Painting furniture can take on many different “stripes” – from unique, specialty finishes to pieces painted a straight-forward single color. A few of myrecent projects are good examples of this range!
The first example is a collection of dining room chairs. The chairs I started with were great, solid chairs that were just a bit dated looking- with a tired, yellowed oak finish (see below).
Chairs before painting
My clients are moving the chairs to their sea-side home in Plymouth, so they wanted something light in color that would go with the “ocean” look. They also need to go along with the dining table I did for this same client a few months ago (picture below).
The dining table previously painted
Working with their fantastic interior designer, we came up with a subtle “driftwood” look, using varying shades of light, brownish-gray. I first painted the darker shade, and then using a thinned version of the lighter color, I created the wood-like pattern. Because it was subtle, it was hard to catch in a photograph, but the pictures below give an idea of how they turned out. Most importantly, the client loves them!
The final paint finish showing pattern detail
The second example is an old mirror for the same client. The mirror has a great relief pattern around the frame that my client loves, but the dark color did not go with their new space.
The mirror before painting
When considering options, I wanted to make sure anything we did highlighted the floral pattern, so I suggested using two colors, with a lighter color “rubbed” over the relief pattern. The space where the mirror is hung is a clean, modern room – so I wanted the final result to balance on a fine line between the “antique” of the mirror and the “fresh” of the room. The colors we chose pick up on colors in their room, and I used a lightly tinted wax finish to hint at age without being too heavy-handed. Again, the result was a hit!:
The mirror after painting
Mirror detail
The last example is more straight-forward, but equally impactful. My client moved into a new home and had 2 media cabinets that fit perfectly on either side of their chimney (over which the television is mounted). The only problem was that the finish of the cabinets before I started (below) did not go with the clean, bright look of the room.
Cabinet before painting
Second cabinet before painting
To address this, we painted them a simple white – and the result looked great!
Cabinets after paint!
When trying to fit old furniture into a new space – consider paint!!
Enjoy!
Jason