Like many people my age, the majority of furniture I’ve owned (and approximately 100% of the furniture that I’ve purchased) has been from IKEA. I like IKEA furniture. It looks good, it does its job, and then when you inevitably break it, you don’t feel too bad, because you can just go out and get another one without breaking the bank.
It’s hard to transition into purchasing “real” furniture when you’re moving from apartment to apartment — why buy a couch that fits perfectly in your living room when you’re going to be moving in a year anyway? Now that I own a house, however, I’m trying to switch to more permanent pieces.
Fortunately, I have a start to my collection, in the form of hand-me-downs (the best way to get real furniture, as it’s free!). My grandmother had given me a lot of various pieces, including 2 buffets, a dining room table & chair set, a dining room hutch / cabinet, a sofa table & ottomans, an upholstered sitting chair … etc, etc. All nice, solid furniture. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really to my taste. I don’t know anything about furniture, and what is valuable vs. just old, and so before touching any of the pieces, I asked my grandmother if she would have a problem if I painted it (I don’t want to desecrate the memory of her home or anything!). She responded with “Honey I don’t care if you chop it up and burn it as firewood”…. so I took that as a carte blanche to update the pieces as I saw fit!
Two years ago, I tackled the buffets first. They were a very 70’s-style orangey-brown wood, and in general, nothing much to look at.
But they were solid pieces, and useful — the large buffet could hold tons of stuff! And since we had recently moved into a 650-sqft condo (with two humans, two dogs, and two turtles), extra storage was a plus. I gave them a quick and easy facelift with some brown paint and new hardware (I’m not ready to delve into the world of stripping wood, sanding down, and staining it … sticking with paint for now).
The two buffet tables, after I got to them with a few cans of spray paint & new knobs.
That was all of the refinishing I did for two years. The rest of the furniture stayed in storage, so I didn’t worry about what it looked like. Upon moving into our current house, though, some of the other pieces came into full view.
One set that I loved was a 1970’s era (when my grandmother got all of her furniture, apparently) Drexel chinoiserie-style sofa table. It’s a great size, and comes with two matching ottomans that tuck neatly underneath — perfect for extra seating as needed!
The problem was the chinoiserie style. I just can’t get down with it. And I knew that there would never come a time in my life when I would think “Gee, what this room really needs is some oriental-style furnishings”. So after much debate with others (some who felt it was desecration, and I should at least sell it to someone who would appreciate the style, and some who were fully in favor of painting it), I thought back to my grandmother’s words, and figured that I’d go for it.
At the suggestion of a family friend (who has awesome taste and knows quite a bit about antiques and furniture in general), I went all-out with a Robin’s egg blue. I was originally going for a grey linen-type fabric for the reupholstering, but I let Alex choose the fabric and he picked out something fabulous — a dark/light gray polka dot satin. Long term, I would love to replace the black glass inset on the top with a mirrored glass (ideally one with an antiqued look), but I’ll deal with the black glass for now.
The sofa table & ottomans, after the Kelley Treatment … P.S. you are getting a sneak-preview of the new floors! More on that in the next post…
I tried my hand at giving it a “distressed” look. I didn’t want it to have a freshly painted look, so once the paint was dry I scuffed it up with a sander (Note: use sandpaper and your hands — I tried using a random orbital sander and it’s just not quite right), and then I applied some “antiquing glaze” that I got at Lowes. Basically it looks like dirty paint-mud. I guess I could have just got some mud from outside. Either way, it dirtied it up. Perhaps a little too much. But hey, now I know for next time.
Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away, and didn’t get to see how I’m treating her old furniture. Still, I’d like to think that she’d approve, since after all, it looks pretty fabulous (at least in my opinion).
Rating: How Hard Could It Be? …. easy to medium. Painting is pretty straightforward. “Antiquing” isn’t as obvious as I thought it would be. It takes skill to get that “weathered” look without it looking like you deliberately sanded and painted it with mud.
{ kelley + alex } 