ALL OF YOUR FURNITURE IS PAINTED!!!!!!! unless...you get it right? but how do you do that? in my new house i plan (PLAN being the operative word) to paint my floors glossy white. yep, that's the plaaaaan. but that is a pretty scary thing to me. i mean i have seen it done in the magazines and books and these here blogs a cotillion times, and i love it. so why can't i do it too?
and what then do i do with all of my reddish brown wood furniture that is super ugly? paint it obvi! but what? how? ALL OF IT?? white? a rainbow of my favorite colors? huh!??!? i just don't know how to begin. any tipspointersadvice would help. here are some images of painted done well. 
are those cabinets painted the palest whisper pink? if so, what a GREAT color choice for a girly kitchen. and how in the high water of hades did she (assuming) decide on that color. b/c for me it's AAAALL about the decision!
are those cabinets painted the palest whisper pink? if so, what a GREAT color choice for a girly kitchen. and how in the high water of hades did she (assuming) decide on that color. b/c for me it's AAAALL about the decision!
painted stairs like this will be in my future if i get a house with stairs. again though do i risk the whispers of "have you met the new neighbors? everything in thier house is painted..and i DO mean EVERYTHING."
a design sponge before and after. 
that beast went from faded 70's glory to fucking fabulous and sexy. how did that person decide that black was the best choice? for the piece, for the room ? these may seem like easy questions for YOU to answer but for me i stand completely at odds with my own brain and the killions of pictures i look at.
even this little guy knows how cute a turquoise piece of furniture is. hims having hims birfday cake on it.
whaaaa?!?! how glorious is that green? would you? how would you know? that's detailed wood work too people..that ain't no wall that you could easily paint over if you hated it.
that beast went from faded 70's glory to fucking fabulous and sexy. how did that person decide that black was the best choice? for the piece, for the room ? these may seem like easy questions for YOU to answer but for me i stand completely at odds with my own brain and the killions of pictures i look at.even this little guy knows how cute a turquoise piece of furniture is. hims having hims birfday cake on it.
anna spiro knows a thing or two about the painted furnitures.
whaaaa?!?! how glorious is that green? would you? how would you know? that's detailed wood work too people..that ain't no wall that you could easily paint over if you hated it.
love the glossy orange in this room. it takes it from boring to.....umm...not boring?
no she di'int! fuck yeah she DID!!!!!!!! ugly shit + hot pink paint = cheapest and chicest makeover on earth. throw in some wallpaper as backsplash and my eyeballs start melting! now this might not be your taste but imagine the possiblities. with paint and paper. paint and paper!!!
ok. so what are you thoughts, comments, ideas? if anyone says "it's just paint, it's easy to paint over". i will cyber karate chop your head off. i'm not talking about a wall or 4. i am talking about furniture. shit you have to sand and prime and apply several coats of paint to. that is not EASY to do or fast.
so..tell me...
images via ABT, designsponge...blah blah you and you and you. i'm to lazy today.
18 comments:
If you don’t like the brown wood furniture then paint away! In my personal opinion if you are doing a room full of painted furniture I'd stick to one consistent color and finish (in your case maybe glossy white) with maybe one of the pieces in a color that you love. Or smaller accent pieces like a chair or small table or whatever in that color.
I particularly like the first picture of the white dresser with the drawers in color. Very cute! But then I'd keep the other painted furniture in that room the white with maybe a pink chair or something.
I keep a box of samples of all the wonderful colors I will one day use on my furniture. I also keep a garage full of junk that will one day be turned into painted marvels. It's all going to happen one day when my life finally gets together and I become the Martha I've always aspired to be.
I love the bright vibrant colors against the pure white! So lovely!
By the way, Down and Out Chic is hosting a giveaway of Reverie goodies...check it out!
OOoh, I can't wait to hear more discussion on this topic. We are seriously contemplating having our floors sanded and painted (most like a dove gray, but possibly white) and I have a few pieces of darker furniture that I am a little nervous about.
Also have an old console table in a very plain hallway that has great lines and just needs to be stripped and painted, but I am having a hard time comitting to a color!
What say you MFAMB readers?!
Hi! I too love painted furniture. I have never understood people who think it is a sin to paint over wood. If it is ugly, I say paint it.
I recently painted the floors in my kitchen and I LOVE them. I did a gray/white checkerboard and the only complaint is that the white squares show EVERY hair/piece of fur. Something to keep in mind if you paint your floors white. Here is a link to my blog with pictures of my floor: http://southernexposure1.squarespace.com/southern-exposure/2009/6/17/i-must-be-crazy.html
I can't wait to see what you do. I am sure it will be great!
I would definitely stick to one neutral color (ie white)/wood finish on most pieces, then paint one or maybe two accent pieces a fun color. The way I decided on orange for my cedar chest was I realized I had been thinking about that cottage living pic for years and still loved it. It withstood the test of time. The fact that I even remembered it is remarkable because I have the worst freaking memory. So I figured it must be a sign that my little cobwebbed hippocampus hung onto it.
I love painted furniture. But ONLY if it's not something of value. My mother painted by Dad's childhood bedroom set for me in white.
Well, turns out it a HIGHLY collectible set of Russel Wright designed furniture. She destroyed it's value. Do your research before painting!!
BTW, I'm holding an amazing giveaway on my blog. There are 4 different Lipstick Queen prize packages up for grabs (total retail $200). You can enter here.
have a great weekend!
Start with one room, and tackle it like the beast it is - paint it ALL. I think the key to painting furniture is that is simply MUST have some kick-ass details - if not, just looks cheap, not interesting.
just sayin'....
I'd like to see the results of painting your floors!
My thoughts on furniture: if the wood is ugly, paint it! otherwise, stain it. There are so many different shades that you can stain furniture...
I understand what you mean. I tried to paint a door once and it was horrible. Drips and drops and streaks, yuck. I don't know how people do it but if you figure it out let me know because I am sure I still won't be painting anything anyway. xo, MB
Ugh. I'm in the same boat right now. I have a tiny apartment and ever. single. bit. of my furniture is dark brown. Methinks that my bamboo dining room table and chairs will be painted this weekend.
I'm simply mad for painted furniture. Every time I see an old or beat up piece of furniture that I know has potential, I dream of stripping it down and laying on some beautiful colour. The colours you have posted above as inspiration has my mind swimming in the possibilities.
Take one piece at a time. Maybe stain some dark, paint the rest in just a few colors, say, a neutral and a color-color: white and yellow for example, or navy and yellow (navy being the neutral here).
The trick is to not make the paint look fat and clotty. So put a lot into prep so you don't lose the sharp lines of the furniture. Don't do several coats; use a good primer.
Use Peel Away stripper. I've tried EVERY freakin' kind, and this is the best. Go to the site to research which particular one to get. Worth special ordering from your hardware store if they don't stock it.
Yeah, it's hard. Oh, yes. I stripped and painted my kitchen cabinets last summer. The decision is indeed the agony. I knew I wanted white, but that didn't make things any easier. Ai! The agony.
you guys are all so awesome!! what wonderful advice. i feel a little more confident about doing any of it. thanks for the peel away tip jean! i have bookmarked it for future reference. i think overall i am just going to wait til i move and paint the walls and see what strikes me color wise.
xxxxooooojenny
Private companies offer services on painting anything that is found at your house. It would be great if you would have them do the job for you.
dab. while i would love to have someone DO the job for me it is not within my budget to do so.
I was so freaked out the first time I painted something because I wanted it to be perfect. I worked on it *forever*. It took me ages to pick the right color.
I'm all about not doing too much work, so I barely sand anymore-sometimes I don't at all-and I use spray paint because I can get it done fast. Start with something small, like a desk or table. Use liquid sander (you wipe it on and 10 minutes later you paint). If it's really a mess, sand down the rough spots and then use liquid sander to rough up the rest of it.
Paint it with spray primer.
If you don't want to use spray paint, you can buy a mini foam roller which is great to paint furniture. It's faster and there are no brush strokes.
The project I want to do is to rip off my crappy carpet and paint the stairs. I've been too chicken to do it though.
Oh, and karate chop away, but I have to tell you that I repaint things all the time. I do it on a whim. I change my mind about color all the time. I throw it on a drop cloth and paint it in 10 minutes. Doesn't need to be sanded or primed if it's something you've painted before. Just another layer.
Love your blog!
~Heather
haa, go for it! i'm painting everything right now, we'll see what happens when i change my mind and want the original tree stucture back.. buy new ones i quess. just remember to choose correctly the last corner when painting you floors, otherwise you'll get some lovely foot prints on your newly painted floors too!
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