5 Pro Painting Tips For Black Furniture

Pro Painting Tips- Best Painted Furniture, Black Painted Antiques, Black Painted Furniture, How To Paint, Scandinavian Furniture, Swedish Antiques

Anyone can paint a piece of furniture black, but there are certain tricks to make your painted pieces appear more valuable than they really are.  Many of us feel that sensation of discovering a beautiful piece of furniture at a garage or estate sale, and then dreaming of what to do with it next.  If you are anything like me,  scrolling through pictures of paint chips, and color combinations can be a thrilling experience.

If you love lighter colored interiors such as white, light blue, or mint green, then black furniture might be a consideration for your interior.  Painting a piece of furniture black can create tremendous contrast for your interior.   Here are a couple tips to making your painted furniture look antique:

1.  Use Matte Paint

You won’t find shiny finishes on the old antique furniture in Sweden. This article won’t cover the modern black painted furniture that one would expect to see in the 50’s or 60’s , but rather the aged furniture that someone could come across 100 or more years ago.

When selecting a sheen, consider starting out with a matte finish.  Once the piece is dry you can add either a tinted wax or a tinted glaze to the final finish to give it even more depth.  The sheen will then produce a look between flat and satin.  Starting out with a low sheen will keep the overall finish looking rustic even after you apply additional paints.

2. Paint Your Hardware

While there are so many ways to feature hardware on black painted furniture, painting the hardware can be a smart way to making a black piece look understated yet elegant.  Take a look at a French Provincial chest painted in olive by Knack Studios.  The hardware was painted and carefully distressed.  In this case, a little bit of distressing went a long way.  Compare that photo, with this photo of a black painted bombe chest which is also painted in black.  The hardware is painted, but not distressed.  While bombe chests are considered some of the most spectacular pieces of furniture, this piece falls short for me.

– Darken your hardware with chemicals.  Rockler sells a brass darkening solution that ages brass, copper and bronze metal. It allows you to change the color gradually so you can control how dark the final product turns out.

– American Accents by Rustoleum sells an Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint that I have used on many pieces of my own furniture. After the paint has dried, simply distress the hardware with a sponge sander.

– 9 DIY Recipes For Rusty Hardware- Hersite

3.  Show Off The Wood With Distressing

Adding a bit of interest to your furniture can go a long way.  There are several ways to add patina.  Two ways that come to mind is by distressing, and another is by layering paint.

A: Distressing is a sure way of adding depth and interest to a vintage piece of furniture.  Some people like a LOT of distressing, and others like MINIMAL distressing.  It is rather interesting to see how people fall into those two categories.  Look at a few pictures on pinterest to decide what appeals to you.  The best thing about distressing is if you go too far, simply just repaint the areas, which will tone down the distressing.

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The Principles Of Scandinavian Design

Oliver Furniture Of Denmark

You read and hear quite a lot about Swedish design, these days – or maybe Nordic or Scandinavian design principles. Since the advent of IKEA as a global phenomenon over the past couple of decades, these terms usually conjure up images in most people’s minds of a lot of quirkily-designed innovative flat-pack furniture, often in bright primary colours. Of course, there is a lot of truth in this view, but it rather over simplifies things.

Scandinavian design as an overall concept first emerged back in the 1950s as a design movement characterized by straightforward designs, a general minimalist approach, a focus on functionality, and, yes, the low-cost mass production techniques we’ve come to associate it with today.

It was perhaps the Lunning Prize, which was awarded to outstanding Scandinavian designers during the 1950s and 60s that was most instrumental in making Scandinavian design what it is today – and helping to define it. And if there is any kind of real ‘definition’, then it’s based on the idea that functional everyday objects can be beautiful too – and that such objects should be easily available to all rather than a privileged few.

Julia Foster Decorative Antiques – juliafosterantiques.com

Simply Scandinavian is a book by Sara Norrman- Amazon $19

Simply Scandinavian is a book by Sara Norrman which celebrates unpretentious and simplicity with understated elegance in interior design. Scandinavian rooms are typically light, airy and bright, with modern furnishings mixed with pretty antiques and vintage pieces. Natural materials, especially wood completes the style of cool, calm and uncluttered living spaces. The main focus chapters of this book include, elegant simplicity, vintage-inspired, pared-down modern and contemporary rustic. 160 pages, published in 2010 by Ryland Peters & Small

This thinking reflected the growth of social democracy in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries over the same (post war) period, in addition to the availability of mass-produced low-cost materials and mechanisation of production. Scandinavian design made full use of pressed wood, plastics, anodized or enamelled aluminium and pressed steel, for example, as it does today.

In recent years, the march of globalisation really has taken Swedish design to the world’s masses in developed countries in highly efficient ways – but ways which are also sustainable as care for the environment is very much central to Scandinavian design philosophy.

We can now see an increasing mix of styles and cultures which is an inevitable result of that globalisation in mixing Scandinavian design techniques such as an ever increasing interest in pine furniture.

Many classic dining tables, for example, may owe as much to modern Swedish design principles as it does to a traditional French farmhouse as today’s furniture designs become increasingly eclectic.

 

KETTNER’S – Restaurant & Champagne Bar

Kettner’s is located in 29 romilly st, soho, W1D 5HP london.

Elle Decor Magazine – Our Little Big House Blog

Zara Home International

Home of British Photographer Paul Massey- See More of this home here

Home of British Photographer Paul Massey

Hanni and Steffen’s Swedish Home

Vintage Home by Judith Wilson On Amazon

It is the perfect alternative for modern white interiors, ideal for family
living—as extra scuffs won’t ruin the look—and low maintenance as well as
relatively inexpensive. For home designers looking to develop a new style from
old looks, this essential resource provides information on how to shop and
search creatively as well as how to identify and avoid fakes. Tips are also
included on mixing various vintage objects creatively in order to create
welcoming and eclectic interiors in any room.

Scandinavian Interior- Taken By Don Freeman Photography


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