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I suggest to read your reply again Pitt Chick. I'm reading your reply wrong? Telling me I'd hate your home furnishings and if I don't want peoples opinions not to post? If you're apologizing, I ACCEPT!!! :-) I'm sorry as well if I read that wrong. Life's too short for silliness.
So SCD610 - Thanks for nasty reply. LOL I don't know what Sauder is, but I do know what cheap is. You must be such an unhappy person.
It is CSD not SCD, please get it right and no I'm not unhappy at all, I wrote my opinion in regards to your painting. Don't post on a public forum if you want to avoid those who dislike what you think is wonderful.
And everyone will be scratching their heads and saying: WHAT were they thinking???
I agree with you that painting MDF and its ilk is no big deal. But solid wood? Never.
I just want to mention that most furniture made in the twentieth century was veneered. I think Heywood Wakefield was solid birch, but a lot of other stuff had veneering on its sides and tops. So, for most of the furniture we run into from past decades, one isn't painting solid wood at all. The better pieces have plywood bases, with thin veneers of special woods glued on them. I don't honestly think painting an old Drexel or Century piece is a tragedy. Still less a Broyhill or Bassett. There might be some old Ethan Allen pieces that are made of solid wood, and if the wood is still in good condition, you might give pause before painting.
The OP's pieces were likely veneered mahogany. Solid mahogany would have been terribly expensive. The problem with painting a nice old set with good veneers, is that painting destroys the value. But the paint itself has its own look and now, its own set of admirers.
A dull, recently made piece of furniture made of solid oak, is often the most boring thing in the room. I say, paint the oak! Its almost never a really nice piece. And that vintage oak stuff that originally came from Sears? You might think that stuff is solid, but it probably is not, especially if the grain is really nice. Its probably veneered. I think painting spoils those pieces though, but then I'm not the tastemaker to the world. I doubt those pieces are worth much now anyway.
The thing is, wood furniture is harder and harder to come by. So much of the less expensive stuff is made of hardboard or worse. You have to pay a lot to buy real wood. The older stuff from the 1960s and 1970s is made much better than much of the modern stuff, although this is a generalization. In my opinion, you should think hard about painting a piece that has value. But that is just an opinion.
The thing is, wood furniture is harder and harder to come by. So much of the less expensive stuff is made of hardboard or worse. You have to pay a lot to buy real wood. The older stuff from the 1960s and 1970s is made much better than much of the modern stuff, although this is a generalization. In my opinion, you should think hard about painting a piece that has value. But that is just an opinion.
I know it's rare to ever happen, but I look stuff/ask furniture people I know before I customize up in the event I'm unknowingly sitting on something worth a bucket of cash. If that were the case, I'd sell get a similar piece to redo, and fix the rest of our place with whatever was left. :P You never know though, some "ugly" or simple looking stuff is actually VERY valuable in original condition.
I only buy older furniture for the reasons you mention. It's sad the quality of everything available to the average income these days. Mattresses that die after a few years and can't be flipped, appliances that fall apart before they're ten and crappy, crappy furniture. The "junk" of yesteryear that the "peasants" bought is better quality then some of the higher end retailers today. shame.
It's not my taste but as long as somebody doesn't destroy a valuable piece of furniture it doesn't bother me too much.
In the "olden" days, some wood was made to be painted over. Wood like pine that had knots in it was usually meant to be painted over. But wood that has a decorative grain like mahogany was usually not meant to be painted, whether veneer or solid. Many beautiful pieces of antique furniture are veneers, decorative veneers fit together to make a pattern.
In the late 60s I ruined a MCM bedroom set of bleached wood (don't remember what kind of wood because I was very young and didn't know/didn't care) by "antiquing" it. That was the fad. I "antiqued" in in green.
But then I saw my cousin's piano--"antiqued" in green. It looked even worse than my bedroom set.
Then came "distressed" furniture, another fad. We bought it that way and it was made of solid wood and was expensive. They would bash it with chains or something to make it look old and venerable.
I guess now that you can hardly find any real wood furniture anymore, I tend to dislike seeing real wood furniture covered up with any sort of paint. It would be better to strip the dark stain off and put a lighter finish on it so that the grain or the wood could still show through. Either that or sell or give it away to someone who would appreciate it.
Ethan Allen furniture wasn't that great--it was just middle of the road, but even so, they made pretty good solid maple pieces. It would be a shame to see it painted over. But it's more of a shame to see higher end, very well made brands destroyed by paint. Junk made by Sears with plywood backing, sure. Solid wood furniture well crafted with drawers that are dovetailed front and back--sad when it's ruined because they don't make good furniture anymore.
CSD610 and Ohio girl. Don't you have anything better to do with your time? You've never had a typo before CSD610? LOL!!!! I typed it correctly two times. Are you keeping score? LOL Why would you pick at a typo? There are so many great things in life and picking at someone for that is just weird. In my experience people who use nasty comments and terms to get their point across are generally not happy people. There is a big difference in having an opinion and being NASTY. You can do it in a respectful way. Like I've said, I'm fine with your opposite opinion.. What I'm not fine with is your nasty responses. There are more ways to communicate. Here's a lesson I tell my teens all the time. It's OK to disagree with people, just do it in a polite manor. Be a good person.
Thanks to everyone who've replied. I agree good wood is so hard to come by these days and I do appreciate your love for wood. Just because someone appreciates wood doesn't make me want to give my set away to them. I love the style and wouldn't ever sell it either. I genuinely wouldn't take any amount of money for it just because it's special to my family for sentimental reasons not material reasons, or looks. Our children love it as well so in turn will be passed onto them. What they do with it will be their business.
This thread reminds me of the distinguished looking gentleman who brought two fine old chairs to the Antiques Roadshow. They were stunning. He happily told the appraiser he'd had them refinished and they looked so nice when the refinishing was done. He was stunned when the appraiser told him they were worth approximately $5,000 but if he hadn't refinished them they'd be worth $50,000. I felt really bad for the guy but wondered why he didn't research before he ruined them.
OP, you obviously know that your furniture doesn't qualify as rare antiques and chalk painting is a very popular way to refurbish items to align more with your aesthetic. In my younger years I probably would have jumped on that bandwagon as I loved to scour garage sales for junky old pieces. Now I'm too lazy not interested! By the way, I've noticed over the years that men especially don't want wood pieces to be covered with paint of any kind. It's a guy thing.
This thread reminds me of the distinguished looking gentleman who brought two fine old chairs to the Antiques Roadshow. They were stunning. He happily told the appraiser he'd had them refinished and they looked so nice when the refinishing was done. He was stunned when the appraiser told him they were worth approximately $5,000 but if he hadn't refinished them they'd be worth $50,000. I felt really bad for the guy but wondered why he didn't research before he ruined them.
OP, you obviously know that your furniture doesn't qualify as rare antiques and chalk painting is a very popular way to refurbish items to align more with your aesthetic. In my younger years I probably would have jumped on that bandwagon as I loved to scour garage sales for junky old pieces. Now I'm too lazy not interested! By the way, I've noticed over the years that men especially don't want wood pieces to be covered with paint of any kind. It's a guy thing.
That's the kind of dough I'm talking about. haha. With the net though it's now really easy to look up, or post a photo and ask people who do know. 50K would buy a another set of chairs in the style I want to redo, finish all the cosmetic work I want to do in this house and have some to tuck away.
I get "cheap" stuff. There's a couple I'm waffling on. found a dresser for $30 with a nasty, nasty red stain slapped on it. broken leg I mended. But good construction (early 1900's) and sort of the simple farm style I like. originally intended to paint it, thinking cheap crap wood but the pieces/parts I stripped thus far is showing a grain I actually really like. I couldn't see any grain through the stain, just brush strokes. I don't want a woodland in that room, so seeing what else I find for it. a stained piece mixed along side painted pieces for a balance is my favorite. So stained dresser and bed, with painted nightstands to break it up and add colour/lightness. No qualms about painted the gun cabinet I bought. Oak veneer over particle for the base, solid oak upper doors that hold the glass. Did it in white and it looks so much better. for display I love lighter paint so when it's in the room my items inside are highly visible.
I only buy older furniture for the reasons you mention. It's sad the quality of everything available to the average income these days. Mattresses that die after a few years and can't be flipped, appliances that fall apart before they're ten and crappy, crappy furniture. The "junk" of yesteryear that the "peasants" bought is better quality then some of the higher end retailers today. shame.
I buy all my old furniture at Good Will and I repaint it using chalk or regular paint. This is very big in this area and appears in many of the retail stores around here too. It is an art and takes time to do it right. Practice makes it perfect. If you don't like it, then don't do it ! I find painting old furniture (and the shabby chic look) enticing and a big enjoyment. And I mix my own colors too, using plaster of paris.
Thanks for a nice thread.
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