To Paint Or Not To Paint?

Hello Friends~ ~ ~

I would like to share with you some of my methods for painting furniture that I have used successfully. Maryjane mentioned on her comment that she would love to paint her furniture, Did I do it myself. Yes! The reason most of us don't just jump in and do it is fear. Can I really do this and how will it look when I'm done? Well gals, if I can SO CAN YOU!


Let me share with you that I was no different before I painted all of this. The only reason I didn't hesitate is that I didn't have time to!

(Please notice below the fancy carvings on the cabinet doors were not there before. I bought them and pasted them on Before painting, adding a sweet little French Touch to the piece)

We had just bought this house so that Mom could move in with us. It was perfect for the situation in many ways but it was and still is decorated Victorian dark! Deep wine red and cream is the color scheme. I love Shabby Chic white but never did it right. Mom loves Victorian and I knew that she would love this house. . and I was right. All of her furniture worked right into the design and colors.

So, what was a Shabby Chic Gal to do. No more time to hesitate about weather to paint or not to paint just choose a color girl and git going! I painted all my furniture white thinking it would lighten up the house without doing a total house redo. That's coming up much later in my budget.

This French paste wax is soft and creamy and the final step of my paint job. No polyurethane finish for me I love the soft glow this wax imparts. It's softer than an English paste wax because the French furniture has all the elaborate wood carving and this soft wax more easily flows into the carvings. It's amazing.

This is a little table I painted last summer.

I have no before and after pictures of the other furniture because this all happened Before the blog and I wasn't in a picture taking mode. Funny how blogging effects your life. Now everywhere I go I've got my camera with me!

Step 1. Lightly sand the piece to rough it up a bit.

Step 2. Paint with KILZ This stuff is amazing, covers everything

Step 3. When dry sand lightly again and do this Before every coat

Step 4. Paint. All my furniture was darker than this table and I put on 2 coats.

Step 5. Let dry for a few days to a week. Than wax.

Ta Da! Pretty white furniture. I did not ruff mine up to age it. That has happened over time and I like the look.

See the corner of the buffet in the back of this picture~ ~It's next on the paint list.

I used Behr Paint and choosing a shade of white was agonizing. I didn't want white white or gray white so I choose a darker shade of white but looking at this furniture you wouldn't guess it. I used "Cottage White" and I'm very happy with the results.

Any questions? Just ask.

Love you all
~ ~Ahrisha~ ~