How to decide if you should paint wooden furniture {& a sofa table makeover}
To paint or not to paint.
It can be a tough question.
Painting walls are an easier decision.
Yes, it’s a ton of work. But it is fairly easily reversed if you aren’t happy with the results.
Painting furniture, on the other hand, is a bit more of a commitment.
If you have ever had to strip the paint off of a piece of furniture to restore it to it’s natural wood finish, then you know what I’m talking about.
So how can you decide whether or not to take the plunge?
I’ve had this sofa table for a while now. My sister and brother and law handed it over to us when they redecorated their living/dining room. They really had no where else in their house and I had a few spaces in mine where I could possibly cram another piece of furniture.
It started out like this…
I lived with it like that for a long time.
It used to live in our entry hall. Maybe you spotted it there during a previous home tour?
Well, I always draped a runner over the top to covered the scratches and damage.
But then I did a little entry hall tweaking with a brightly painted table and this faux map wallpaper…
And this sofa table found a new home in our dining room. Which meant that I had a decision to make.
I could sand it down and refinish it.
Or I could paint it.
But to paint a lovely wooden piece? It felt like a big commitment.
So here is how I decided:
1 – Value
I thought about the value of the piece before and after painting. In my case, it was a good quality wooden piece that had value in wood, but being damaged and scratched up was taking away from that value. I didn’t think that painting it would decrease it’s value very much because of the damage. And, in fact, the colour of the table felt dated so I thought painting it would give it a style update. But if you have a beautiful and valuable antique in pristine condition, then you may want to take the value of your piece into consideration. Do some research and find out just how valuable your piece is.
2 – Sentimental Attachement
Are you sentimentally attached to your piece? Is it a family heirloom of some kind? Do you plan to keep it around in your home or a family member’s home forever? And, if so, will painting the piece impact how you or other’s feel about it? In my case, this was a simple hand-me-down piece (of good quality) that didn’t really have sentimental attachment for either myself or the original owners. In fact, I made sure that they wouldn’t mind if I painted their old table and they had no qualms about it.
3 – Condition
This is a big one! What kind of condition is the piece in? If it is pristine and super valuable you may lean towards not painting. If it is in rough condition or damaged, then most likely something needs to be done with it unless you want to go with a very rustic look. To fix a damaged piece you can either sand and refinish it with stain, or you can paint it. At this point, I think the decision just comes down to preference.
4 – Trendiness
I love to use trendy and fun paint colours on furniture. Usually what I am painting doesn’t have much value – they are mainly second hand garage sale finds that are not considered valuable antique pieces. This particular sofa table probably had more value then most pieces I have painted, which is probably why I took so long to “take the plunge”. But I made sure to not go super trendy with my paint colour as I have done on some less valuable pieces. I also wanted the table to be a good backdrop for displaying other decorative items so going light/bright/neutral was key to ensuring that there wasn’t “too much” going on for my dining room displays. Ask yourself: do you want this piece to be a trendy and fun statement piece or a long lasting background piece?
5 – Joy
Will it make you happy? Sometimes we avoid painting a piece of furniture because we think we shouldn’t – I call this the “don’t paint that wood”!!! complex. Many people are passionate about keeping wood – wood. But, are you? Ultimately, the piece is for YOUR enjoyment. It is for YOUR home, right? So what will make you happy? What will bring you JOY? I walked by this piece in it’s natural wooden state every day and there was a little tiny stab of pain in my side because I knew I didn’t like it. Not like that. And now that it is light and bright and fresh? I love it? It brings me JOY now. And isn’t that why we have “things” to begin with?
And even though it had some value, it was damaged and needed something – and, ultimately, I knew it would bring me far my joy if it were painted. So I went for it….
Two coats of Vanilla Frosting, a little bit of distressing, some furniture wax, and it was Done!
See a little more of this table in my Spring Home Tour – or grab the Free Printables that you see on it!!
Both the “Hope Springs Eternal” and the “Hello Spring” are available to download and print right now!
I may link up at some of these fabulous places below, for more info check out housie parties: Monday Funday , Inspiration Monday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Project Inspire{d} , Inspire Me Tuesday, The Scoop, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Wow Me Wednesday, Whimsy Wednesday , From Dream to Reality, The Inspiration Exchange, Wow Us Wednesday, Live Laugh Rowe Live Laugh Linky, Thursdays Are Your Days, Inspire Me Please, Catch as Catch Can, Fabulously Creative Friday, Party Junk, Pinworthy Projects , Link Party Palooza,, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Spotlight Saturday, Suburbs Mama , That DIY Party
I agree with the others. Much better with the paint job. Looks lovely with the selection of items on it.
I love how it turned out! I have a dark wood sofa table that lives in my closet and I want to paint it white. My sister yelled at me, she’s of the “don’t paint the wood” mindset. But ultimately it’s for me, in my closet, a space that most people will never see. So I think I should just do it! But I do agree about trendy colors, it’s better to stick to basics like black and white otherwise I think you’ll end up repainting in a year : )
http://www.wearwagrepeat.com
Much better, Krista! You are so right…if a piece just does not make you happy, then who cares what anyone else thinks about painting it…paint on that baby and stand back and smile! 🙂