Painted Furniture

Knack Studio's Painted Furniture

Many of us who sell painted furniture began by selling furniture out of our homes, then grew and expanded by adding to our businesses over the years as we matured in the art of painting furniture. There are so many ways of painting furniture, and each artist can set themselves apart by developing their own style and approach to painting. Barb Blair, the owner of Knack Studios, has had tremendous success with her painted furniture business. She got her start by featuring her furniture in an antique mall. Today her painted furniture is featured in her own custom studio where she takes clients by appointment. Blair also showcases her furniture at Antiques on Augusta – an upscale antique shop in Greenville, South Carolina. Today her distinctive style is known across the United States. Custom finishes at Knack Studios start at $400, and they can range in price depending on size, finish, details and hardware. One of the most impressive details that originally caught my eye was Blair’s genius choice of color. Knack Studio colors tend to be more muted when compared to colors often found in antique furniture. Her style leans towards the gustavian and rococo gray and yellow tones. The softer lines often seen in cottage and french furniture have become tremendously popular in recent years – often taking the place of the stiff lines seen in much of the modern furniture being produced these days. Muted tones and clean traditional furniture lines have always had their place in American homes and will always remain in style as the fads come and go. (Read More.....)

John Derian's Decoupage Plates

John Derian is a professional decoupage artist who also happens to be collector of 18th and 19th century paper printed antique documents and letters. His specialty and passion are maps, trade cards, and handwritten letters. “I seemed to be drawn to the 19th century. There are so many beautiful lithographs (from that era), so I started collecting them.” It all started for him 16 years ago when he found himself drawn to vintage cards and almanacs. Derian started enlarging parts of handwritten letters from the 1800s for a collage experiment, and it was at that point when his career first took off. His technique known as reverse decoupage is where he applies his carefully cut photocopied 19th century nature illustrations onto the backs of clear glass plates. He recently told the Denver Post that when he was 20, he was enrolled in college, but found himself more drawn to antique hunting, so he skipped school and went after his passions full time. (John Derian Photographed By Ryan Benyi)

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Marcel Prins's Unique Painted Walls

Apartment Therapy had a post featuring a designer from the Netherlands, who designed a home around frames of metallic color. Designer Marcel Prins,who was designing the Berrington House in Munich, painted all the walls in metallic paint in blocks of different hues of green, bronze, and gold. The Berrington-house features 24 colours metallic colors that flow from one room to another in different shades. Metallic paint has a glamorous feel to it that when decorating, you want to consider like objects with similar properties with glossy finishes such as marble, lacquered furniture, glass and mirrors. Metallic paint will almost bring light into any room because of its over all shine. (Read More.....)

Book Review: Painted Finishes For Walls & Furniture By Susan Goans Driggers

I recently was able to take a good look at Susan Driggers Painted Finishes For Walls & Furniture, and I honestly have to say it fails to impress. This guide shows how to create a variety of the basic faux finishes which are used by even the most skilled painters, but fails to inspire a excited painter with finished furniture that could be created. This book was published in 1999, which may account for some of the older painting styles that include stencils and decorations on furniture which are no longer in style. The book features 30 projects, but among those projects is a great wall technique they used on a lower wall featured on page 46. (Read More.....)

Bryonie Porter's Wallpaper Furniture

Bryonie Porter creates outstanding wallpapered furniture from the most famous wallpaper companies such as Cole & Son, Osborne & Little, and Timorous Beasties. She does a wonderful job of matching up the paint with the colors in the wallpaper. Do take a look at her wonderful website with many more of her wallpaper creations. Decoupage looks quite complicated, but it is much easier than it looks. With a little patience, you can cover a lovely chest with beautiful wallpaper using some easy techniques that will allow you to have an ornatly detailed piece of furntiure without the laborous time painting the details. We show you some simple tricks to creating the perfect decoupage wallpaper chest. (Read More.....)

Notorious Sponge Painting Mistakes

Sponging was such a popular faux finish pushed in the 80’s that everyone gave it a try. Bad sponging jobs from amateur painters have turned the majority of the public off from sponging faux finishes all together. I am an active buyer on craigslist, and way too often have I seen very poor sponging finishes in homes that is no wonder that sponging has such a bad rap. Everyone has seen this finish done wrong. Sponge painting is one of the key tools in every professional faux artists tool kit that if it is done properly can be one of the most fantastic finishes around. We want to show you the main reasons this faux finish fails and what you can do to get it right. (Read More.....)

Award Winning Faux Painting Mural Artist Eric Grohe

I stumbled on an email forward not long ago of a talented mural artist who transforms the side of buildings into fabulous realistic murals. It is one level of talent being able to paint an oil portrait well, but I think anyone would agree, that a person with the talent to transform a entire side of a building according to scale is in a league of their own. Eric Grohe paints most of the artwork himself, while his Kathy (whom is an artist herself),serves as their project manager. Eric Grohe has been featured in numerous magazines and television broadcasts, and is an award winning artist of numerous awards such as the Signs of the Times international mural competition, and in 2002, he won both Best of Show and 1st Place. Other competitions have also recognized his work, notably the American Institute of Architects and the American Legion, Ohio. (Read More.....)