I Have to Paint the Wood

Red Wind Studio
by Red Wind Studio
Sometimes a colour change makes all the difference in the world. I may get flack for saying this but sometimes you need to paint the wood. Have you ever come across a piece of furniture and said that could be nice but man the wood just dates it or it has yellowed over time. I was contacted by a friend who was having a garage sale and had a piece I may be interested in but wanted me to have first dibs. I like this friend very much hahaha. She sent me a picture but I didn't see it until the day of the garage sale. Luckily I managed to get the cabinet. It was dated and yellowed. Her husband like many men I have met says “you just don’t paint wood”. I laugh at him. Well if I didn't paint wood I would be out of a job and I wouldn't have anything to tease him about.

My immediate reaction to this piece was quaint country, tea cups and pretty writing paper. There begins the journey of transforming the not so pretty secretary/china cabinet into a show piece.
The first thing I did was take all the hardware off. I very carefully pried the wood trim out from around the glass inside the door in order to remove the glass so I could paint both sides of the scroll work. I was also very careful not to lose the tiny little nails. Whenever I remove hardware I will be using again on a piece I put it all in a zip lock bag for safe keeping. Now time to choose a colour. What better colours for a pretty country feel than ASCP Old White and Duck Egg Blue? I painted the entire interior in Duck Egg Blue and the exterior and both sides of the door Old White.
A coat of clear wax and then it is time to distress. You mustn’t distress a piece without thinking about where and how it would naturally wear over time. Just randomly sanding different areas on furniture could and usually will look odd and forced. Distress where it would be handled a lot like around pulls and handles, corners and feet where it might get kicked or bumped into with a mop or vacuum. Yes sometimes picking areas so you can enhance details or mouldings works too. I have looked back at pieces and said I shouldn’t have distressed it there it doesn’t look natural. Like anything else in life practice makes perfect and yes less can be more.
I don’t always paint the drawers but in this case I wanted the continuity. It makes the piece look finished and properly dressed. The drawers were a little rough and I wanted to make sure if someone wanted to put nice table linens in the drawers they wouldn’t snag on anything. I put all the hardware back on just the way it was and there you have it. It turned into a pretty little multi-functional unit ready to display treasures and use as a mini office.
Here is the link to the blog on my website. http://redwindstudio.ca/store/2014/01/19/i-have-to-paint-the-wood/
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  • Misty Misty on May 07, 2014
    This turned out wonderful. I paint just about everything too...I'm an addict!
  • Susie Susie on Aug 28, 2014
    I like the piece painted. It looks more art deco to me so I probably would have used a different color scheme, but glad you saved it from it's former self.
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