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Home Decorating

Painting furniture pics have me inspired

15 years ago

All the recent beautiful posts of furniture renewed and looking fabulous has me thinking of a few projects. We were over budget on our new build (like everyone, I guess) & now my decorating projects are nearly on standstill:( I would really like to have our main living area as nice looking as possible by the holidays. One of the biggest eye sores is our 10 year old kitchen table, farm-style in a very light natural maple finish. It does not work at all in our space. I want a round, lightly distressed (pottery barn style perhaps) in mahagony with a dark stain. I have a lot of black accents including all the fixtures and hardware. What do you think of painting the table & chairs black? I think it would be easier than trying to sand & stain. Would you add distressing at all? Do you think it will help even though the style still isn't the greatest for the room.

Also, anybody have experience painting pottery barn's black furniture. I have a little black bench and entry mirror that are in horrible condition. Actually the mirror is fine, but the bench has been clanked on with toys a few too many times. So, the mirror will probably need a redo in order to match. I'm thinking of just painting it and leaving the indents (rather than filling) to just add to the distressed feel.

I would appreciate any ideas and suggestions, tips, etc! Thank you!

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Comments (10)

neetsiepie
15 years ago
If this is going to be your main eating table, you'll be better off sanding & staining. You'll need to sand, prime, paint, seal if you paint it and expect it to hold up. BUT if you want it to be distressed, that'll happen in no time. Only problem is it'll not distress in the PB style.

Our set is a distressed, black painted wooden set, and it's starting to distress even more now after 4 years. The stretcher bars and backs of the chairs are really worn...but it goes with my decor.
madeyna
15 years ago
Have you considered painting the bottom of the table and leaving the table surface as is or staining it? I have done two like that and someone here posted pics of a simular one on here a few days ago that looked really nice.
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Wowzers, there are some elegant rooms here! Kitchenaddict, thanks for starting this thread -- great idea! trailrunner, it's Old Fashion Milk Paint Company's Safe Paint for walls. It can be painted over previous paint jobs & has a more even coverage than the regular milk paint. The finish is rustic: rough & slight imperfections, but that's part of the look. The color is unbelievable. It looks rich & vibrant no matter what the lighting: dark days, bright days, incandescent light, morning, noon or dusk. The color shifts with the light changes like all paint colors do -- tomato soup red, copper, burnt orange -- but it never goes dull or dingy or grayish. Always beautiful. I like it much better than the Farrow & Ball. I have a bedroom painted in a soft blue milk paint -- same thing, the wall color is always amazing. There are two other companies I'm interested to try: Anna Sova milk paints with a palette range of 500 colors and The Earth Pigment Company's mix your own colors with a milk paint base. p.s. I signed up for RAGBRAI again! Lottery is May 1st. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
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jane__ny
15 years ago
Sorry to jump in here, but I have a night table which has a black, ebony veneer top which has cracked and looks horrible. I'm wondering if I could paint the top shiny black. How to get the veneer off is a problem.

I love this night table but can't afford to have it professionally done. I'd give it a try.

Jane
johnatemp
15 years ago
Here is a link to faux finishing website. The lady that is going to work on my cabs is a teacher at the school there. I have looked thru the message boards & found lots of good tips for painting furniture.

Smiles:)

Here is a link that might be useful: Murals plus
User
15 years ago
Here are a couple of pics of a hutch I painted for our kitchen (still a WIP, we just painted the walls, trim is next, then an island countertop), it was painted grey and glazed (which I realize is "in", but it's not "in" at the sandyponder household). Some of the glaze was flaking off, so we sanded, primed and painted with 3 coats of C2 "Fez", satin finish. It has help up very well and it gets daily usage, our dishes and glassware reside there.

It can be a long process, but also a very gratifying one.

Good luck-

sandyponder
powermuffin
15 years ago
Sandy, that hutch is fabulous!!!!! Mommy, as for painting your table, what do you have to loose? You want to replace it anyway. I would see if you can find black primer,sand it down, prime and paint it. I bet it will be wonderful.
Diane
mommyto4boys
Original Author
15 years ago
Sandy, that is a wonderful looking hutch....you did good!
sadie709
15 years ago
sandyponder
what kind of beadboard/panels are on the walls? They look fabulous.
User
15 years ago
Thanks for the compliments, all.

sadie709, the kitchen, DR, LR and entry are all paneled in poplar paneling, the guy we bought it from called it "butterfly edge" paneling. It takes paint beautifully and is very strong, you can hang anything on it without worrying. I'm not a big fan of drywall, so downstairs we have paneling (too cheap to spend the $$ for the bedrooms) and our ceilings throughout the house are wood.

Here's a close up of the paneling:

Good luck-

sandyponder
Sueb20
15 years ago
I agree with madeyna; I'd stain the top and paint the legs black, if possible. I think a painted top on a kitchen table will take a beating and end up "distressed" not in a nice way. I will also add a plug for using BM Aura paint for furniture -- the guy at my paint store suggested it. I painted my DD's desk an almost-black color in the Aura finish and the finish is fantastic (I used semi-gloss).

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