You may have noticed from my Blog Profile that I love anything Scandinavian.
Scandiland pervades my every day. Seemingly without any conscious effort on my part.
Scandinavian-style décor has become popular over the years. It comes as no surprise then, that if I give it some thought, it has influenced the way I decorate the home.
The Scaninavians, and particularly the Swedes, are keen on painting furniture. Why?
Well, 1) I guess it stems from wanting to lighten up dark homes during long winters.
2) a desire to personalise and pretty-up things around the house.
And 3), in more frugal times, painting would have been used to re-use old items of furniture.
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I have been a fan of 3) for most of my adult life. These days, it has its own trendy name, upcycling! It's an individual, economical and environmentally-positive approach to furnishing a home. In my view.
We recently switched from an older house deep in the country to a new-build townhouse. During the transition some of the old house's furniture was disposed of. Some pieces came along for the ride in the removal van. They were a disparate mix of woods.
Now, I consider myself to be a loyal person. To people. To objects.
So, I couldn't bear to dispatch this mismatch of furniture to the charity shop, for it had been (and still is) much-loved.
With brush and paintpot in hand, I've gone through some of the rooms in the townhouse and have, in my view, brought some cohesion to the spaces. In some rooms I've
committed to a colour, in some rooms I'm still sitting on the fence, so have either done nothing or have given the furniture a "holding colour" (a.k.a. white!).
Now, I consider myself to be a loyal person. To people. To objects.
So, I couldn't bear to dispatch this mismatch of furniture to the charity shop, for it had been (and still is) much-loved.
With brush and paintpot in hand, I've gone through some of the rooms in the townhouse and have, in my view, brought some cohesion to the spaces. In some rooms I've
committed to a colour, in some rooms I'm still sitting on the fence, so have either done nothing or have given the furniture a "holding colour" (a.k.a. white!).
I'd like to kick off this series by showing you perhaps the most vital piece of furniture in the house. The Booze Cabinet! The little workhorse that houses the essential Tanqueray gin, single malt whisky of the week, a bottle of Madeira for Cousin TC, liqueurs and a stashette of wine.
This was how it looked when it came in from the countryside.
All pine. And empty!
And this is how it looks today
Spodged not with Annie Sloan chalkpaint. Not with Farrow and Ball.
But with Dulux Trade Eggshell, White. Simples. It's The Business!
As I'm not a huge fan of the shabbier side of upcycling, I chose to keep bare the areas that would take a pounding, to avoid unsightly chips. Those being the top surface, drawer knob and bottle cubby holes (also, the cubby holes would have been laboriously difficult to paint - I did tell you I was a lazy person, eh!)
The Pout's Upcycling Tips
1. Create a link. When upcycling disparate pieces in a room, it's more aesthetically pleasing to bring some common link to them. In this room, I've created a link by keeping the top surfaces and drawer knobs bare. I think that's done the trick.
2. Make it easy on yourself. Not my words, but those of the legendary Walker Brothers.
I heed their words. In life. In painting.
I just love paint that you can just splodge on to bare wood. Fin. None of that palaver of sanding down, then applying knotting liquid, primer. undercoat, wax coating ... oh, I feel exhausted at just the thought of all that effort!
Use this single-app Dulux Trade paint, or similar. I gave this cabinet a second coat, but it didn't strictly need it.
It's the way to go!.
And there you have it, our first little Home Décor Workshop session together.
Hope you enjoyed it and will join me again soon.
Together we will Paint The House White :-)
Do you have any upcycling tips or roaring successes to share?
A la perchoine.
A place to watch the squirrels scampering around for nuts.
