Antique Side Table Chooses Life

3 Materials
The argument goes like this:
"I'd never paint an antique...I think it's a crime to paint any wood furniture."
"Well, if nobody wants it and it's destined for the trash, why not update it to fit today's modern look?"
"It's a tragedy to paint it. Besides, it will just have to be stripped!"
"It's my piece of furniture, so I'll do what I want with it."
"It's a tragedy, I tell you!"
The debate will go on forever with no one convincing the other side - because we're all different. Some adore old, antique, hard to find original pieces. Some adore old, antique, hard to find original pieces painted.
That one word, "painted" is what freaks out many of those dyed in the wool antique lovers.
My take? Obviously I'm the painter person with no qualms about painting a piece of wood furniture. Hey, life is short and we ought to enjoy the things around us. Our home IS our castle and our tastes have their own unique flavor.
It's OK. Really. It is OK. It's just wood.
A piece of our history, you say? Yes it is. For me, it's a piece of history with a coat of paint on it. To fit my preferences. I just don't like old stuff...unless it's my DH of course...LOL. I liked my mom. She was old. But my furniture? I like it to look a certain way and that's OK. Just like it's OK if you prefer only the wood look.
Variety and uniqueness make the world a more interesting place!
So here is my little antique I got from an estate auction:
From what I can tell via research, it was manufactured between 1912 and 1933 in Jamestown, NY at the Empire Case Goods store.
It was beat up, the finish was crackly and just wasn't pretty.
It needed help to live again and I was willing to revive it!


So we cleaned, sanded, repaired and then painted it with Old Fashioned Milk Paint, a gift from the company since I'm an OFMP Brand Blogger.


Basically it just means that I find amazing furniture with potential and paint it, blog about it, and you get to see how cool the OFMP is. It's a pretty good deal for all three of us!
I mixed up a few paint colors (OFMP comes as a powder) and found that at different times of the day, depending on the lighting, it can look plum, brown or even gray.
Here it is lookin' brown. I call this piece Pepper after my mom since she loved plum. I wish she was here to enjoy it!


I used a white to dry brush the details, and added Tung oil as a finish, also a gift from OFMP.
The original knob was too yellow after I cleaned it up, so I bought a new silver knob at Hobby Lobby.


If you're interested in the tutorial or more details on color, just hop on over to my post at Love My DIY Home at the link below. "Pepper" now needs to find a home! This one will be hard to let go!


Go to the link and say, "Hello" in a comment and let me know how you like Pepper!
Suggested materials:
  • Milk Paint   (Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company)
  • Hope's 100% Tung Oil   (Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company)
  • Drawer Liner   (Fleet Farm)
Val Frania {Love My DIY Home}
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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3 of 22 questions
  • Carol Cole Carol Cole on May 04, 2019

    OMGosh I love it. It is so pretty.

    So you know if there is a paint I can use without sanding scratches first.?

  • Glenda Glenda on May 10, 2019

    Also, what the name of the color you used?

  • April Rose-Sharp April Rose-Sharp on Nov 24, 2019

    How can I become a OFMP Brand Blogger.

    I have so many antiques projects and I am just getting started on them and I would love to be a OFMP Brand Blogger. Starting from the beginning would be the perfect time don’t you think?

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