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Refractory French Provincial Leaf Tables

Some of the most rare french provincial tables are the refractory French Provincial leaf tables.

They are quite uncommon and innovative in their design, but hardly new.

Some of the earliest examples of refractory tables date back to 1600.  Refractory tables have leaves hidden under the table and when pulled out, rise to the existing table top.  In some designs, both leaves meet in the center of the table and can be flipped over which serve as the leaves.

Refractory leaf tables are often seen as an extra thick table top, in comparison to the tables with removable leaves which involve physically pulling the apart the table from each end.

These tables have additional leaves apart from the table and require manually inserting the table leaves into the middle section to extend the table.

Over the years of reselling vintage french provincial tables, I rarely came across a french table which still had the original leaves.  Most people over the years have forgotten to donate the leaves, or somehow the leaves were misplaced as they moved from one house to the next.  One advantage of a refractory french table is the physical table has the leaves already in place. This beautiful design is rare in a french style, and simply one of the most stunning designs that are available.

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How To Faux Crackle French Provincial Furniture

 

Many people love aged furniture finishes which are often naturally changed from ever changing weather exposure, and distressed from being handled over time.

Finding the just right furniture style with naturally worn paint can be next to impossible.  There are a number of faux finishes that can give the look of a naturally aged appearance; one of those being crackle paint.  You can take an ordinary piece of furniture and transform it with a few faux painting techniques that could give the beauty of a genuine antique.

The number one mistake most people make when using crackle paint is ONLY using the crackle finish without pairing it with other faux painting technique such as glazing and distressing.

This beautiful bombe crackle finished chest is from Interiors Online.  As you can see this mastered finish has glazing around the handles which highlights an aged appearance.  Look at the overall base color and crackle color.  They are almost identical, which is truly the best way to crackle finish a piece of furniture.  Add on top of that glazed oil paint  was added to highlight the beauty of the curvature of this fine bombe style.

Another huge mistake is using a modern colored paint such as white, crackling the piece of furniture, and calling it done.  Brightly colored white paint is a dead give away that the piece has been newly painted, and is not an old piece.

Crackle should only be combined with antiques, (OR an antique style, either color or shape)  if you are going after a genuine look.  Crackle paint should always be combined with a off-white, a beige, gray or a color which is a historical paint color, and then dulled by either brown stain (Minwax Polyshade in Antique Walnut), or brown glaze  (brown paint mixed with glaze) to give it a slightly used aged look.   Do NOT use a metallic glaze.  Metallic glaze is another dead give away it is newly finished, and fantasy than antique.

Another mistake is using crackle all over the piece of furniture, (unless you are a professional and are skilled at combining other techniques).  I have made this mistake and the finish turns out quite messy and lumpy.

Crackle paint is sometimes very hard to paint over because it can lump together in the process.  Going back over the finish messes up the chemical process of crackling that often times less crackle is more in the long run.

Crackling an entire dresser can give a very busy appearance.  Try a number of pieces before using crackle over an entire piece. I would highly suggest going over your finish with the same overall color in some areas to make it less busy, and adding a glaze or a brown stain which will highlight the crackle in a subdue way.

Vagabond Vintage From Mothology.com Featured in Home Beautiful

The beauty of a crackle finish is that it can conceal problem areas.  If you’re considering stripping a piece of furniture down to it’s original wood finish, you could consider sanding it quite well, and crackling in the problem areas.

A) Before painting, be sure to sand your french provincial furniture.  If you have a natural wood french provincial dresser you may want to sand it well, and not prime it.  After the crackle finish has dried you can distress it, and then move on to glazing the entire piece.

B) If you have an already white french provincial dresser, prime it first using an oil based primer, such as Rustoleum’s Black or Brown flat Oil based paint.

Techique 1- Using Regular Glue.

Step 1- Sand your furniture, (prime if necessary) and apply your base coat.  (Your (water based) base coat of  paint will be the color that shows through your crackle finish)

Step 2- Once your base coat is dry, apply a semi thick layer of Elmers glue.  You can dilute the glue to make it easier to work.  Let the glue dry almost all the way, then apply your top paint color which is mixed with Elmers glue.  The paint ratio to glue should be 2 to 1.  2 cups of paint to 1 cup of glue.  Let the paint dry, and within 48 hours you should have a beautiful crackle finish.

Another variation of this finish is to paint a base coat, let it dry, paint on glue, and let it dry until it is tacky, (more than 1 hour, but not more than 2 or 3) and paint on your top coat.  If it doesn’t crackle, the glue is too dry.

Several tips I have used:

– Use a brush, not a roller to apply the glue

– Applying the glue thick than thin, which gives a better crackled appearance.  Experiment with more glue which is supposed to produce wider cracks.

-When painting the glue, use random brush strokes so the cracks don’t come out in the same direction.

– Try not to work on vertical finishes.  Turn your furniture piece over one step at a time and apply the glue and let it dry.  This technique can be time consuming, but worth the trouble to get an even finish.  Working on vertical surfaces can cause the glue to run together in a gloppy mess.

Technique 2- Porcelain Crackle Glaze

Porcelain crackle glaze is a bit different. Porcelain crackle is supposed to replicate old china which has aged over time.  Ideally this finish looks the nicest on vases, lamps and statues which would be made of porcelain.

The first coat is painted, crackle is applied, and dried, and glaze is then rubbed onto the finish revealing the very small cracked details.

French Provincial Furniture From Artisan8

This amazingly charming BASSETT french country buffet available from Artisan8 on esty comes with a detatchable hutch.   Hand-crafted distressed look  involving a 6-layer paint application for a one-of-a-kind piece. Architecturally detailed and slightly elevated by four french-styled legs.

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Drexel Touraine French Provincial Furniture

Drexel produced a stunning french provincial furniture set from the mid 1950s through the mid 1960s called Touraine which is still quite popular today.

Drexel designed both a bedroom set and a dining set in this series.  The furniture was inspired by the curvy lines classically found in Louis XV furniture which became popular during the period of 1730 to 1775.

The Touraine bedroom dresser sets featured very soft lines which were accented with gold and cream.  Louis XV furniture often has a very feminine look which can seem very sensuous and romantic.  The unbroken curves are one of the key features of classic Louis XV furniture.

This unique style is expressed in the delicate curves of Touraine dressers which extend down from the drawers to the legs of the furniture.

The Touraine collection is one of the only french provincial collections to feature a serpentine shape other than Bassett’s Versailles collection.

Serpentine chests and Bombe furniture is quite difficult to create and quite hard to find.  A genuine antique french serpentine chest can be quite rare and pricey for any collector.

The larger 9 drawer Touraine chests feature 6 side drawers and 3 smaller middle drawers.  This unique design offers a substantial amount of storage space.

The nightstands in the Touraine series do a great job of drawing inspiration from genuine Louis XV nightstands which feature a slender style often not seen in other french provincial collections.

Prices can vary greatly  for individual pieces in the Touraine collection, and complete sets often go for $1500- $2800 depending on the condition.

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My Journey In Painting

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I have had a lot of fun over the years doing furniture makeovers, trying new paint techniques and giving old furniture an updated look.

I love to paint because it allows me to experiment with faux techniques and it allows me to explore truly antique paint colors.  I also enjoy the challenge of turning something dated into something beautiful.

I make over furniture as a hobby, and I try to focus on classic upscale styles such as Chippendale dressers, French furniture, American styles which I usually make over with paint.

French furniture has become my choice of furniture because it has so much potential. You really cannot paint a classic chippendale dresser yellow or pink, but you can with a French dresser. The curvy lines of most French furniture pieces are just brimming potential.

There are three ways that French furniture pieces are typically redone….

1. Bright Colors and Patterns – Typically either solid colors or dramatic patterns such as the prints Jonathan Adler is famous for.

2. Faux woods and Marbles such as are found in the palace of Versailles, or Tuscan blacks.

3. Antique Swedish looks – High end white finishes.

So just how did I start painting?

I am Canadian, while my husband is American, so I wasn’t able to work full time when I first moved down to Virginia. We went through the extensive immigration process, which meant at first I couldn’t work right away after arriving in the United States.  It allowed me some time for small projects and makeovers.

But it wasn’t until the second year of our marriage when our apartment building went through a management change that things really opened up for me.  I ended up becoming manager of our apartment building. Actually, I managed two buildings, which allowed me plenty of opportunity to learn how to mix different paints, and do small DYI makeovers. It helped tremendously that the owner of the building was open to DIY changes. He was grateful for any improvement and allowed me great freedom in decorating the buildings.  I really took to painting and really took an interest in color theory. I have learned to love faux finishes and the possibilities they hold for creating period looks.

After the apartment buildings got sold, we moved on and I started painting furniture.  As we were in the process of moving, I needed to get rid of some furniture and I discovered the joy of selling things on craigslist.  I found that there were a lot of people out there interested in looking for nice quality furniture.

I decided to look for only furniture I loved myself. I focused on colonial and traditional furniture styles which were easy to find in Virginia. I learned that people really loved classic white and black finishes.  While some of my girlfriends painted colorful pieces, I learned that only certain types of furniture worked with certain colors.

Regency Barrel Chairs Cut Down And Turned Into Slipper Chairs

Regency Barrel Chairs Torn Apart and Re-Upholstered Into Slipper Chairs

As I got more into painting, our small 2 bedroom condo quickly became overcrowded with all my painted projects laying around. I felt so bad for my husband, but every business has to start off some way or another.

We constantly had wet painted furniture all over the condo, and there were times when it drove me kind of batty. I learned how to be a very neat painter, because often times I had carpet I had to keep a meticulous eye on.

My husband started blogging, which over the years turned out to be a full-time business. He left his job as an attorney, and we both moved towards making money online. Living in a 2 bedroom condo, with one bedroom holding all of our furniture, I painted furniture while he worked hard on our Internet adventure.

Today, we blog full time, and I don’t paint furniture anymore for re-sale, but still paint in my free time.  I really enjoy trying to master Swedish finishes. They intrigue me, and I am still experimenting with other finishes as well. I am still learning and growing, and I am hardly a master, but continue to learn along the way.

You can find more of my home here.

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French Provincial Living Room Furniture

Turning a rather plain piece of furniture into something spectacular can truly be a lot of fun.  Some of my favorite french provincial furniture pieces are the marble-topped living room vintage sets.

French provincial marble living tables consist basically of the base of the table which is made from wood, and a marble top which is inserted into the wood base. Many of the 1950’s french provincial coffee tables and end tables were made with luxurious marble tops which even today is still a very expensive material many people still have to stretch their wallets for.

Marble itself is an extravagant choice for counter tops in kitchens, but  is often bypassed because of its high cost.  Marble is one of the most beautiful materials in the world, because of its complex patterns and deep colors.  Marble comes in a wide variety of colors and patterns.  These vintage marble sets can be picked up for as little as $50 dollars a table which pales in comparison to the cost of purchasing the marble, then having it cut to fit a particular table, and then making the furniture.

A marble coffee table or end table can bring a touch of elegance to any home.  Most of the marble tables seen in high end hotels and homes have marble tops with wooden stands.

The process of turning a raw stone into a beautiful piece of furniture is a rather complicated process.  One aspect of marble furniture that must be appreciated is the rather dangerous job of finding and processing it.  Marble is found in the mountains which means that obtaining it involves the use of dynamite.  They essentially blast off parts of a mountain and collect the boulders that are blown off.  Those huge pieces of rock are then taken into  workshops where they are cut into large slabs. The slabs then are cut into sizes and are then waxed and polished.

In many countries these jobs are carried out by very advanced machinery, but in developing countries, many of these processes are still handled by individual workers with the help of small, semi-automated machines, which makes it very labor intensive.

Maintaining marble tables is a very delicate process.  Marble scratches and stains quite easily if it is not sealed.  If you do buy a french provincial marble coffee table set, you will have to consider the cost of having it sealed yearly and then polished as frequently as possible to maintain the good looks of the marble.

Avoiding placing wet, hot or cold drinks on the surface and always using a coaster.   Keeping your marble clean of debris, drinks and sharp objects will help keep your marble furniture beautiful for a lifetime.

Living in Provence Dane McDowell

Architects and interior decorators around the world still draw inspiration from the Provençal region.  Living In Provence features sections on gardens, and useful information on restaurants, hotels and guesthouses.  Its gardens are visions of paradise rediscovered, its houses–whether looking out over sea, forest, the countryside, a shady terrace, or a patio full of flowers–reflect a secret harmony between interior and exterior.  Living in Provence features how to achieve Provence Style from a variety of angles, featuring contemporary houses, village houses, farmhouses, log cabins and lodges, and historical buildings.

About the Author

Dane McDowell is a journalist and academic. She is assistant editor of the magazine Résidences-Décoration, and has also contributed to Connaissance des Arts and Figaro Magazine.

Christian Sarramon (photographer) spent long months traveling the length and breadth of Provence to create this book. He works for leading interior design magazines and has published numerous books, including the Book of Roses and Provence Style.

Living-in-Provence-Dane-McDowell

 French Provincial Furniture Ideas – Living in Provence By Dane McDowell

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My Louis XV French Provincial Chest Makeover

My French Provincial Louis Dresser MakeoverWhite-washing is basically applying glaze mixed with white paint to the surface of your wood furniture, giving your piece a two-tone effect.

The two tone effect is basically where the wood shows through the paint finish.  You can achieve this result by liming, which can be picked up at your local hardware store, or paint alone can achieve this finish.

This effect ONLY works when you have unfinished wood which enables the paint to soak into the furniture.

White-washing can also work with oil based paint in combination with paint thinner.   If you are working with vintage French Provincial you might run into a stumbling block like I did, where you have a really hard white melamine paint that is baked on.  If you have patience you could strip off the paint.

Every dresser is different, some manufacture paint finishes are relatively easy to remove, while others are very difficult.  If you have a white french provincial dresser that has a white finish, check out what I did with my painted french dresser:

I had a white dresser so I decided to fake the appearance of a white painted piece which was distressed showing the wood underneath.  What I did to mine was started with a orange oil paint, and layered on color with slight distressing in between to produce a finish that looked to have layers of blues and creams and beiges to the finish.You can also achieve this look by mixing water based paint with glaze BUT, for most of my pieces I prefer to work with oil paint, rather than with latex, so this article discusses OIL rather than latex paint. 

 I would highly recommend Rust-Oleum’s oil paint in satin or flat finishes. Rust-Oleum’s satin oil dark taupe is one of the most frequent colors I use when I paint furniture. 

Using a faux washing technique with soft butter yellow satin oil paint is one of the best colors to use on top of dark taupe.  Additional oil colors such as the butter yellow can be purchased from specialty paint stores that tint oil paint.  I use this technique on a lot of my projects.   I have come to know that my local Home Depot paint store no longer carries this color.  Here it is on Amazon.

Rust-Oleum 241238 Satin Enamels Spray, Dark Taupe, 12-Ounce

The other color which works well is Rust-Oleum’s color Fossil in latex .  Again using white-washing techniques, Rust-Oleum’s oil flat paint tinted with an off white works extremely well in creating a washed Swedish finish.

Rust-Oleum American Accents Spray, Satin Fossil

 I would suggest Sherwin Williams for oil paints, and you also can get virtually any color with Behr’s Paint and Primer in one.

Here are a few of my staples:

 

If you are working with latex paint a glaze can go a long way toward adding depth to your furniture.

Ralph Lauren Faux Technique Glaze

If you are working with oil, translucent finishes can be achieved by simply working with paint thinner and stippling it on to your furniture just like you would with glaze.

Ralph Lauren Faux Technique Glaze 

Many french provincial reproduction furniture pieces have such durable finishes that they are almost impossible to chip, which is an excellent quality to have.  If you are looking for a french dresser, and you want to make it over using a white washed appearance, I would highly suggest working with a dresser that has just a wood finish and no paint.

Typical white french provincial furniture pieces are often found with rock hard enamel paint.  The challenge with these white finishes is they are especially hard to strip.

Many vintage manufactures have taken the enamel finish and combined them with chemicals such as melamine paint and baked them in large ovens, which gave them rock hard solid paint finishes. Stripping these finishes is next to impossible.

So what do you do if your original paint is white?   

The dresser I painted was solid wood, but also had an original white finish, so I had to duplicate the look of wood with a coat of orange paint, so that when I distressed the furniture, it would give the appearance of some depth to the paint finish.

The next layer is an off white beige color, which I was able then to distress showing the orange.

After the distressing, I used a white oil paint diluted with thinner and dabbled it onto the dresser giving it a little bit of a textured look.  Additional white washes were applied to give it an overall white effect.   I did about 7 layers of additional washes until the entire piece was finished.  Here was the transformation.

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