Paint solves many problems

You know how it goes with decorating.  You get one thing to a point where you love it and that improvement only makes other things in the space look dismal.  And that is the point where we left off in the last post-  loving the chairs and not liking what is happening on top of the buffet.  

Almost but not quite

One problem area

Let's start with the lamp.  I've always loved this lamp and when  I recently moved it from the living room it needed a new home. I perched it on several books as a way to increase the height and  connect the dark chair colour to the buffet.

  I left it for several days, but I knew what would happen.  Every time I passed by I had the same thought

 ( that shade is way too white).  Problem arising... what were the chances I would find this type of lamp shade in St. John's?  NIL  What was left?  Paint it or cover it with fabric or paper.  I chose paint knowing if I totally messed  it up I could use fabric or paper to cover it. 

What colour? 

 The lamp had to relate to the drapes without overmatching, I trotted to my studio to see what I had there and chose  BM floral white OC29 left over from painting  frames for an dart show.

Benjamin Moore Floral White OC 29 

This  is a dirty white with the faintest hint of warmth without looking too yellow. Perfect in my book. Some bloggers recommend it as a good white for cabinets if you have white appliances.

How to?

 I watered down the paint by half  and brushed it on with a 2 inch art brush -synthetic soft hair for acrylic paint.  It's a  messy business so have something to catch the drips. If you are careful you only need one coat.   It worked like a charm with no buckling or patchy areas.  You definitely have to water down  the paint or it will look too solid and not be absorbed into the fabric. 

  Some references I consulted said to use a fabric medium with the paint but I didn't.  From my art experience I think you could add acrylic matte medium to replace the fabric medium if you so desired. 

Problem two

Once I used  red as an accent on the buffet and in my living room, my beautiful landscape by Carolyne Honey Harrison started to remind me of a Christmas tree.  The green frame (which hubby made for it) had to be changed. I have a terrible aversion  to "seasonal" colour connections.

What colour?

 First I  painted the frame BM Black panther, a soft black I use for art frames, but it was too harsh for this particular  artwork and space.  All you could see was the frame.  I prefer the art to show and the frame to support it.

Benjamin Moore Black Panther 2125-10

Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain  2134-30

Next try was  BM Iron Mountain left over from painting my Media unit (see here). Worked like a charm.  It brought more dark to that side of the room and played off the chair colour without matching perfectly.   My daughter joked that everything in my house would soon be some form of charcoal.  Possibly!

The reveal 

Almost but not quite

Subtle changes make a difference 

And you might think this room is now complete.   I wish!  More problems and solutions to come.
Is paint a solution in your home decor?  I'd love to hear what you've done with it.  

Dining room solutions

In January during a blackout our pipes broke resulting in water damage to a number of rooms in our home. What was a bit of a disaster turned into a positive for me because it finally got me moving to do something about  one of my biggest decorating problems.  That would be my dining room.... See my complaints in this  post .  It's quite a list. 

Too much of a good thing

This is how it all looked  in early 2000 .....

Wood, wood and more wood

Problem lines  

Wood everywhere isn't the only problem.  Note the all the horizontal lines from the buffets to the railing,  a light hung too high and a window that has a view of the window next door.   Below is my first attempt to solve some of the highlighted problems.

 A different orientation solves some problems

Rearrange and add

I liked the changes and that satisfied me for a short time.  The new light was a good height and the roundness worked well against all the rectangles.  I also added longer (very temporary and too short) drapes to break some of the horizontal lines.    I moved the art work from  the living room to dining room,  and created some height and brightness on the dining table.  Still seriously problematic in my book because I did nothing to alleviate the wood issue, but it was improved but sorely lacking  pizazz.

Enter 2014... 

The power of paint and fabric

One of the cheapest updates you can make to any space is to paint something.  I don't care if it is furniture, accessories or walls, it works every time. Since we had to repaint all the walls (BM Glacier white) I continued on to paint quite a few things which I will reveal over the next several posts.  

 Bringing  it into 2014

To break up the wood and the set,  I was determined to sell all the dining chairs and buy new ones. I still don't know how I got hubby to agree to selling 8 hand made solid ash chairs because they were too matched. He was probably fed up listening to complaints!

After an extensive search,  I realized the chairs that looked best with the table  were the ones my husband made for it. I don't like sets, but in this case I had to concede.  So ... after much discussion with sister and daughter and varying opinions, I found a fabric I loved and then choose spray paint to work with it. 

I would like to say that cleaning and spray painting 8 chairs was exciting.  Not so.... But I got to use my favourite motif (circles) and my favourite colour gray. What could be better!   Part 2 coming soon... new problems and solutions. Hint:  Look at the vignettes on the buffet and table.

What do you think?  

What a coat of paint can do!

I love eclectic pieces of furniture rather than matched when I decorate my own home. Sometimes I paint these finds and other times  I strip the original finish and create a custom wash . 

  We recently had to replace this green washed oak  dresser in our summer house when we relocated  it  to our newly renovated master bedroom  in town (that will be another post).

We bought this gem  at  Habitat for Humanities Restore for $20 dollars when it passed my husband's structural integrity test being  pronounced solid and square with good sliding drawers. Sometimes being married to a wood worker can become tiresome.  I liked it  because it had great lines. 

 The walls of this bedroom have been  Ben Moore Revere Pewter for ten years.    I wanted the ocean view  to be the focal point so I choose a colour for the dresser  that was just a little darker than the walls.

  I sanded liberally and primed with Ben Moore Advance Primer.  The colour is  Ben Moore CSP upper west side (Aura). I love this gray as much as I love Revere Pewter.  I think Revere Pewter is the perfect gray so that is quite a standard to match. I'm still debating painting the legs. They blend in with the floor and the tips are gold.  My current feeling is leave them because gray would accentuate the gold tips.  

I have to admit that the knobs and handles  purchased at Home Depot cost 4 times the price of the dresser, but they were a must to keep the mid century modern feel of the piece. 

Furniture Facelift

It's unbelievable how a coat of paint and new hardware can turn an old piece of furniture into a hot new addition to your home.  Much to my husband's dismay I am not someone who  becomes faint at the thought of painting solid wood.  The way I look at it, furniture may have served you faithfully for years, and it deserves a facelife as it ages!  Besides, painted furniture is all the rage these days.  So get out those colour chips and find a dresser or table to bring to life.

Pops of colour in furniture play the same role as pillows or area rugs in your decor.  It's a great way to move colour around a room or to create a stunning focal point.

Check out these pieces and more on my Pinterest board. 

Turquoise/aqua is a very popular colour for painted furniture.  It is a very "usable" colour because it would fit in with most colour schemes as a lovely accent.

Corals and oranges are very popular for  a pop of colour.  Of course oranges are all the rage in 2012.

Royal purple is one of my favourites.  Buying new hardward of cleaning the original adds drama to a piece.

Don't save your bright colours for furniture.  A current trend is to have a coloured island.  This is a daring choice. 

Stenciling is an added embellishment for painted furniture.   I particularly like the matt/gloss look of this black  dresser. It would work in any decor.  Just do your stenciling with gloss varathane.



The blog Censational Girl  has great examples of painted furniture as you can see from the gems below. The colour choices allow the pieces to fit into any decor as a beautiful soft accent.

I love this  soft greens which would have a place in many decors.

 This beautiful lavender gray stripe is so simple, soft and utterly appealing with white furniture. 

Detailing adds to the overall look of a piece and this one has it in spaces. 

There's lots of painted furniture in both my homes. Everything in my summer house except for the kitchen table is a colour.  That's because every piece of furniture is second hand.  What better way to feel free to paint it up!

This is a  table left over from the era of the fully draped  table .  It is fun and funky in my summer house. 

The wicker chair in my kitchen was spray painted and the cabinet was built to store phonebooks, mail etc. The colours blend in and warm up the BM Rockport Gray walls.  The cabinet is BM Lennox Tan my favourite warm goldenish beige .

 My solid oak coffee and end table took on a whole new life when I painted them BM Kendall Charcoal.

I hope you have something that is calling out for a coat of paint!