I showed my friend a photo of this lovely Tiger Oak antique desk that I’m buying off craigslist and she immediately asked what color I was going to paint it.
It’s no secret that I’m a really big fan of painted furniture, so it might surprise you how much I actually love the look of wood. It adds so much warmth that I always try to use at least one all-wood piece in a room.
My paint brushes will be coming nowhere near this pretty little desk.
One of my very favorite ways to incorporate wooden furniture is using antique chests in entry ways. The best way to pull this off in a fresh way is to pair the traditional wood with modern art and some quirky accessories. A great lamp is always welcome!
House and Home
Thom Felicia
Suzanne Tucker
Marmalade Interiors
Domino
Domino
Mark Olsen Photog (for House and Home)
What do you think? Have you warmed up to wood again? Or were the embers of love always burning?
I have been looking for months on Craigslist for an antique dresser to put in my entryway. I love the photos you chose!
I also love this one from Lonny:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_yaawXJCYDUc/TEn8tGYS0EI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/_DrZQMQ51EA/s1600/laurann7_thumb3.png
I've always loved the look of wood…and actually just bought a dresser from Craig's List that I am planning on sanding down and staining despite all of the suggestions to paint it white or some bold color! I love the natural warmth of the wood. Based on the sources of some of your pictures, I need to change my name!
love this collection…living in the midwest, there are tons of these beautiful dressers at antique stores (for a great price) and I love seeing how to style them in a modern way
Thanks!
Thank-you. I have been wincing over some bad paint jobs. I think the natural wood holds such beauty if it has nice grains and is in good condition. love the legs.
Wood never really went away, it just looks good again.
pve
I grew up with a father who is an antique furniture refinisher. I have a great appreciation for a beautiful wood piece and am lucky to have a few in my home. Although.. I love painted furniture soo much!
They have always been burning…and you just posted so many great reasons why!
Thanks for the reminder of how beautiful wood can be!
Have a great weekend! Jade
What a great find…. the desk is beautiful! I often paint furniture but also incorporate nice wood pieces. I think it warms up a room.
Enjoy your weekend!
Lisa
I was just about to paint an old oak chest, but I think I'll wait and maybe pretty it up like you said. Thanks for saving me the trouble.
-Rene
Thanks Jenny for showing us how to mix up wood. I sort of forgotten about it with all the painted goodies!! But as you showed its really timeless
Exactly no need to paint this one, it's beautiful as it is.
I totally agree with you. I think an all wood piece warms a room. My favorite piece is my antique chest in our living room. I remember a friend thinking it was strange to put a dresser in there. Beautiful inspiration.
Londen
Gorgeous examples, sometimes a beautiful wood piece is the perfect solution and so beautiful one must NOT think of painting it! Janell
love real wood!
That is such a good tip! I am a fellow painted furniture lover, but there is definitely the occasional piece which I know must be left alone!
What a beautiful desk. I just found a small tiger oak dresser that is very similar to that desk. I am going to paint it though because everything else in the room is wood. At some point it can become too much wood!
I seriously am in love with those dressers! :)
I've always been in love with simple wood. Like pve, I've cringed at some bad paint jobs. Sometimes a piece does look better with paint, but when the wood has a beautiful grain? No question about, wood reigns supreme.
You know, I have to agree. It's nice to have a natural piece in a room. It's a nice reminder as I was contemplating painting a piece i picked up at a flea market.
Can I just say how excited I am to see this? Almost all my furniture is wood – family hand-me-downs – and I've been thinking about painting some of it, but I just couldn't do it.
So, for me, it's always been burning since the world's been turning :)
What beautiful images! My knee-jerk reaction is always to paint, but you're so right that it's important to keep the wood in the room somehow.
love this post and totally agree. chests are the best, if you mix them up! xo
I think it depends on the quality of the wood – your desk and a few of those dressers are obviously beautiful pieces of wood that I'd want to show off. But some wood of a lower quality or with an unattractive stain is just begging to be painted! I can go either way.
I love that tiger oak grain. Yum! Good wood is like nothing else and I make room for it in my house. Painted wood is fun too, but I only do it if the wood is already unattractive or messed up.
I have a tiger wood secretary desk that i would never ever ever dream of painting. its just so pretty and unique by itself. I totally understand the love for pretty wood!
Dear Jenny,
This may sound weird (or maybe you hear this a lot) but I am grateful for your blog. Not only do you have an impeccable eye for all things design (color, placement, detail, materials, etc) but you then turn around and explain to me why I like it, why it is good, and how it could be done again. You name the components and often times post the sources. These are the key things for those (like me) who are not designers. So, thank you. Now I have to go figure out where to place all of the furniture we just inherited… (ha!)
-Emily
One of my favorite looks too! Especially flanked by curtains or chairs. I am still looking for the perfect mirror for mine, and a stunning lamp, of course.
My embers have always been burning. I love the warmth of wood.
I have an antique wooden dresser with a curved front that I pulled out of my grandmother's basement and refinished in my entryway. It's a great place to stash all the stuff I need…like dog leashes..in a pretty way.
Beatiful inspiration images. If the wood's in good shape, I am always in favor of letting it shine au natural.
I love love love wood furniture. It's what my mom "does", so it's what I've grown up with! Especially dark wood. Mmm :)
Great photos!
People constantly ask me when I'm going to paint our antique Regency dining set white…the horror!
I love a good painted piece of furniture just as much as you! BUT, there's definitely pieces of beautiful wooden furniture that shouldn't ever be touched with a paintbrush!! That desk is to die for…
I'm in the market for some cute wooden pieces (one for my entry way). But I'll probably paint it a cute color unless it's in really good shape. Thanks for the inspiration.
I love older dark wood furniture, especially mixed with newer stuff. We have three inherited dark wood pieces in our living room (2 dressers and one large cabinet with glass doors) and the rest is all new IKEA stuff (in light woods and white) and I think it looks great.
I agree with you 100%! A room always needs at least 1 piece of wood furniture but I think too many people overdo it and everything is wood (floors, trim, furniture)and matching "sets" of furniture. I just found an awesome table on the side of the road and I plan to refinish it with stain. I'll be posting it on my blog soon. http://www.swooninteriors.blogspot.com
You can not paint that beautiful tigers wood! Thank you for seeing the beauty in the wood.
I concur. And love this post! When we moved to another beach house this past spring, I brought in many of my wood pieces from our Georgia house. Feels classic and cozy.
I have had the same furniture/style for 13 years when I purchased my "farmhouse" collection. When the new Pottery Barn catalog arrived I told my husband "we are finally back in style".. all the warm woods are being shown again.. and I love it!! I'm so glad I didn't paint my good pieces!!
That is exactly what I have in my entryway. An antique oak dresser. It has been there since we moved in.(8 years) I change the vignettes on top almost every month.
I love the last photo mixed with the gray.
I was always in love! I think it's important, like everything, to have a mix of wood and painted pieces!
I have a hard time feeling like I can mix woods of different tones and/or painted pieces.
Maybe in a future post you can share more images like the wood dresser & painted mirror or wooden bureau & black chairs.
Thanks for the inspiration!
I love the oak desk and am so glad to hear you won't desecrate it! It is a federal crime to paint oak, you know? And it's the 11th commandment: Thou shalt not paint oak. If someone wanted to torture me, they could put a paint brush in my hand and tell me they were going to keep Dr. Pepper from me until I painted the oak. Oh man. Torture! Good to hear that you are on my side! haha ~Mindy
i've been on a painting kick lately. but i still have plenty of wood in my house. i hope i don't get sick of the white painted wood, too much work to re-do!
Jenny, great post to show how great OLD wood is. I have several pieces of old oak that I will never paint either. I think so many have jumped on painting everything these days & some older pieces need to be left alone. You gotta pick & choose what to paint. I too love painted pieces, but many of my fave pieces are still old & dark.
Those photos are all great examples of mixing these styles. So pretty!
I love a beautiful wood piece! Great find – I love it!
A timely post as I've been debating painting an antique wood desk. I've been hesitant and now realize I will love it in it's original state. Thanks for the inspiration!
It says you exceeded your bandwith and I can't view your pics.
Thank you! I've taken off too much paint to be a fan of painted furniture. Maybe in a beach setting, but for a compfy, warm home nothing beats wood for color, texture and appeal.