stuff, just good sand often works well enough. My mum painted venneer kitchen cupboards and the person in the shop advised her to use glass or tile primer.

quite alot of examples on this blog

Yes, I primed and sprayed plain wood ikea bar stool black gloss. Used auto spray paint but if you want a really smooth finish take furniture to your local car body spray place, they will do an excellent job for not much, plus no fumes, no drips, no patchybits or brush lines and no worrying about spraying outside before it rains!