This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 8:35 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
This is a subject of some controversy among decor enthusiasts. Some believe that beautiful, old wood pieces should never be painted. They say it ruins their beauty and is a travesty against solid wood - a material rarely used in household furniture anymore because of its scarcity and expense.
[The chair. Originally uploaded to Flickr by La Belle Avenue]
Some folks (including my husband) go even farther, arguing that old wood furniture should never be refinished in any way, even if it’s in bad shape. (Someone’s been watching Antiques Road Show.) As a consequence, we have several pretty scratched-up, but nice, old hand-me-down pieces throughout our house.
Then there are the artsy, reclaiming types, who can’t resist the challenge of turning an old, worn-out piece of furniture into something colorful, unique, and eye-catching.
I’m a bit torn on the issue. I agree that valuable, ornate, antique pieces should be preserved as close to their original state as possible. But I’m also ok with updating pieces that are otherwise not worth much because of their poor condition or unpopular style.
What’s your take?
Shortly I’ll post in AdornmentCraft on techniques for repainting old wood items. If you have any tips or questions along those lines, post them in a comment and I’ll try to address them.
November 18th, 2007 at 6:17 am
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