The chicken wire is a stroke of genius!!

LOVE that french blue-grey color on the first cabinet. AWESOME!

Wow! Both are beautiful. I especially like the lavender color with that cute little chartreuse (or is it yellow) clock.

I love these! I am so into gray-ish tones for furniture lately! It has a soft, touchable look to it.

Beautiful transformations! Neutral color palettes contain as much variations and richness as fully saturated colors – these two are perfect examples of that.

ooo, please find out that grey/blue color name. i’d love to use it.

Both transformations are incredible! The colors used are just lovely!

Two of the most fabulous pieces to be on D*S for sure! Love ‘em. Want both.

I think it might be Silver Screen – I had my bedroom painted that color and in sunlight it has a slight lavender cast. In incandescent light it is a true light grey color.

I love the first one. Incredible! The color you picked looks amazing with the vintage radios! I love the gold knobs as well. I am truly inspired! Thank you for sharing this!

I love these! I am so into gray-ish tones for furniture lately! It has a soft, touchable look to it.

Both of these are so fantastic! But I think the light blue cabinet is super-classy. =)

Love love the chicken wire! So cute!

Great makeovers. I’m sitting on a couple of treasures that need the same TLC. Especially love the credenza paint color paired with shiny brass.

love both makeovers

These are both fantabulous makeovers…I am so inspired now to run home early from work and start re-doing my furniture! I love the color choices too–way awesome!

They are both gorgeous!!

Spectacular!! What a change, I am so up for some furniture painting, this are great samples of how to make use of and old ugly piece of unloved furniture, excellent!!

I think I will have to stop reading D*S before and afters. While I used to love them, there is just oo much being made of people painting wood and saying its a good thing. I think the wood in both of these before shots looks beautiful. of course, it is only a photograph, so i cant tell if it is in good condition, but i would just like people to check the condition of the wood before they paint. if it IS really beautiful wood, leave it alone! but hey, if its just cheap wood or in a really bad way that it can’t be restored, go for your life with the paint. it just makes me sad seeing beautiful wooden pieces painted over. while the end result in both of these is nice, i just wonder at what has been lost.

Also keep in mind that this piece of furniture belongs to *someone else* — and they may not like the look of the natural wood! It’s a matter of taste, really, and if the owners want to paint it…well, they should!

love love love the hardware!! it totally makes the lavender/gray piece.

hi Grace, thanks for the reply.
Caroline, I totally understand that it’s their piece of furniture and they can do what they want with it. Maybe its just that i never see beautiful furniture like this for sale for cheap and that it pains me to see it all painted over instead of restored, or even an attempt at restoration. If they don’t like the look of the natural wood and it is good quality wood, then why buy it and ruin it? again, if its in a bad state – rotting, crap veneer, etc – then i agree with you, go for it, but if not, i dont really see the point in ruining its original integrity.
thanks Grace, I hope people will take notice of your post about quality of found wood, maybe we will start to see B&A’s where people get inventive with natural wood rather than just painting over it :)

Hi Grace,
thanks for the reply.
I don’t actually look at other B&A’s apart from ikea hacks, which doesnt really count hehe, so yes i appreciate that time is taken to assess good from back redo’s. as i said, just want people to think more about what they are doing with the wood.

cheers for the info, but i dont live in the US, and mid-century furniture like the stuff you show on here, and indeed the sideboard in the first piece, i have found is either extremely expensive, or doesnt exist over here… ergo my being sad when something i cant even get my hands on is transformed. sigh.

thanks again :) its nice to know the mods listen and take the time to reply!

Really very sweet of you Grace to take your time to explain the basics of B/A. I am sure you are hoping that this will put an end to the complaining about painting wood. Furniture that was bought, found, inherited, looked at for many years can easily be painted and stripped or visa versa. These are fresh examples of giving life to neglected pieces! A simple really nice job goes a long way instead of the whoas me I know nothing of the condition and I can’t find anything to paint. Oh and Grace – Canada is the land of second hand stores and free signs on discarded furniture so no way can Alison be Canadian!

grace,
After reading all the comments about to paint or not to paint, I am at a stand still. I have a curio cabinet that I bought at good will and I was thinking of painting it. But the more I inspect it the sadder I feel about painting it cause the wood looks like it might be good. SO, how can I tell? I know you said you were starting a section on that but I am curious cause I was just stepping out the door for paint when I read this.

@Lisa, no Alison is not Canadian… Australian. I don’t know whether Australia had so much mid century furniture here to begin with or what, but the places i know that actually sell it, plus ebay and other online sites, just seem to be really expensive. maybe i am just not looking in the right places… like a sideboard for approx $50 aud like that first one is awesome!

thanks for the offer Grace. I am currently not in the market for more furniture, but I really appreciate the offer of help.

@Mary – thankyou. this is exactly why i decided to voice my concerns despite knowing it might cause a few ruffled feathers. Just to think about it, and maybe inspect the furniture more, is all I can ask for. That is exactly the reason why I have become an un-painted wood fan – I bought a chair that i had planned to paint, but the owner told me it was walnut and when i looked closely at it, the pattern of the woodgrain was so lovely that I couldn’t do it.

thanks again :)

wow, this is so great. The color is sophisticated and the doors look amazing!

Grace I’m also in Australia (Melbourne specifically) and like Alison am curious about local sources. I’ve always hoped that you would do a Melbourne city guide. Fingers crossed!

Sorry just noticed you have a Melbourne city guide — I guess just sources around here that don’t cost a fortune. I do love the Camberwell Market though :)

Again the discussion on before/after arrives at personal taste. It is a shame that “wood purists” would like to dissuade others from finding joy in the refurbishment of their belongings. I have no problem with painting an item even if it is made of good wood if it enhances the object. Obviously these examples have benefited from the change. Not only that but their owners have found a new love for these items. There is nothing more depressing than an old dark cabinet in which you cannot see the objects on display. Please, whatever your opinion lets not allow a “snobbery” or moral attitude about the painting of wood items ruin the fun! MORE PAINT!! If you don’t like before and afters then please stop reading, I feel Grace is very responsible in her choices and hate to see her have to defend these choices time and again… I look forward to each before and after segment, LOVE IT!