Primitive & Proper's Perfect French Provincial Painted Furniture

These French inspired nightstands were painted by Primitive and Proper and have been painted white and distressed, and then heavily antiqued for an old world feel.

Q: How can amateur painters accomplish this beautiful professional finish you achieved with these two nightstands?  Do you have any tips for first time painters wanting a unique look for their furniture using paint?

Cassie- "I would not consider myself a professional painter as in some sense  I use the good ol' fashioned method.   I do not have a sprayer, as many furniture painters do, and do everything by hand.  With that being said, it is very important to invest in good quality brushes for a smooth look as well as good primer.   I use zinnser, which smells awful, but works beautifully.  I have found with zinnser I only need to lightly sand the piece to be painted.  Once it has been sanded, the primer is brushed on by hand and it is very important to follow the direction of the wood and go in nice straight lines.  You can "feather" as you brush on so that you won't see where you lifted the brush off of the piece.  Once the primer has dried, you can use another coat of primer, which I do in the case of white pieces.  After the second coat of primer, I begin painting and use just latex paint.  I prefer to use Sherwin  and Williams harmony paint which is low voc, cost efficient, and good quality. I personally prefer the eggshell finish, which was used on these tables.   Again, follow the same brush strokes as your primer for a smooth and even look.  After the piece has been painted with 2-4 coats of paint, the edges are distressed by hand with 80-120 grit sandpaper.  Some sites will recommend higher grit, but i prefer the lower grit and just move my hands very rapidly as I distress to avoid getting scratchy marks (if you do get these marks, you can touch them up).  Once it has been distressed and wiped clean with a damp paper towel, I sometimes choose to antique it, as was the case with these nightstands, to give it a more old world look.  There are specialty glazes you can purchase, but I use my trusty minwax stain and brush it on, and then wipe off with a rag, again following the lines of the paint.  You can use as many coats of stain as you need to achieve the desired look."

This gorgeous curvy French Provincial dresser was painted by Primitive and Proper.  The beautiful blue and distressing really gives an attractive look to this mid size french chest.  The slight curve in the drawer gives me a suspicion this is also a bassett dresser.  One clue is within their curvy serpentine looks which isn't overly evident in this dresser.  Another dead give away are their handles.  Their traditional french provincial handles have a leaf in addition to the scrolls, where Dixie and others have mostly just pretty rounded scrolls which make up their handle.  Bassett's handles also are wider giving you more to grab than other manufactures styles.  Bassett is one of the top well made manufactures out of all the french provincial manufactures.  This piece was possibly a hutch as most of these mid sized dressers were styled for.  I do love what Theresa and Cassie have done, which is to paint up the dresser and feature it as a grown up looking french chest.  Ditch the hutch and go for the upscale chest like what is featured here.

This graceful little nightstand has some nice curvy details and fabulous latticework on either side. It has been painted white, and distressed and antiqued by Primitive and Proper

This is a beautiful curvy French Vintage Vanity painted by Primitive And Proper has been painted in a soft french blue and given gilded accents and feminine vintage brass pulls.