As far as I'm concerned, painted furniture is the way forward. There are so many good quality furniture out there, and yet we keep buying in new ones that won't last a year.
Welcome back to Piristyle. I love when customers send me messages like: "I've got a job for you, how are your skills at decoupage?" Zoe is one of my returning customers, they have gone from a fully beige house, to the most colourful rooms - and I love that we can create beautiful things together. What I found funny, was the fact, that she knew I must have at least tried decoupage... you know, since I claim to be doing everything, trying new stuff out all the time and all that (if you didn't know this and want to know more, just head over here)... This post, is about Furniture Updating ideas and the things, you need to consider before you commit to it.
“Oh no, don't paint it, it's beautiful as it is, you will ruin it and regret it later”
Just like me, you are probably member of many different groups on Facebook, and I'm mainly thinking of renovation/DYI groups, where you come up with an idea, such as: " this is my cabinet, shall I paint it or keep?" then sit there for hours waiting for peoples responses and you get somewhere around 683 people all saying different things. Can I just say, I used to love getting ideas from these groups, but these kind of posts really annoy me! Why? Well, thanks for asking here it goes:
You've only posted, that one picture on it's own, so I would kind of need to know more, before I would answer!?
Are you wanting to paint because everyone is painting furniture these days, or are you wanting an updated look because you don't like the item as it is?
Is it to sell or keep?
If it's to keep, what is your style?
What does the rest of your room like or even going further, what's the rest of your home like?
How will this item function?
Do you generally, like painted furniture or are you more likely to embrace natural/stained wood effect?
You are asking people for their opinion when the whole thing is out of context
Nobody is asking any of the above questions, and you are very likely to end up with a piece of furniture that you don't like, because 683 people said, this is how you should have it, but nobody actually knows you to be able to give you the "right answer"🤦♀️
Do what feels right for you, it's your house, do it for yourself not for the people who come round to visit and definitely don't do it for the 683 people who weren't even interested why are you thinking of the change.
I appreciate, that we are all constantly growing and changing, our style changes and therefore, sometimes we need to update our home to reflect this or, using colour, to help us create the space that promotes the activities that we want to pursue, but this is not the way to do it. If you are asking for advice, ask the right people, people who can actually guide you in the right direction.
I'm talking extreme examples here, because... I don't know... trying to make a point. When you are sick, you go and speak to a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, someone who does "medicine stuff". You don't go and ask 600 people who have taken medicine before 🤷♀️
What I'm saying is, just because I've got wooden furniture in my house, painted something, made a mess of it and then later regretted it, doesn't mean that I'm not going to encourage people to upcycle their furniture. I've painted many things, made a mess of it, stripped all the paint, sanded, primed and started all over again, yes, because I've had a vision in my head and I knew I can create something beautiful.
I love dark wood, and brown is a colour that can make us fell reassured and safe. It is supportive, cozy and warm, BUT, many of the old houses have dark wood paneling, beautiful staircases or just general dark brown features that many of us want to keep as it's part of the history of the house - beacuse of this brown overload, some people feel the negative psychological effects more than others. This means, after a period of time, the space can feel dull, boring and lifeless. It's not as sophisticated as black and it brings up feelings of heaviness or it just makes us feel stuck!
Furniture makeover is here to stay!
You know me, I love a good DYI and I love, how just a lick of paint can give an instant update to a room. That lick of paint, can easily be applied to a piece of furniture, and you can create some amazing stuff! Check out these Pins if you would like to see some brilliant finished products, but here are ten ideas that I like to use, depending on how much time and money I want to spend on an item:
1. Sand down, wax or varnish - this is ideal if you like the furniture piece as it is, but it's been used and scratched and you prefer the shiny new look
2. Paint - this, will also mean sanding down, depending on the paint you apply, it may need priming first too.
3. Metallic paint - is great option if you are after a mirrored look, but the budget is tight
4. Classic black - obviously, you can pick any colour, but black will give a classic more expensive feel to the space
5. Give it a French inspired vintage look - I don't think, this ever gets old, there are many ways to achieve a vintage look
6. Wallpaper and paint - this is very trendy right now, upcycled 1930's pieces are selling for £££. Display cabinets can have a very dramatic look if you wallpaper the inside and paint the outside with a contrasting colour! I'm leaving this Pin here, because it's one of my favourites and it really shows what you can achieve. This is definitely a focal point for your room, don't overdo it!
7. Ombre effect and/or stencil - more time consuming than just painting in one colour, but can look very effective if done right - again, I'm seeing this more and more
8. Gold leaf - another that's been huge in furniture world for a couple of years now, but can't see this going away any time soon
9. Decoupage - you can pretty much decoupage anything, it's easiest to use tissue paper - I see these pieces with more of a country, farmhouse, rustic style
10. Changing/adding/removing legs and handles - You often see in renovations shows how just changing the handles on cabinets make a big difference. You can obviously do this on your chest of drawers, but you can change to hairpin legs, or add wheels if that functions better
Now that you've discovered the beauty of upcycling and are blown away from the pictures on Pinterest, before you jump into a project, just think about the questions I've asked above. If something isn't broken, don't try and fix it! If, on the other hand, you feel your space needs an update, but stuck for ideas or confused by the many options - as always - I'm only a message away.
Oh and by the way, Zoe's chairs did get an update, if you have missed my previous blog, you can check one out here.
Until next time,
Piri
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