1-SUPPLIES ..... 2-PAINT

STEP 2: PAINTING THE BOARDS

Without a doubt, one of the hidden joys in life is a well-painted cornhole set. However, painting can be a real pain if you're pretty new at it. The key is to be meticulous and patient. If that turns you off, don't worry, it's not that bad once you get the hang of it. Just don't take any shortcuts unless you're certain of the results. This is how we painted the basic design on our cornhole tables. Your design might be quite different, but hopefully you can use some of the same techniques to get there.

The first step is to fill all the holes and defects you created while building your cornhole boards. Use a putty knife or something of the sort to push wood filler into any holes, cracks, etc. on your board. Don't worry about over filling it because the wood filler sands down very easily after it has set up.

As you can see I had a multiple spots on my boards that needed filling. Be sure to allow the filler to set up according to the instructions that came with your product.

Next sand your cornhole tables smooth. An electric sander will save you a lot of time here. Medium-grit sandpaper should do the trick. If you've got the time sand it with varying grits of sandpaper (coarse -> medium -> fine).

Sand down any small discrepancies you have on the sides of your table where all the different pieces of wood come together. Try not to alter the plywood surface too much.

Once all your surfaces are smooth you can lightly sand down any sharp edges and corners. I like to gently sand the edges of the hole as well. When you try to retrieve a bag through the hole, your valuable bag-tossing hands will thank you.

Dust off your boards, set them up off the ground, and detach your legs if you haven't already. Apply a thin layer of primer on all visible surfaces of the board and legs with a brush or roller and let dry.

This is what it should look like when you're all done priming.

The sides of our cornhole board is white and the playing surface has a white border 1.5 inches wide. The hole also has a white border. I used a semi-gloss paint and roughed in all these areas and painted the legs too. With the white primer underneath it didn't take more than one or two coats to get a nice uniform coverage. Let this layer dry.

Next I taped the borders of the table with painter's tape. If you look closely you can see that I covered the hole and the border around the hole with clear contact paper. I used my compass to draw a circle of the appropriate size on the backing of the contact paper and cut it out with scissors. I then peeled off the backing and carefully placed it over the hole. Being clear, I was able to see the hole underneath and center it just right.

No matter how well you apply your tape, the second color (scarlet in my case) seems to always bleed underneath, ruining the crisp, clean line you'd hoped for. To prevent this I applied another layer of white semi-gloss paint on the edges of the tape and the contact paper. Now, if there is any bleeding it will be the same color as the underlying paint. Again, let this layer dry.

Next I took a small roller roller (a brush if you prefer, but a roller makes it a little easier to get a uniform layer) and painted the remainder of the board with some semi-gloss scarlet paint and allowed it to dry. This required several coats. Don't touch up areas here and there if you want the best results. If you have to apply more paint in one area just give the whole surface another thin layer.

Gently peel the tape off your cornhole boards. I like to do this right after the final coat of paint has dried. If you used painter's tape it should come off just fine without disrupting the paint underneath, but watch it carefully as you pull it away just in case. As you can see, my border is crisp and beautiful!

Because the contact paper has such a smooth surface it can separate from the paint as you pull it up. By lightly lifting the contact paper and following it's edge with a sharp utility knife you can keep a clean border. By removing the contact paper at the right moment (just after the paint has dried) you can avoid this completely.

Now you have a gorgeous cornhole board! Using the same techniques and a little ingenuity you can add lettering, logos, etc. You could also add decals that you make yourself or purchase a quality decal from one of the many online stores. The possiblities are endless...

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