Two-faced Furniture

The magic of a Lick of Paint...

Turning something old into something new. Sounds simple enough but when it comes to the grind, I struggled to get my head in the game.

I walked down the road to the auctioneers called Buckley's in Sandycove. Here there is an array of antiques to be auctioned. Ciara and I went walking around and had to fill in the references codes of the pieces we liked.

My biggest problem was that I like most of the pieces as they were and struggled to see how to 'improve' them. But much to surprise, John arrived into the store one morning with having auctioned 2 side tables.
And that's the end of that decision. He took the labour out of looking and now the task at hand was what exactly was I going to possibly do with it?

Looking at previous interns examples for guidance, I quickly started to realise the importance of ones own design signature. Whilst I like what I had seen done by the girls, it wasn't to my style. I like simple, eclectic and white. Some say boring, I say fantastic (I would, wouldn't I?)

So taking one of the tables, so my DIY adventure began:

The table was a simple rectangle shape with a worn out look.
A look that I happen to love so that was half the battle.
First step was to prepare a surface where I could work and then sand the table down.

Once sanding down the table,  I took out a white base paint to cover just the top surface of the table.

This would help me achieve that 'eclectic' feel about the furniture.

Having painted one coat on the surface, as it started to dry, I realised that I wouldn't need a second coat because I had already achieved the look I was going for.

While waiting for it to dry, I started to think of the pattern I wanted to create. 

Ciara had mentioned to me previously about changing the window display and how she would like to create an Asian look and feel. That's when I had a light bulb moment and decided to design something that would work in the display.

I went for a cherry blossom meets autumn day kind of design. Using Reds and blacks to contrast against the white, it also brought to life some of those warm Asian reds. 

I didn't want to create a design that over shadowed the surface of the table but rather something simple and effective. 

And there you have it. Considering it was one of my first attempts at giving something old a face lift, I am pretty happy with the result. The marriage of Asia and the Antique.