There are many different painting tips out there. Probably too many to list. We're going to share two that we think are most important before you start any painting job.
1. Know the type of paint before you begin
One of the most
important things you can do before starting a DIY
painting project is to know what you’re dealing with. You need to
find out if the dresser you are about to refinish is oil based
paint or latex based paint. It is very important to know if you
have oil based paint on the surface you are going to repaint,
especially if you are using a latex based product as your top coat, because if
you put latex on top of oil, the top coat will come off like butter. 
A quick way to test if your paint is oil based paint or latex based paint is to rub a cotton ball that has been soaked in nail polish remover with acetone in it, or pure acetone, on the surface.
If the paint comes off, it’s latex based paint.
If it doesn’t, it’s oil based paint.
The easiest way to figure out how much paint you will need is to measure the square footage. If you are painting a wall, measure the width and the height of all the surfaces you will be painting. If you are painting a piece of furniture, measure the depth and length of the surfaces. Add them together for the square footage.
Example: 1 bedroom, 4 walls at 10L x 8 H = 320 square feet
1 gallon covers approximately 400 square feet
1 quart covers approximately 100 square feet
For 1 dresser, chances are you’ll only need 1 quart of paint.
For a 10x10 bedroom, you’ll need a gallon.
You can also use this handy tool from Benjamin Moore, the Paint Calculator Tool
What other tips do you wish you knew before you started a DIY painting project?
