Flipping End Tables FAST with my Wagner Flexio Paint Sprayer
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Clearing Out My Storage Unit
I'm on a mission to shut down my storage unit, one furniture flip at a time. It's been a long journey with this unit—I’ve had it for two years now, and I think I’m finally ready to let it go. Honestly, it’s been months since I last checked it, so I wasn’t even sure what was inside anymore. But when I got there, to my surprise, there was way less furniture than I thought!
I decided to start with a pair of yellow end tables that I used in a video to compare painting with a brush versus spraying. One of them still looks great—the one I sprayed—but the hand-painted one? Yeah, not so much. It's splotchy and just doesn’t have good coverage. Since I have to repaint it anyway, I figure I’ll just paint both tables a more neutral color, like black, to make them easier to sell.
This felt like the perfect first project to ease back into the swing of things after a long break. If you’ve followed my channel, you probably noticed that I haven’t been flipping as much furniture this year. While furniture flips will always be at the heart of what I do, I just haven’t been able to crank out as many projects lately. That’s why I’ve set a goal to flip everything left in storage as quickly as I can—saving on that monthly storage bill would be a nice bonus too.
The Supplies I Used for This Project
Behr Urethane Alkyd Enamel (Cracked Pepper)
Surf Prep 3" x 4" Electric Ray (Use Code PRETTYDISTRESSED10 for 10% off your order)
Preparing The End Tables for Paint
The hand-painted table has a lot of imperfections, so I knew I needed to sand them out before anything else. I also hadn’t realized how many wormholes were on the tops of these tables, so I filled them with DAP wood filler and let it dry overnight.
The next day, I got out my trusty SurfPrep sander and dust extractor. I swapped out the pad since they’ve updated to a new six-hole system and grabbed some new sandpaper—220 grit for the flat surfaces and a foam pad for the legs and rounded edges. Safety first, as always! I wore my ear protection and an RZ mask, even though I had the dust extractor running.
After scuff sanding everything and smoothing out the wood filler, I wiped the tables down with a tack cloth to make sure they were perfectly clean for paint. Then, I moved the drawers out of the way and set up my large spray tent. It’s perfect for keeping the overspray contained in my garage, and while it’s definitely faster with two people, I can manage to set it up solo when needed.
Painting the End Tables with my Wagner Flexio 3500
I prepped the area for painting by setting up my Wagner Spray Tent, laid down some paper for easy cleanup, and grabbed my Wagner Flexio 3500 sprayer. You’ve probably seen this on my channel before—it saves so much time! I attached the fine detail nozzle, which is ideal for furniture, and loaded it up with Behr’s premium satin urethane enamel in “Cracked Pepper.” This particular shade was their color of the year for 2024. I didn’t thin the paint since it’s water-based, and I was excited to try it out with the sprayer after brushing it on in a previous project.
As I started spraying, I noticed the paint was thicker than I was used to, so I bumped up the airflow to 6 and opened the material flow quite a bit. I always start by spraying furniture upside down to get into all the nooks and crannies, which makes the second coat so much easier. The paint gave great coverage on the first pass, and it was leveling nicely as it dried, but it’s super sticky, and I was literally sticking to the floor as I worked!
I like to start by flipping furniture upside down to make sure the legs and underside are well coated. I also used a piece of cardboard when spraying the drawers to protect the sides from overspray.
The downside? This paint takes 4 to 8 hours to dry, so I had to wait for the second coat. The next morning, I gave everything a light scuff with 400-grit sandpaper and smoothed things out. After wiping the tables down with a tack cloth again, I was ready for the second coat.
It was a little bit hotter outside thanI would have like for applying my first coat of paint, but for the second coat it was 88 degrees, which was a huge relief compared to the 98-degree heat the day before. The paint sprayed on much smoother, and I was happy with the coverage. I worked slowly and steadily, overlapping each pass by 50%, and before I knew it, the tables were done.
The Finishing Touches
The next morning, the tables were still a bit sticky, but I was on a deadline to finish the video. So, I grabbed some brushed gold Amazon hardware from my drawer of goodies and fitted the tables with new handles. After a quick hardware adjustment (thank goodness for my screw cutter!), the nightstands were staged and ready to sell.
I am so happy with how these end tables turned out. They now have a smooth, modern finish in a neutral color that would look beautiful in a buyers home. And the best part?! Its two less pieces of furniture in my storage unit!
It’s been quite the process, but I’m glad I got started. Slowly but surely, I’m chipping away at the contents of my storage unit—one flip at a time!