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Weekly Interior Design Tip #2

By Julia Fedak

Home Stager with Platinum Home Designs

May 28, 2007 01:56 PM

DON'T BE AFRAID TO PAINT IT!!!

I believe you can paint almost everything..........alright, I stop at rugs and curtains.
If I had a dime for everytime a client said to me, "You want me to paint wood??"..

Yes. Yes, I do.

Wood veneer? It's a no-brainer.

Just because something is wood, doesn't make it untouchable.

There are all sorts of treatments you can do. Antique it, for the right look. How about the "worn in some areas" look. Or just spiff it up a little. Which is exactly what we did with this fireplace.

This was an old gumwood gas fireplace that had two different tiles on the hearth and face of it; neither of them were very pleasing. In fact. the client disliked it SO much, that she placed her daughters toys in front of it. As well, due to her daughter's disability, she wasn't comfortable having a fireplace insert at all.

BEFORE

AFTER

Painted "Ebony Black"- Benjamin Moore- in a matte finish to diminish the inperfections of the wood

Limestone tile on face, insert area and hearth.

So you be the judge; let me know your thoughts!

Julia Fedak, CSP

Platinum Home Staging Design, "Design for Living, Design for Selling"

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Cheryl-Anne Priest

Inviting Spaces - Home Staging Calgary - Calgary, AB

Inviting Spaces - Staging Calgary

Beautiful Julie. Although I am so hesitant to paint wood, I admire your courage. The fireplace is really a statement now. So much so in fact that I just make take the plunge.

Where I do draw the line though is at painting over brick fireplaces. I haven't seen one yet that actually looks good after being painted. False fronts painted or tiled look great, but not painted brick! Does anyone have a photo of a painted brick fireplace that might change my mind?

May 29, 2007 02:37 AM

Julia Fedak

Platinum Home Designs - Burlington, ON

IRIS, CSP

Thanks everyone, I quite liked the turn out myself!

Leo-I have purchased new furniture for the living room, we're just waiting for it to arrive. When it's together, I will post the entire room.

Cheryl-Anne-I think I do have a picture of painted brick....BUT......I agree with you in many aspects. There are only a few occasions where I would actually paint the brick. I did have a basement with a brick wall leading you down the stairs on the right hand side. We couldn't drywall over it due to the budget they had and what had to be done in the rest of the home. So I recommended painting it. It was a horrible exposed brick...not like some that I absolutely love.

Right now I have a fireplace that is brick that we are going to drywall over...I'll post these before's and after's once the project is complete.

Julia

May 29, 2007 04:47 AM

Lisa Rapose

ReDesign To Sell (TM) - Woodstock, CT

Cheryl-Anne,

I love this photo (w/ painted brick)

Living Room w/ Painted Brick Fireplace

May 29, 2007 05:24 AM

Anonymous

Lisa - Thanks for the photo. As the main feature of the fireplace (the wood) is still exposed, the painted brick does not look bad at all. Lovely room and so inviting.

Julia- I know what you mean by an exposed brick wall going down the stairs. That is definitely something I would paint as well. Hallways and stairwells are not meant to be closed in and claustrophobic so whatever we can do to open them up, the better. Looking forward to seeing your before and after of your fireplace.

May 29, 2007 06:13 AM

#13

Lisa Hill

Florida Property Experts - Daytona Beach, FL

Daytona Beach Real Estate

Wow. That's beautiful. But I still think I'd be afraid to paint the wood..... but then, I'm just the Realtor, not the decorator or designer :)

Jun 05, 2007 06:09 AM

Julia Fedak

Platinum Home Designs - Burlington, ON

IRIS, CSP

Lisa R.--thanks for posting the painted brick picture.

That wood fireplace was much nicer (and stain!)

I really wanted the fireplace to stand out as the focal point. She has wood floors and heavy wood furniture in the adjoining dining room. I am going there next week to photgraph now that the furniture is in.

I'll keep you "posted"! (forgive me for the lame joke..too much coffee!)

Julia

Jun 05, 2007 07:06 AM

Michelle Minch

Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA

Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA

Julia: You did a really nice job with this one. I too, often have to convince my clients to paint over wood. Wood is not sacrosanct. If it is a beautiful grain or an exotic wood, then preserve it unpainted, but if it is just pine (which was meant to be painted) or would look better painted, then by all means paint it.

Jun 05, 2007 07:12 AM

Calie Waterhouse

Chandler, AZ

Community Builder

WOW - Julie - nice job. See what happens with a little 'out of the box' thinking? Thanks for sharing!

Jun 26, 2007 03:35 PM

Julia Fedak

Platinum Home Designs - Burlington, ON

IRIS, CSP

Michelle--thanks for the compliment. I know I must be doing alright when I get a positive comment from a great designer as yourself!

Calie- Thank-you. I really loved it. More importantly, the client did as well.

Julia

Jun 27, 2007 02:24 AM

Rhonda Hay Rawlins

Glastonbury Home Staging - Glastonbury, CT

I totally agree with you. I love painted wood. It is a hard sell here in New England though people are crazy for their wood trim. You'd think it was gold!

Jun 27, 2007 04:53 AM

Julia Fedak

Royal LePage State Realty - Ancaster, ON

And some woods???? I say "paint or pitch".....that's my motto!

Julia

Jun 27, 2007 01:43 PM

Yvonne Root

rooms b.y. root - Prescott, AZ

Home Stager - Northern Arizona

Julia, I grew up in the home of a man who loved my mom but had a long time love affair -- with wood. I'm sure that his life was shortened by the fact that occasionally he had to see a piece of wood which had been painted by some (in his words) JERK! That being said, I will tell you he actually helped me paint the most awful paneling I ever seen in my life. Dad did understand some wood is so awful there is no other help for it but paint. At the same time there is some wood which deserves to live on. Personally, I love your transformation of the fireplace. Wonderful!

Jun 27, 2007 01:58 PM

Kathleen Lordbock

Keller Williams Realty Professionals - Baxter, MN

Keller Williams Realty Professionals

Love it - I'm actually getting over my love affair with wood and am branching out. Of course, it depends on the wood but I'm particularly tired of oak ( that is in my house)

Jul 01, 2007 02:54 PM

Julia Fedak

Platinum Home Designs - Burlington, ON

IRIS, CSP

I know what you mean, Kathleen!

With oak; the darker the stain, the less you see the grain of the oak, and less chance of getting tired of it quickly. What about sanding and staining it darker if it's light?

Julia

Jul 02, 2007 06:10 AM

Kathleen Lordbock

Keller Williams Realty Professionals - Baxter, MN

Keller Williams Realty Professionals

I am actually painting with a worn- distressed leather black paint my lower kitchen cabinets and white on the uppers - so that will take care of some of the oak. We are gradually remodeling the bathrooms and the oak cabinets will go then. I need to be brave and paint all the trim and French doors white or pickle them as I did in the Master bedroom.

Maybe when it slows down this winter - right now I'm about to paint 70's wood veneer kitchen cabinets for a client in a re-design project.

I do paint borders on rugs too and you could stencil a valence!

Jul 02, 2007 08:20 AM

Anonymous

Amazing

Wow what an amazing difference after the makeover... simply outstanding.

http://www.sackclothandashes.ie/

Aug 13, 2007 08:07 AM

#25

Ann Krewson

A.L.I. Designs, Inc. - Houston, TX

A.L.I. Designs; Staging Houston Homes; Allied Member of A.S.I.D.

I love the black Julia. You did a great job! Its amazing how different it looks with just a coat of paint.

Aug 23, 2007 11:37 AM

Letitia Hodenfield

Stage It Today - Rochester, MN

Making Rochester Beautiful One Home At A Time

Beautiful job... what would you recommend for wood paneling? And what type of paint... matte or what? I have a client who has it all over his house that goes half way up his walls. I recommended a cream to go with the top portion of his walls, but what finish works best with this and do you need to sand it first?

Aug 24, 2007 01:58 AM

Julia Fedak

Platinum Home Designs - Burlington, ON

IRIS, CSP

Thanks for your comment, Letitia. In terms of what type of finish on panelling, I like an eggshell finish. I love the idea of a cream colour. You don't really need to sand. Make sure the panels are cleaned, prime them first, and then paint.

If you're painting cupboards, I really like a semi-gloss finish. You would TSP them (tri-sodium phosphate), which cleans them up first. Then prime and paint.

Hope this helps!

Julia

Aug 24, 2007 07:17 AM

Julia Fedak

Platinum Home Designs - Burlington, ON

IRIS, CSP

kathleen..love it! You truly DO paint everything!

Ann-Paint....the cheapest, most effective method of getting good "bang" out of your buck!

Julia

Aug 24, 2007 07:21 AM