Changing Rooms

Those of you who follow us on Twitter or receive our updates on Facebook will have picked up on the fact that our house is a little, let’s say, “busy”.

Laura paints at home and we store our unpainted stock at home. Recently, we realised that there were pieces of furniture in our store room (most people’s dining room) that we’d had for years and my argument was that if Laura had wanted to paint them, she’d have done it by now.

Her argument was that she hasn’t got the time to work through it all.

There’s a good argument to be made for both.

The upshot of it all was that we had a bit of a clear out over the course of a few weeks and reassessed the way we work, particularly regarding storage of stock.

 

Just add doors... My terrible attempt a barbecue is just visible

We have a fairly large outbuilding, which is full of old bikes, broken lawnmowers, unused skateboards – that sort of thing.

One of the largest storage areas outside has no door on it, so we hatched a plan.

An old schoolmate of mine is going to make us a door for the larger shed – this will then hold our unpainted stock. It’s a big space, but small enough to help us be more disciplined in our buying habits. From now on, if there’s no room in the shed, it’s not coming home with us.

An established, secure brick outbuilding will now house all our painted stock waiting to be sold or moved to a sales space.

This frees up our old store room, which will now become the design studio Laura has always wanted.

 

Fabrics and tools now live here

Planks, thanks

While the room will still be used for storage, it will only be the pretty stuff that stays.

• A huge French 44-drawer unit now takes up a large part of the wall space – this will hold brushes, scalpels, glue, paint trays, screwdrivers, hammers and so on.
• Paint will be displayed for ease of use on shelves made from six old scaffolding planks.
• Fabrics (for when Laura finally gets the hang of upholstery) are contained in crates on a cute formica table, including one given to us by Layla when we went to visit her at French Grey Tales.
• A huge antique pine farmhouse table will be home to a new project Laura is working on (more on that at a later date).
• At the other end of the room will be a desk (we’re still looking for it) to house Laura’s computer, printer and associated gubbins.

The first two shelves - they haven't fallen down yet

And that’s not to mention the epic wallpaper stripping that needs to happen to remove the horrible textured paper and border left by a previous tenant…

It’s early days yet, but we hope that by next weekend, we’ll be another step closer and Laura can unleash her creative mayhem in more organised manner

We'll show you the finished room as soon as it's completed.

Milking it

If you take a look on Facebook at the many pages dedicated to furniture painting, you’ll see lots of people using chalky paints like Annie Sloan or Autentico or traditional paints by brands such as Little Greene and Farrow & Ball, but one thing we don’t see much of, on this side of the Atlantic at least, is milk paint.

Milk paint is a traditional decorating tool that has been used for thousands of years (you can even make your own), but, what with it being made out of milk and all, it has a short shelf life, so was overtaken by more commercial water-based and oil-based paints.

In the States, Miss Mustard Seed is probably the most well-known brand and there are now three stockists in the UK (one of which we hope to visit very soon).

We’ve been an admirer of MMS for a few years now and love the chippy look the paint gives. So we were interested to hear about Pinebrush Colourman – a Devon-based family business that has been producing buttermilk paints since the 1970s.

Laura gave it a try and was pleased with the results. I caught up with her (who am I kidding, she’s sitting right next to me) to find out what she thought.

J: So, how did you get on with the Pinebrush paint?

L: On the whole, I liked the paint a lot. Besides the fact that it smelt of delicious yogurt, the paint, perhaps unsurprisingly, had a 'creamy', velvety texture to it. One thing I did notice, though, was that it took an extra coat (four, rather than our usual three) to ensure that all the brushstrokes had gone completely, so that's something to consider when calculating how much paint you'll need, or how long something will take you to do. A great thing about the paint, was the texture created during the distressing phase. The paint seemed to be slightly more 'chippy' than regular eggshell paints, which helped to create a really natural looking, well-worn finish.

The finished piece

J: Would you use it again?

L: I would definitely use it again, if only to sample the delicious smell once more! Looking at their shade card, they have some really exciting colours, and I'd love to try out some of the brighter ones. 

J: The best thing about it?

L: The smell, indubitably.

J: And the worst thing?

L: Coverage. The drying time seemed to be slightly longer than usual too, so we had to make sure we allowed a good few hours before recoating.

Laura applies the first coat (and suddenly fancies a yogurt)

So there you have it. A pretty good endorsement I’d say.

Let us know how you get on if you try it.

What to look for when buying painted furniture

How to buy vintage furniture and tell bad painting from good painting

We recently wrote a small article for one of our local magazines, Stamford Living, aimed at trying help customers know what to expect when buying painted furniture.

So often we've seen shoddily painted pieces for sale at events and in shops - that we wanted customers to know that there is a difference in quality and that not all hand-painted furniture will have drips and scruffy edges. We've even seen furniture painters claiming that all upcycled painted furniture will have drips, blemishes and discolouration due to the nature of the business. We firmly believe this is not true - and that a poor finish is only unavoidable if you rush the job.

Here's the article as it appeared in Stamford Living.

Painted furniture for the home has never been more popular. Laura Harvey, founder of Rutland-based painted furniture specialists Reloved Vintage tells us what to look for.

From TV adverts to high street shop windows, painted furniture is everywhere.

More and more people are growing tired of the flat-pack, throwaway culture and opting for more solid, traditional pieces with a contemporary twist.

Some high street chains sell new, mass-produced furniture, designed to look old (despite being made in a factory in the far east), but if you want a genuinely vintage piece of furniture that has been reloved, there are a growing number of independent sellers to choose from.

So how do you know that the item you’re buying is of good quality? What telltale signs of shoddiness should you know about and how can you tell if your ebay ‘bargain’ is going to be more trouble that it’s worth?

Here are three key things to remember when you’re buying painted furniture, to ensure you buy a top-quality piece that will last you for years to come.

• Has the paint been protected? This is vital. If the paint has a chalky or rough feel, it has not been protected with a varnish or wax – this means your new chest of drawers will soon be chipped, stained and basically ruined. The finish should feel smooth and spilt water should simply bead off. If buying online, always ask what wax or varnish was used.
• What’s it like inside? Are there scruffy paint marks where the interior has not been masked off during painting? Have the drawers been lined? Is there dust on the shelves? Do the drawers stick? All these point to a careless attitude.
• Are there drips or brush marks? The paint should have been applied carefully, so as not to drip and leave ugly blobs. If the paint has been slapped on in one thick coat, you’ll see nasty streaks and bare wood showing through. 

Below are a few photos showing a badly painted chest we rescued for a lady who had bought it from someone selling painted furniture on ebay.

Someone actually sold it like this

They thought: "Yep, that'll do"

We stripped it back and repainted

Drips are "unavoidable" eh?

Horrible greasy staining coming through the paint

Strip, sugar soap, repaint, wax. Sorted.

“What paint do you use?”

Farrow & Ball, Annie Sloan, Little Greene, Autentico? Which paint is best for furniture?

That’s a question Laura gets asked all the time. The only real answer, unless we’re talking about a specific piece, is “any paint I like the look of”.

Unlike a lot of furniture painters, we don’t really have any brand loyalty. Sure, there are some paints we like to use more than others, but each has its own merits, depending on the desired finish.

Over the years, we’ve used Farrow &Ball, Little Greene, Annie Sloan, Dulux, Crown, Habitat, Pinebrush Colourman, Sanctuary, Craig & Rose and others we’ve probably forgotten.

And, by and large, we still use all of them to this day.

Chest of drawers in Farrow & Ball

Lots of people like to use Annie Sloan (and lots are contractually obliged to do so…) and we understand why: there’s very little preparation of the surface required – as the paint will stick to pretty much anything. You can also lay it on quite thick, wax, distress, wax, and you’re done. That’s great. It’s good for certain pieces that require a certain look. We’ve used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the past and been pleased with the results, but we’ve never attained the smooth finish we prefer on our higher-end pieces.

In fact, often, we find that ASCP ‘bobbles’ when we use it. It can be very awkward to use, but that may be down to Laura’s painting style. She taught herself to paint using eggshell, and always likes to use at least three thin coats to achieve a smooth, drip-free finish. That style doesn’t seem to be compatible with Annie Sloan’s paint. I guess that’s why people pay to go on special courses.

One furniture painter told us she uses Annie Sloan Chalk Paint as an undercoat before applying Farrow & Ball – clever.

Chest of drawers in Annie Sloan

(I’m deliberately glossing over – groan – the whole ‘chalk paint’ copyright debate, but it’s safe to say that Annie’s not really done herself many favours with the way it was handled and I feel sympathy for those people whose Facebook Pages were deleted as a result.)

Among some ardent Annie Sloan or Farrow & Ball users, there seems to be a mindset that only one brand could possibly be used, but that seems awfully restrictive.

Why limit yourself to a narrow range of colours because of brand loyalty? We much prefer to find a colour we like and use it, regardless of brand.

Some of our most popular items have been painted using non-glamorous paint brands, and many of them are much easier to apply than the expensive designer names, so we’re happy not to be tied to one brand (although, if you’re reading this in the future and we’ve since become a retailer for a particular paint brand, you can ignore everything I’ve just written).

Now, what paint do you use?

Side table in, whisper it, Dulux