Painted Furniture and LOTS of pics!!

I still can't believe how much painted furniture I have seen in designer rooms these days.  It really has become a huge trend.  And, it's not just for us lovers of shabby chic, it really is for any style.

Tropical Dining Room by Miami Furniture & Accessories Custom Furniture World

Contemporary Kids by Woodbridge Interior Designers & Decorators Pierre Jean-Baptiste Interiors

Tropical Bedroom by Naples General Contractors London Bay Homes

Transitional Dining Room by Charleston Interior Designers & Decorators LORRAINE G VALE, Allied ASID

The best part of painted furniture, is you can save a ton of money by repurposing the pieces you have laying around your house.  No need to spend money on new pieces - just bring it back to life with a few coats of paint.

I have many clients who have heirloom pieces that are beat up and dated, but they can't bear to give it away or trash it.  So, the pieces end up wasting space and collecting dust in the basement.  Rather than have the piece be forgotten, I paint it, and they are proud to make it a part of their home.

Traditional Dining Room

Traditional Bedroom by Little Rock Interior Designers & Decorators Tobi Fairley Interior Design

Traditional Dining Room by Spring Architects & Designers Maison Market

Traditional Dining Room by Princeville Media & Bloggers Kasey Buick

My husband and I are celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary this year.  In the first couple of years of marriage, we purchased a lot of quality furniture pieces with the mind set that it will last us forever.  After a couple of moves (okay, several moves) our pieces are banged up, and some are looking dated.  We spent so much money, I don't want to replace anything.  And, it's such a shame to sell the pieces for a fraction of what they are worth.

I hear this complaint all of the time.  Especially from folks that purchased that quality, 'Amish' made, honey oak furniture that was so popular 20 years ago.    The pieces really did stand true to their quality claims.  They look brand new, but unfortunately, the 'look' doesn't look so current.

These are the types of pieces that are fabulous to paint.  Give them new life, and they will last another 20 years.

Traditional Dining Room by Duxbury Design-Build Firms Joseph B Lanza Design + Building

Contemporary Dining Room by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Glenn Gissler Design

Traditional Kitchen by Victoria Architects & Designers jodi foster design + planning

Eclectic Spaces by San Francisco Interior Designers & Decorators Story & Space - Interior Design and Color Guidance

Transitional Dining Room by Oakville General Contractors DW Homes Inc.

Contemporary Dining Room by Tel Aviv Photographers Yaniv Schwartz - Photographer

Repurposing furniture is not only thirfty, and eco- friendly, it's a way to be creative, and to have one of a kind pieces in your home that no one else has!

Eclectic Bathroom by Dallas Media & Bloggers Sarah Greenman

Transitional Bedroom by Toronto Architects & Designers Rad Design Inc

Beach Style Dining Room by Chatham Architects & Designers Polhemus Savery DaSilva

Eclectic Hall by Dublin Architects & Designers Optimise Design

All of my examples can be found on Houzz.com or by clicking on the pictures.
Do you have a piece of furniture that you would like painted?  Send me a note!!

Painted Hutch Before & After

Rememeber the guy that bought my black accent tables???  (blog post found here) 

I just finished up his first piece - the hutch.  It used to be that forest green stain that was only popular in the early 90s, but now, it's updated and gorgeous in black and beige.

Before:

After:

  

The exterior is painted in Annie Sloan Graphite.  The inside is Country Grey.

I did a layer of Country Grey beneath the Graphite so when I distressed the piece, you could see Counrty Grey, not forest green!! The drawer hardware was an awkward size, so I couldn't just replace it.  I would have had to do something like drill new holes, fill holes, use a black plate blah blah blah... no thanks.  I just painted them graphite and they look great!

Huge Trend!!

I can't believe what a trend painted furniture has become.  I was in Home Sense last night and was overwhelmed at the amount of painted pieces they had.  And even more overwhelmed at the prices!!!  They charge a fortune for this stuff.  

Before I started getting an evil eye from one of the staff, I snapped some pics of what they had on the floor.

I can do ALL of these finishes.... for half the price :)

A few projects here and there....

I don't always blog all of the projects I am working on.  Honestly, I would if I were smart enough to take before and after pics of everything.  But I ALWAYS forget to take pics. And when I do, I am usually just taking a quick shot with my phone.  Shame on me.

Anyway, here are a few random pieces I haven't shown and came across when downloading my pics to my computer....

This side table and vanity is for a wonderful client I met over kijiji.  She purchased a piece from me not too long ago, and ever since, she's been dropping pieces off at my house!! Love her furniture, love her taste and just love her.... hilarious lady :)

An outdated blanket box get a coat of duck egg.

For Christmas this year, I did this jewelry cabinet for my mom.  It matches the console table I did for her a few months ago.  It's an olive green with a dark wax finish.

I just finished this Ikea piece for a good friend of mine.

Ahhhhhh, you can see my horrible mess workshop....

This bad boy was going to be donated to my kid's school for a raffle, buuuut then James saw it.  Yea, it's not leaving my house now!!!

Graphite Accent Tables

Right now I am working on a HUGE project for a new client.  I'm painting his entire dining room set which includes a 2 piece hutch, 6 chairs and a massive harvest table.  It's a big job on a normal day, but especially big when I am painting in my dining room over the winter.  It's impossible to paint in my garage when it's -20c.  Bless my patient husband.  He's never complained once.

Anyway, the client wasn't sure of what colour he wanted.  He was pushing towards black, so I agreed to do some side tables I had laying around in Graphite, so he could get an idea of what Annie Sloan's black would look like.  Annie Sloan Graphite isn't a true black.  It's more of a dark, slate gray, so I was really worried he wouldn't go for it.  I was stressing over this for days.  His pieces are all that hideous forest green, so going with a lighter colour would be such a pain in the ass.  I was praying he'd go for black becasue it would make my job a lot easier... like 2-coats-per-piece easier.

Here's how the tables turned out.

I'm sure you are wondering is he liked the black??  Yes, my friends.  So much, not only did he agree to paint his dining room pieces black, he also bought these 2 tables on the spot...  woo hoo :)

Another Hall Tree!

I snagged this hall tree off kijiji months ago... Oh man, I can remember what a pain it was.  The guy and I were going back and forth on a price for at least 20 emails.  Finally we settled, and I got him to deliver it to my house.  When he arrived, it was pouring rain, the guy was a jerk, and the hall tree was in worse shape than he led me to believe.  Luckily, the bones of the piece were great and I had a vision....

Here is the sad hall tree before... 

And here it is after!

I did 2 coats of country grey (my favouirte neutral right now), distressed the edges and added bit of dark wax to highlight the edges.  This piece had to be done in a contrasting, light colour.  If I had done it in black, It would have looked like a dead, dark shadow.  Painting it in a light, neutral colour allowed me to sand down the edges and have the black pop through.  I saw one in Home Sense almost identical to this for $500 bucks.  Crazy.

P.S. This piece is available for purchase.