Someone recently commented about not liking chalk paint and only liking the original wood. I tried to go back and find the exact comment that come in but I can’t find it. I had thought it came through email but I looked there and it couldn’t be found. The comment was a little derogatory in regards that I was painting some of the pieces that I had purchased and wasn’t the original better.
I am giving the comment the benefit of the doubt. I am guessing that they don’t really know me or the house I live in. For those of you who didn’t follow along with our journey of buying a foreclosure house and fixing it, I suggest going back and reading this blog post explaining the main reason we bought out house….WOODWORK. We both LOVE wood….original wood when at all possible.
When I buy a piece of furniture to work on…I let the piece “talk to me”. I had no desire to paint this. This piece in my opinion was best left as is..only no water stains.
…and that’s what I did.
Not all pieces are in the shape that this one was…take this head board for example. It has a bad water stain on it. See?
I tried to work on the stain but after doing a few things I started to wonder if it was more than a water stain. Now this could either be used as is, thrown in a land fill or painted. Me, I opt for paint in this case.
It wasn’t my first choice but it’s an okay choice.
I thought about leaving it like this but….
After the paint dried, I could still see the stain on the upper left.
I opted to rough it up and give it the full vintage farm house look.
The stain is still there but not is looks like it was part of the painting process.
In hind sight I should have painted it first with primer….then paint. Kiltz primer would have likely done the trick.
Regardless….It’s painted and looks okay.
In my house, I’m one that prefers the real unpainted wood for my furniture but I’m also one that knows that everyone doesn’t want what I want. Everyone has their own taste. I would never paint anything that couldn’t be fixed with a little bit of elbow grease but there does come a time in the life of some furniture that paint gives it the lift it needs to keep it from going in the landfill. This piece was one of those.
We’ve done MUCH more stripping in my house than we’ve ever done painting!! In the end…to each their own choice and I’m making mine.
The revised headboard looks outstanding. I have a mix of woods in my house too. I just left a home of 30 years that had stained doors and frames around the doors, so I am happy now to have a little more white and light. But I still have my original Hekman tables and dining room set that are stained wood, wear and tear, dings and all. Like gray hair, I earned them all.
I LOVE your choices! I probably would have painted the large piece with all the drawers and doors, but I’m glad you “listened” to the piece. Keep on listening–these pieces obviously have something to tell you!
To each his own, is what I say! Looks like you made good choices for these two pieces. We recently sold a home that was too big for us. When we got ready to sell it, I looked around the living room and it hit me that everything was brown. I had gotten comfortable with it. I now want some color sprinkled in and lightened up.
Bonnie Hunter mentioned antiquing and chalk painting last week–perhaps that is what you are remembering.
Did she? I don’t believe it was Bonnie.
I love both pieces. I love natural wood, but I also love a few painted pieces also. I think painting is a great way to salvage furniture that cannot be restored to a nice wood finish. I have also been successful using chalk paint to upgrade laminated furniture from the 80s.
Your stuff your choice.
Me I flip flop
I like what I like when I like it
also you are doing the work of finding and finishing or refinishing and taking the risk of will it be better with this or that
I enjoy that you share what it cost and looked like before and what it looked like after and the price you sold it for
I am old I am not going to be doing what you are doing nor do I think I have the talent for it, but I like seeing you success
And I love the blog
❤️
Painted/stained furniture is the same as quilting…scrappy/controlled, traditional/modern, hand quilting/machine quilting, dense quilting/minimal quilting. Everyone has an opinion and when it is their furniture/quilt, they get to make the right choice for them…no one else’s opinion really matters. Bonnie Hunter loves cheddar and uses it often…I don’t like cheddar and have never used it in a quilt…but it is all just fine because we make quilts we like.
I made the remark on one of your posts that I wasn’t a fan of painted furniture, but I don’t think it’s the one you’re talking about. Sometimes furniture is in such bad shape, it almost HAS to be painted to salvage. If at all possible, though, I prefer stained furniture. I’m not a fan of the painted.
I have an small antique dresser I bought for my sewing room, with the intentions of using it as a cutting table. The lady had painted it navy blue. Don’t get me wrong…it’s pretty. But she did a BAD job painting it and if you just rub it lightly, the paint comes off. I plan to sand it down, stain the top and drawer fronts, and paint the rest black. Then it will match nicely with my other furniture and the room.
I happen to like the natural wood but painting is fine too as long as it is a color that is pleasing to MY eye. When I go into a thrift store and see so much furniture that has been painted teal and coral, I think “who would want this in their home?” But, to each his own. At one time we owned an embroidery business and we also sold small items because we had a large showroom. I had a couple of small items that just would not sell so I took some teal spray paint and carefully spray painted them. They sold almost immediately. That was the end of my teal painted stuff.
Bonnie Hunter did make a comment about chalk painted furniture on her blog. She was in an antique store or flea market and made the comment about a piece she was considering about her inn.
You are right, sometimes a piece needs to be painted to save it from the landfill. I love seeing the masterpieces you make. I don’t know how you find the time to do so!
I like painted and my husband doesn’t. We have a few of each in out home. I prefer to pain like pine or ash pieces and save the walnut oak and maple pieces in original wood tones. But if your choice is to paint it do so with a quality paint and enjoy the results. Painted furniture was popular in the 40’s because people wanted a new look and no money to purchase new furniture. I enjoy looking at what you are recovering.