To Paint or Not to Paint?

It's a horrible dreary day so I thought it would be perfect to dig-in and share with you some of the furniture I have painted over the last year or so. 

Now before anyone throws their hands in the air with despair I must stress that I would not dream of painting an 18th century commode or a wonderful Art Deco burr walnut cocktail cabinet (I do wish I had one though!) so don't worry.  I'm talking about the factory produced reproduction furniture of the mid 20th century or early 20th century furniture that has been damaged in some way (or tampered with by a previous, very naughty owner!).

When you come across an uninspiring corner cabinet with ply-board on the back in a dark mahogany veneer it can be hard to see it's potential but these things are practically being given away at every auction in the Western world so it's worth giving them a second chance and to breath new life into them.  I must warn you though that it's an enormous pain in the butt masking all the little panes of glass so you'll need to have some patience!

This particular cabinet I have in my kitchen and even on a dull day like today it cheers up a dark corner and displays my Royal Albert Old Lavender Rose tea service beautifully.   On a practical note it also keeps it free from dust.

One of my all time favourite pieces of furniture in the house is a French chest of drawers (repro. again!) that I have painted a colour described as 'Duck Blue'.  I was a little worried about painting it such a bold colour at first but I am really pleased with the result (although my Mum thinks it looks a bit 'Disney!'.. well, you can't please everyone!)  

It can be so easy to play it safe and to stick to neutral colours all the time but there is a risk of having a rather dull house that looks like it's come from a showroom of an interior design store like Maisons du Monde.  

Of course there is nothing fundamentally wrong with modern interior showrooms but the prices can be quite astronomical for what are essentially cheaply made copies of the real thing.  

The irony is that you can often buy the genuine pieces cheaper and they will have been made with a degree of craftsmanship.  Another plus point to buying old furniture is that it won't devalue the minute you get it home.  If you were to mad enough to enter a modern reproduction chandelier into an auction you'd be in for a terrible shock!  

At this point and having had a good old moan I must confess that there are a few bits and bobs from the aforementioned store and others like it knocking around the house, I am not a complete purist providing they are mixed in with individual eclectic items.  These stores can be a great source of inspiration and are, like home magazines, a useful resource to understanding the currents trends. When I'm buying for the stall, for example, I can keep what's in demand in the forefront of my mind as well as searching for unusual individual trucs .

The next piece of furniture I have updated is a Victorian chest of drawers that originally belonged to my lovely Nana and was designed to be painted being made out of cheap wood so 'ne paniquez pas!!'

When it was given to me there must have been about five layers of paint on it so I grabbed my trusty blowtorch and took off the lot in one go.  I have experimented a bit by applying some wallpaper to the drawer fronts and changing the knobs.  The wonderful thing with painting any piece of furniture this way is that it can be changed if you mess it up or decide that the colour or style no longer fits in with your interior.

The final illustration is of an early flat-pack French break-front wardrobe that I bought at an auction in England a few years back for the princely sum of £20 (well £23.53 if you include the commission).  It was in a bit of a state and needed repairing in places along with a complete repaint but I think it was well worth the work. 

I hope that this has been of some inspiration to you on what is a truly a miserable, dull, rainy day.