When should you not paint wood furniture? Painting “perfectly good wood” is controversial. Don’t believe me? If you’re a DIY’er that paints furniture for any length of time, I’m certain someone has opened their mouth and gasped: “OMG, you paint wood?! Why would you do that?” …riiiight after you proudly showed them how awesome your piece looks after you spend 6 hours painting it.Not the best feeling in the world. In fact, you feel rather crappy after that kind of criticism. I men……we all know that solid wood is the almighty indication of quality furniture, and to slather on a superficial coat of paint??–gasp!–how dare thee.