I love wooden furniture and generally I prefer a vintage piece rather than new but there is a debate about painting furniture and I thought I would take the time to discus it here.
There will be hundreds and thousands of old well crafted furniture that people with no skills have badly painted in their home. Now the main argument here is, it’s their home and their furniture and if they love it that’s all that matters.
That’s true, I do stand by that, plus the beauty of paint is you can sand it off and start again.
Some pieces are so beautiful, pieces of history.
They should be preserved but they also should be savoured. And if painting them means that they don’t end up rotting in a garage or worse being rehomed at the dump. Our landfills are pretty full. The UK ships out rubbish to other countries, how appalling is that. So if it’s a choice of dumping a piece of furniture or having it in your home with a fresh coat of paint then I am all for it.
Years ago I decoupaged a chest of draws, it’s a cute little piece but the colours weren’t right. I now think that when we redo the bathroom I may sand it back and turn it into the sink. It will need to be sanded back and a stone top popped on it but it deserves to be looked after. It has gorgeous handles. I bought it in a charity shop for £20. I carried it him on the train, tube and then walked it, drawer by drawer.
It’s not a great job but at least I gave it a new home.
I feel strongly about less waste, less throw away lives and more investing in beautiful, sustainable pieces that you will love forever.
So if you don’t like painted furniture then don’t paint it. And if you choice is through it away or paint it then paint it. Craftsmanship is still craftsmanship even if it’s under a layer of paint.
It’s your home, so create a harmonic place your for you.
How do you feel about painted furniture?
Dysfunctional Planner 
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