Should oak furniture be painted?

Hello Lucille! Painting oak furniture is a hard decision! Oak is a nice wood to strip and refinish with a new stain and a poly finish especially if you have a piece of oak furniture that is in exceptional shape and you're willing to put in the work to make it a beautiful piece! I try to avoid painting oak furniture but sometimes when I come across a used piece of furniture that hasn't been cared for well and it serves my purposes to paint it I will but I do it with a little bit of " I shouldn't be painting oak!". I have also been in the position many times of stripping paint off of oak furniture and whispering under my breath, "WHY did someone paint over this beautiful oak!" To me, it all depends on the condition of the furniture and what I can do to repair it, the cost of repairs, and how much I paid for it. I always opt to give my furniture redos the best second life I can!

I think it's a personal preference If the wood is in good shape, I say refinish it, rather than paint it.

You can certainly paint it if you would like, just prepare it well, with sanding and using a high quality primer.

I agree with Gk it depends on the condition of the wood. Unless the wood is in horrible condition I would consider refinishing it. For me painting would be a last resort after refinishing, staining and whitewashing.

There is a natural beauty to wood and all the grains seen in it. Unless it is in really poor condition, beyond the point of restoring/repairing, then paint it. I agree with Gk, I have wondered why people choose to paint over wood furniture .

I have an Singer sewing machine that dates around 1900, someone had painted the cabinet green, after stripping it & refinishing it, the beauty of the oak was priceless.

Thanks for all your comments. I was leaning that way myself