Monday, September 14, 2009

Faux finish?

For me, the "f" word in design is "faux finish" (okay it's two "f" words, but you get the point). I cringe at faux finish. BUT.. there is one (sort of) example when I think it's okay.

Take a piece of Craigslist furniture, for example. Check out your local Craigslist and you'll notice 99% of the furniture is that yellow-y orange oak. Yuck. Enter this piece from Pottery Barn:



See Mr.Brown poking out from the back? Yup, he's painted. Brown. It's like a neat little trick on the eye - is it a stain? Nope, it's paint. A faux finish, you could say. Brownish black walls are so popular right now, why not bring it onto your furniture?

I'm going to try out this little trick with some Craigslist pieces and pop on some cool new hardware, I think. Something like these:





I'll post pictures if I do tackle this project :)

11 comments:

  1. Even when faux finishes look good, they scare me, because it seems like it would be really hard to do. I'm excited to see how your project turns out, though. Good luck!

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  2. Good luck Bryn!! I just finished 3 pieces for a client in a similar color and have to say that in person they really do not look as good. I tried to talk her out of it and while she loved the final result I did not think they looked all that great, I think black would be best.

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  3. I think it's always worth a try on a small piece! And if you don't love it, it's just a coat of black paint away from finished. :)

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  4. I can't wait to see what you do. I have a queen anne desk similar to the first craigslist pic and I've been toying with refinishing it. It's not offensive, I'm just not much into cherry.

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  5. If accessorized with the right stuff, I think the brown-black will look nice. On faux finishing-I usually associate it with a tacky marble finish on oversized columns in a living room in suburbia (I'm from orange county, so i can say that hehe)...but, if done right, on the right piece of furniture, I think it can work. I made a "stone-top" coffee table by faux finishing a piece of mdf board, sounds tacky, but with the eclectic style of my living room it works. When people come over they don't even notice that it's a faux finish, even though I think it's totally obvious (I am no professional faux artist by any means, this was the first time I ever tried it). Anyways, I guess all I'm saying is re-think faux! It can be done correctly, and when it is it can become an interesting piece of furniture with a story behind it.

    link to my faux stone coffee table... http://danishdessert.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-house.html
    let me know what you think!

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  6. I love the idea of refinishing craigslist finds! I turned a dresser into an awesome tv stand that I love!

    Have fun, can't wait to see what you do.

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  7. Very cool pieces! They should look great when they are done.

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  8. I am looking forward to you tackling this project! I love DIY's...especially with furniture. Oh goodness, can't wait!

    ♡,
    Jessica

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  9. Good luck Bryn!! I just finished 3 pieces for a client in a similar color and have to say that in person they really do not look as good. I tried to talk her out of it and while she loved the final result I did not think they looked all that great, I think black would be best.

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  10. Even when faux finishes look good, they scare me, because it seems like it would be really hard to do. I'm excited to see how your project turns out, though. Good luck!

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