Painting French Provincial Furniture
French Provincial Painted Furniture- Thistle by Design Facebook
Not surprisingly to its fans, the French provincial-style furniture has become very popular of late, possibly as a reaction to the aggressively modern style that has dominated previously. Interior designer Bernadette Ferrari says she believes it will continue to be a popular trend as it combines elegance with functionality, according to FerrariInteriors.com.au.
This style of furniture is beautiful to look at without having to change anything at all, but it can become dingy over time, due to its inherent natural appearance. The French are well-known for their proclivity to paint furniture. Most often, this style uses white paint, which provides a fresh new look for outdated furniture, although other colors can be used. Painting is a great way to transform a piece of old furniture into something new with minimal expense.
You can add even more interest to almost any piece by using mouldings, painting details in another color, or adding gilt on the trims, as LilyFieldLife.com suggests.
While you could pay someone to paint your furniture for you, it’s a lot more fun to do it yourself. Save your money, and find a contractor to help in other aspects of a total room or home interior makeover.
Enjoy the opportunity to get creative by following these steps (with help from LilyFieldLife.com) toward painting your own French provincial-style furniture.
Cleaning
Before you begin, cover your work area with old white sheets or newspapers. Even the most meticulous painters make mistakes now and again. Next, clean the item you want to paint by wiping it down with a dusting brush or a moist cloth. Remove all of the dust, as painting over dust doesn’t mend well. As most French provincial style furniture is made of wood, you shouldn’t get it too wet, as this will cause the fibers of the wood to swell.
Unless you want to paint the hardware, removing it will make painting easier.
Sanding
If you find any cracks or holes in the piece while cleaning, use wood filler to fill them, and then sand to a smooth surface. Next, you should sand the piece all over very lightly. Be gentle, and remember– this type of furniture can be quite delicate. If it’s in generally good condition, you don’t need to completely remove the old finish. Rough it up just slightly to give the paint something to adhere to, and sand in the direction of the wood grain in order to avoid any noticeable swirl marks.
As many pieces of French provincial furniture have melamine tops, you can also sand this with a relatively fine sander, and apply a coat of flat white oil paint. As it is quite durable and has a flat sheen, this acts as a primer, according to Natty By Design.
Priming
You’ll need to prime the entire piece. This is especially important with old wooden furniture, as it can bleed through the paint. If this occurs, use two coats of primer and that will usually correct the issue. If you decide to go with a darker color, use a tinted primer.
Painting
Painting the piece can be accomplished using a spray, brush or a roller. A good quality paint brush generally creates the best look. Turn the item upside down, and paint hard-to-reach areas first, keeping an eye out for any drips or runs. These can be corrected by feathering your paint brush across them before they dry. They can be avoided by not putting too much paint on your brush.
You’ll need at least two coats of paint. Wait at least one day in-between them, or longer if possible. It needs to dry completely before painting the next coat. If you live in a humid location, it may take longer to dry.
Protection
A top coat should also be applied, especially if you’ve used acrylic paint. Polyurethane, sealers or furniture wax will work, although oil-based poly or sealer should not be used over white paint, as it will cause it to well.
Finally, you’ll need to wait at least three days, and preferably five, before placing any objects on your beautiful and newly painted piece of furniture in order to avoid scuffing.
Guest Post By George Iverson- George manages his own interior design company and website about home building and decorating.
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5 Ways to Update French Provincial Furniture
Painted Finishes on Vintage French Provincial Furniture Using An Overhead Projector – By Meranda S.
While French Provincial furniture is beautiful to look at just by itself, it can also become dingy and old looking over time. There are ways to make it more modern and artistic though. Here are a few ideas for ways to update your French Provincial furniture into a more modern style:
1. Update the Hardware – Paint the original hardware. Look to see how this French dresser painted in a cremy white has the original handles which are updated in a brushed bronze. If you end up painting your dresser black, consider painting the pulls black and distress them to show the beautiful metal in the ornate parts of the handle. This technique works with any paint color. To make the pulls stand out a bit, consider adding a brown glaze to the painted pulls or a dark brown wax to show off the details a bit more.
2. Go Pastel – Painting your furniture in pastel colors is a great way to keep the authentic feeling while still updating the look. Distress the paint finish with a hand sander. Even brighter paint colors look antiqued with a bit of brown glaze. Paint on the brown glaze and wipe it off. Consider painting with an eggshell finish as your basecoat, which gives the glaze something to grip on to. The glaze technique leaves residue giving you an aged appearance. If a paint finish doesn’t look right, add some glaze and you will love the finished look. Glaze makes everything look nicer, and is the trick many professionals use for brighter paint finishes.
3. Black, White or Red – If you want a really modern look, you can paint your furniture bold black ,white or red. Consider going glossy for a very rich French look. Rust-Oleum has a wonderful oil based line called “Enamels Spray” that produces a rich glossy lacquered appearance that doesn’t need any priming. Consider only using this brand in the warmer weathered months.
4. Bright Colors – Fun colors can bring new life to your furniture. Neon pink, bold blue, bright yellow and glossy green make it stand out and also give a great juxtaposition to the classic style of the furniture itself.
5. Cushion Crazy –If you have chairs whose cushions are looking a bit rangy, don’t reupholster them with the same old boring stuff.
Example of Tip 1- Look how the hardware is painted blue, and slightly distressed?
6. Patterns – Add bold stripes of color to boring furniture and liven them up. You can change the whole look of a piece with just a few stripes. Use tape to make sure your paint comes out crisp and clean
7. Frames – If you have a French Provincial mirror or picture frame, do not toss it away. Make it into a centerpiece by framing something unusual like a wreath of flowers or a chalkboard. It will stand out and make your home a talking point.
These are just a few ideas on how you can update your French Provincial furniture. There are so many opportunities to make the most of this beautiful style. Just take a few minutes to think about what you could do with it!
Author Bio: Paul and his wife Julie both spend quite a bit of time coming up with ideas, blogging, and researching all things related to childcare. They take care of all the necessary information related to “babysittingjobs.com/”. He personally thinks his blog will help with finding information on all things related to a babysitter.
29 Of The Best Rustic Iron Hardware For Your Provence Chests
There has been more of a public draw towards rustic natural wood furniture without the heavy lacquer or polyurethane finishes. Many people are gravitating towards the unfinished furniture with all natural stains that look worn, rustic and embody a and antique old appearance.
If you like this look above, you may really enjoy bleached pine furniture.
The dresser above is featured on Decompras Elmueble is made of natural oak and tends to embrace the elaborate stylings of Provence furniture. Instead of the prominent gilt hardware featured on classic French furniture, Provence style gravitates towards the rustic iron which works nicely on this piece.
A. Classic Hardware Drop Pull-Oil Rubbed Bronze $13.50
B.Classic Hardware Drop Pull Oil Rubbed Bronze $16.43
C.Bosetti Marella Louis XV Brass Handle Pull,Antique Brass Distressed $8.50
For More Brass Styled Hardware see this post…..
Classic French Provence Choices:
1.Classic Hardware Knob Oil Rubbed Bronze $6.27
2.Classic Hardware Drop Pull Natural Rust $25
3.Classic Hardware Drop Pull Distressed Antique Brass $14.50
4.Classic Hardware Pull French Antique Gold $10.71
5.Classic Hardware Drop Pull Antique Brass $14.71
6.Classic Hardware Pull French Antique Gold $15.26
7.Classic Hardware Ring Pull French Antique Gold $9.74
8.Classic Hardware Drop Pull French Antique Gold $17
9.Liberty Hardware Pull Kentworth $22.93
10.Liberty Hardware Pull Kentworth $22.93
Rustoleum produces an amazing spray paint that takes on the very looks of all the high end Oil Rubbed Bronze hardware. Ebay has some of the best selection of french hardware lots, and if you find a lot that you love why not spray the hardware to look like the high end oil rubbed bronze french hardware?
If you like the look of the old rubbed bronze hardware, and have a dresser with good looking hardware that you want to update, consider purchasing the Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze. I have had great success with it through the years. It particularly looks great with rustic barn colors, natural woods, black and really primitive colors. I think you will enjoy it as much as I have.
Here are some of the projects I have used it with in the past:
Dresser 1 – Striped Colonial With Sprayed Hardware
Hutch 2– Painted Black Hutch with Sprayed Hardware
Colonial Dresser– Painted Black Sprayed Hardware
Dresser With Sprayed Hardware– Look how I sanded around the brass hardware after the Oil Rubbed spray paint has dried, to reveal more of the shape of the hardware.
Additional Rustic Hardware For Countryside French Homes:
1. Cast Iron Large Gate Door Pull Set Of 6 $30
2.Bosetti Marella Classic Series Ring Pull, 1.97-Inch Diameter, Old Iron or Brass $7.
3.Bosetti Marella 1800 Circa Brass Round Knob, Oil Rubbed Bronze $7
4.Bosetti Marella Louis XVI Brass Drop Pull Oil Rubbed Bronze $10
5.Classic Hardware Appliance Pull Antique Brass $147
6.Classic Hardware Knob Natural Rust $10
7.Classic Hardware Card Holder Distressed Antique Brass $6.38
8.Classic Hardware Knob Natural Rust $16
9.Classic Hardware Hinge Natural Rust $13.50
10.Classic Hardware Card Holder Oil Rubbed Bronze $4.33
Classic Rustic Ring & Bin Pulls:
1.Classic Hardware Bin Pull Distressed Antique Brass $12
2.Classic Hardware Ring Pull Distressed Antique Brass 10.82
3.Classic Hardware Card Holder Distressed Antique Brass $7.68
4.Classic Hardware Bin Pull Distressed Antique Brass $5.30
5.Classic Hardware Ring Pull Distressed Antique Brass $4.76
6.Classic Hardware Knob/Plate Distressed Antique Brass $9.
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Decorating With Stone For An Old World French Provence Look
Elmueble featured a Spanish styled home on their site that had all the beauty that we see in the classic Provence styled homes.
Inside the home, stone slabs cover the floor, unifying each room. Rustic wooden beams captivate the romance of living with history.
Simplistic wall finishes pair this space down, showing off the french Provence furniture. The kitchen features a minimal appearance with several glass cloches, and glass apothecary jars filled with colorful fruit.
Natural linen is used with the drapes, and stone is found in the bathroom giving this house a luxury appeal to an antiquated period style design.
This old world style is minimal but emphasizes the true beauty in the architecture and stunningly beautiful furniture.
Decorating With Stone For An Old World French Provence Look
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Distressing Painted French Provincial Furniture
The best way to practice distressing techniques is on an old piece of furniture that is either a thrift store find, or something you don’t mind donating if the end result is not what you expected. Don’t begin your experiment with pieces that are valuable or antique furniture passed down in your family until you have tried this technique and are confident in the results.
Distressing adds a lot of interest and detail on painted furniture. It is the one technique that will improve a painted finish guaranteed! Over the years of selling white furniture, I have had more men love distressing than women. Distressing can look primitive, rustic and even masculine.
Your painted furniture should either have one coat or multiple coats of paint in the same color with bare wood under the paint. When distressing the piece of furniture, you should see the top color and the wood.
For a layered effect, use a neutral color as your base coat such as gray or black. When you distress the furniture, black will also show along side the natural wood color and your top coat paint color.
The worst thing you can do with distressing is have a white primer under a color. If your top color is white, then, it works just fine. Although you don’t want a red dresser with white paint peeking through.
The way to get around this is to fully sand your furniture before painting so you will have one coat of paint and your natural wood color which shows through distressing.
1. Distressing can be very simple. The first way of distressing is with sandpaper. Start by sanding it with fine sandpaper in the direction of the wood grain. This will greatly improve the look of your finished piece. Sand in the areas which would get banged up over time. The edges of the chest, the feet, the areas around the handle. You want your distressing to look as natural as possible. Use a hand sander, or a foam sander for great results.
2. Heavy distressing involves more than just sandpaper. Metal chains whipped on to a wood chest can depressions to the piece. Be careful that your distressing is random, and not obvious such as a screw driver, or a hammer. Chains work quite well for heavy distressing because the indents will be random than purposeful.
A. Now you want to emphasize the marks you made. You can either use a wood stain in walnut, or brown glazing. Either of these two colors will give the impression of dirt. Both techniques are simply done by painting on a coat of glaze or stain, and wiping it off quickly. Be sure not to use flat white paint with either two approches, as both the glaze and stain will permanently stain the white.
Antique Walnut Polyshade in Satin, or Pecan Polyshade in Satin are great stains to use over white or a color. Apply it with a brush and paint thinner, and wipe it off with a rag.
Be sure to wear throw away Vinyl gloves through this process, as it will save the time getting the chemicals off your skin once you are finished. Vinyl gloves stay on your hands easier than latex and can be used many times before throwing them away through out your painting projects
Simply paint on the stain or the glaze, and within a couple minutes after it sets and dries, wipe the stain off the piece which should leave just enough stain to collect in the holes to emphasize the distressed wood. Often times after glazing I like to add a polycrylic sealant to the furniture. With stain no sealant is necessarily. Enjoy your new antique looking white furniture!
This beautiful bathroom vanity is constructed in a size that is perfect for small bathrooms and is suited perfectly for any French Provence country decor. It has a durable resin top, one faux drawer, one door with one adjustable shelf inside, and a sliding back for easy plumbing connections. It is featured in a striking off white Bordeaux finish with rub through and antique finished fixtures with a biscuit ceramic sink. The Bordeaux collection also includes dining room furniture.
Floor to top of faucet: 41H Floor to top of backsplash: 39H Floor to top of counter: 35H Hardwood Solids with Red Birch Veneers; Resin; Ceramic; Metal
Bishop Coffee Table is shown in Antique White finish on base and Signature Stain top. This solid wood table has one drawer with antiqued drawer pulls.
LOUIS XV CONSOLE;Vintage Cygne Blanc finish on six drawer console with drawers finished in Heritage Stain. Antiqued hardware.
The Provence cabinet boasts hand carved detail and beaded trim for storage with feminine flair. Its antiqued mirrors and Vintage Cygne Blanc finish lend a nostalgic appeal.
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