What’s your “Go-To” paint for almost everything? Well, in our honest opinion – not being sponsored in any way – we can tell you that Fusion Mineral Paint is now our Go-To paint for items around the home.

Like a lot of you out there, we began our furniture painting journey with chalk paint. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with chalk paint we have now found a paint we prefer over anything else. Would you like to know why? Because of it’s ease. Yup that’s it right there – it is so easy! Very beginner friendly if you have never painted anything before in your life, Fusion Mineral Paint is where you would want to start.

Besides being super easy Fusion Mineral Paint also has an array of 50 beautiful colors – and if that isn’t enough for you – if you purchase the fan deck there are 50 EXTRA custom mix colors with the recipe too! (Recipes are simple – like mix 50:50 ratio or a tester into a pint)

But I think the #1 reason we and our customers like it – is that it comes with a built-in topcoat. YES built-in, meaning you don’t need to mess with the extra step of sealing it if you don’t want to. Now don’t get me wrong, the product line does come with some super fun waxes, an extra tough coat or Stain & Finishing oil you can also seal it with if you wanted an extra layer of protection. But in most cases sealing doesn’t HAVE to be done. In this post we will share some great tips and tricks as well as touch on some of the other products you can use with the paint.

How to Use Fusion Paint: The dreaded Prep Work

To begin with, no matter what brand you are using for furniture you always need to prepare the surface for paint. We always clean our furniture first and foremost. Fusion has a great cleaner called TSP Alternative which is a concentrate. It only takes about 2 capfuls of the TSP into about a liter of water to clean your surface. The best part – you don’t have to rinse it. Some of the cleaners out there you have to take an extra step of rinsing the cleaner off again.

If a piece needs extra cleaning to get oils off you will want to use Fusion’s Odorless Solvent. We use this product as an extra cleaner when we are painting cabinets.

After cleaning any dirt, grime or oils off your furniture you then want to take a medium to fine grit sand paper and scuff sand your surface. Scuff sanding means just lightly rubbing over the piece, NOT going all the way down to the bare wood. It just gives your surface a little bit of “tooth” so the paint can adhere better.

Now if you have a different surface like melamine, laminate, or it’s super glossy you would want to take one more step of applying Ultra Grip to give the best adhesion you can. It is an acrylic emulsion that acts like a primer for your piece.

Once your prep work is finished you can begin painting! It is best to use a good paint brush (no foam or chip brushes over here…) and do thin coats so you don’t get brush strokes in your paint. We carry two lines of paint brushes – Staalmeester are the top-of-the-line brushes that are so soft and smooth they really are the best for no brush strokes. Zibra paint brushes are also amazing and are a little better for the wallet.

Most of the colors have really great coverage and we can almost always get complete opaque coverage with two coats. With the exceptions being the super white colors as white (in any paint line) takes a few more coats for full coverage. Makes sense right? White has no pigments to it!

You can also use a small roller for the larger areas and for those professional painters a spray gun can also be used! For our sprayer we don’t even need to thin the paint, but always refer to your specific directions on your sprayer for viscosity.

Where to Use Fusion Paint

Everywhere! Fusion Mineral Paint is a fabulous paint for furniture, but it can do so much more than that. Use it to update your home decor – like vases, baskets, frames, mirrors or candlesticks. Basically anything you can think of.

You can also use it on your front door, whether it is metal, wood or laminate. Just follow the directions above for proper preparation of the surface. The paint is UV resistant so it makes a great front door paint. See how I painted my front door HERE. I can tell you it has held up REALLY well too. Even against my dog scratching at it the paint hasn’t come off!

Color used on Kristen’s Front door is “Inglenook”

Fusion paint is also a great option for updating your cabinets in your kitchen, bathrooms or laundry room. Kristen recently painted the cabinets in her laundry room and it was super easy. And the paint has been very durable. Much more so than when we used latex paint in her previous home. We know a ton of our customers who have recently painted their bathroom vanities, laundry cabinets as well as their kitchen cabinets.

Kristen also used Fusion Mineral Paint to paint the counter top in her laundry room. It has held up wonderfully so far, but that counter is super small and not heavily used like a kitchen would be. We don’t know how painted counters hold up against chemical cleaners or heavy use as in a kitchen. See how we painted it HERE. 

Kristen’s Laundry Cabinets Painted in “Raw Silk” and Counter top in “Ash”

Kristen knows that as soon as she is ready to paint her kitchen cabinets she will be going back for more Fusion paint!

What have you painted in Fusion?

More Fusion Examples – Colors from Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Cast Iron / Carriage House / Homestead Blue (with Ash Glaze) / Rose Water / Blue Pine (with Ash Glaze) / Raw Silk on Table, Coal Black on Chairs / Bayberry / Sterling / Midnight Blue 

Extra Finishes and Accents

Like we mentioned before, Fusion comes with a built in topcoat so you do not have to seal it if you don’t want to. However, the company made many different finishes to enhance the paint itself.

Wax – Fusion Mineral Paint makes some of the best waxes we have ever used. It is soft and malleable, almost like applying a lotion. They come in many different colors to enhance details of pieces as well as add a soft sheen and a bit more protection to your furniture piece.

Glaze – Another option to add some fun depth to a piece of furniture. Glaze has a long open time, meaning you can work with it for a longer period of time. We typically brush it on and use a lint free rag to wipe off the excess. The glaze will stay in the details or crevices of a piece. When glazing long surfaces make sure you wipe straight from one end to the other. The antiquing glaze is a lovely brown shade and the clear glaze can be mixed with any of the paint colors to create a one-of-a-kind glaze! (Mixing ratio is approximately 3 part glaze to 1 part paint) See a video on how we glazed a coffee table over one our Facebook page by clicking HERE!

This furniture piece we used “Pressed Fern” as the base coat and mixed in “Ash” to the clear glaze. 

Stain & Finishing Oil – This wood stain comes with a built in (oil) topcoat as well! That means it doesn’t have to be sealed but the more coats you apply the stronger it is. If you apply multiple coats of the dark colors it will make your wood more opaque but if you want it lighter you can apply one coat of the colored stain and multiple coats of the “Natural” colored stain for added protection. The natural color won’t change the shade of your stain but will add that protection.

Stain & Finishing Oil can also be used over your Fusion paint. If you choose a colored stain then it will slightly change the color of your paint and will act like the glazes if you want it to stay in the crevices. You also could use the natural color if you want to keep your paint the original color but add a super tough additional top coat which is perfect for high traffic table tops.

Metallic Paints – These beautiful metallic colors are a wonderful addition to the line. There are many shades to choose from and are fairly transparent so if you want a more opaque finish use a coat of regular paint underneath. For example, use Little Lamb or Ash underneath the Brushed steel to transform your old hardware! Or do an entire furniture piece in one coat of regular Fusion paint and one coat of the metallic paint.

Hemp Oil – One of our favorite products. We frequently use this to revive old wood finishes that are dried out. Think of an old crate or trunk, or the insides of your furniture drawers or doors. You can also use it over metal, cast iron, real leather and over the paint for a subtle sheen! Use a brush or rag to rub on. Wait a couple minutes and wipe off any excess. Doesn’t change the color of your wood but just enhances and hydrates the natural wood.

There is so much more to explore and experiment with this paint line. Browse the entire line by clicking through HERE. We hope you have found your new “Go-To” paint and love it as much as we do! “Paint it Beautiful” with Fusion Mineral Paint.