MAKING MDF PANELS - Part III

This is the boring part of panel making, the prepping.  You’ve got the design, you’ve bought the timber and you’re just dying to stick it all on the wall but before you do this, there’s one final thing that needs doing – the priming and painting.

 

MDF panel pieces ready to prime

Ideally, I prefer to do this before I stick all the pieces on the wall as I find it much easier to apply MDF primer and paint with a roller on a flat surface than on a vertical one.  Less chance for drips or run marks and easier to get to the side edges. 

 

Prime & paint before assembly

To give your MDF pieces a nice sealed finish, apply one coat of primer to both front and back of each piece then 2 coats of paint.  I have used Dulux wood primer as I had some left over from another project followed by 2 coats of Farrow & Ball Pigeon colour paint. 

 

F&B paint bargain

Apply 2 coats with roller for smooth finish

Leave everything to dry on a nice flat surface to avoid the risk of warping.  Am I being paranoid?  It’s probably just my OCD like nature but as we’re sticking it all together then you want to avoid anything being out of sync or warped.

 

Leave to dry for a day or two

The beauty of doing it this way is that whilst the panel pieces are drying out, you can carry on painting the walls or go off for a foot massage.

Panel pieces all painted and ready to assemble