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Wednesday, 28 November 2012

What would you do?

The hardest part for me, when it comes to painting a piece of furniture, is deciding how to do it. This can take years and with some of our furniture it often does. Colours, techniques, styles all have to be seriously mulled over before I can take the plunge. I only want to do it once. I have to get it right.

Now, a few years ago I picked up this baby on ebay.


I thought it looked like a bedside table in the photo so I snapped it up for £30 as I thought it would match my french bed. When it arrived, it was HUGE! The measurements had been on the listing but I hadn't checked. This is a metre tall! Oops! ( Could be worse! I nearly bought dolls house furniture accidentally once!)
This is the ONLY thing I have ever had that I am frightened to paint.


It's old. It has a patina that can't be faked.


It's carved. These are not stuck on!


It's oak. And it has cute feet. ( My photo was too blurry).

But, (and this is probably why it was £30) some plonker has SCREWED the top onto the base!




Mmm, 4 whacking great screws in the top!

So what do I do? Does the fact that someone has already ruined this mean I should paint it? Or should I countersink the screws and fill the holes? (Will that look okay or like 4 brown blobs?) At the moment this is in the corner of the living room with a strategically placed lamp and coasters hiding the screws! The light was too poor to capture the detail so I dragged it into the garden as you do. (The neighbours must think I'm mad, frequently dragging furniture outside for photos!)

I like painted furniture with a wooden top but I don't fancy wooden furniture with a painted top.

I could mosaic it?

What would you do with it?




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13 comments:

  1. Barrister's Horse28 November 2012 at 17:02

    How about replacing the screws with some hand made/forged wrought iron nails? I bought a pine table a while back that already had them and they looked great. They're a bit pricey, but do look really nice.

    Failing that, yes, I'd countersink the screws, then fill and faff to get the filler colours to blend with the wood grain.

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    Replies
    1. Emma Kate at Paint and Style28 November 2012 at 18:30

      Thanks Jackie, that's an idea. I just looked at some online and they're very attractive.
      I might start with the filler and a fine marker pen and see how bad it looks...

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  2. Vix28 November 2012 at 17:24

    Mosaic sounds like a great idea or tile it with some mis-matched antique tiles? It's rather lovely and I'm sure you'll make it look even better, you always do! x

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    1. Emma Kate at Paint and Style28 November 2012 at 18:32

      Thanks Vix, I can always mosaic it if it goes horribly wrong! I've used broken floral china before and that looked alright...

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  3. Anne28 November 2012 at 19:17

    What a shame someone has done that to it. What sort of mentality would you hav e to do it? Such a beautiful piece of furniture and you have a lovely house with nice proportions to display it in.

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  4. Emma Kate at Paint and Style28 November 2012 at 19:26

    Well, we don't have high ceilings or glamourously spacious rooms but I don't let that stop me! The rooms are long and thin with awkward corner windows and sloping ceilings upstairs so nothing is straight forward furniture wise!

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  5. Anonymous28 November 2012 at 21:12

    It is really unusual, I still think I would be tempted to paint all of it, in two complimentary shades, picking out all that carved detail in one of the colours. I'm not usually into gold on furniture, but because it is old and rather ornate, perhaps it could take a hint of metallic wax rubbed on the details?

    I wonder would your milk paint allow the patina to show through? I've never used it so I don't know, but I imagine it is more of a wash? A nice old linen/lace cloth on the top, if you were reluctant to paint it, would at least cover those screws! Good luck, I'm sure you will make it lovely :-)

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    1. Emma Kate at Paint and Style28 November 2012 at 21:47

      I love the sound of the lace cloth... I don't do bling so I can't cope with gold...Have you seen VillaBarnes blog? Rosemary does spectacular things with gesso on ornate surfaces which would really work with this but I'll try to save the wood finish I think...ooh decisions, decisions! Maybe I need to leave it for a few more years!

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  6. Unknown28 November 2012 at 22:12

    I love it, what would happen if you unscrewed the top, or am I being silly...

    I bought an elephant table on ebay once, cleared my car so it would fit in, got there...walked out with it in one hand. Table was an exaggeration, plus I don't do metric!

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    Replies
    1. Emma Kate at Paint and Style28 November 2012 at 22:27

      It would be loose and still have holes!
      I'm glad I'm not the only one who has crazy ebay mishaps! Hehe!

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  7. Teresa28 November 2012 at 22:48

    I once mistook a jewelry box for a dresser. Anyway, I love the carvings and think they will look beautiful with or without paint. But I would try the old fashioned nails first, the raised rounded kind. Good luck.

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  8. Emma Kate at Paint and Style29 November 2012 at 07:36

    Easily done Teri! Thank you!

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  9. Unknown29 November 2012 at 09:21

    The carvings on it are lovely. Could you not take the screws out and then wood glue the top to the base fill in the holes rub them down, undercoat and then paint on top you wouldn't notice the old screw holes then. You paint your furniture lovely so im sure you would do a great job. dee x

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I love to hear your comments!