Paint and Pattern II

This is the same generic bow front chest from Wednesday's post. Again, some of the options involve paint and stencil, wallpaper, and decoupage. But you don't have to limit yourself to preprinted wallcoverings. Almost any high quality print image can be enlarged to suit your needs at a local copy shop. Many posters are large enough on their own.  The Chateau is from a wine label and the Babar image is from a children's book. Old books in general are a great source and are abundant for a fraction of their original price. Even if you can't bring yourself to tear apart an old book ( I never can), you can have the image scanned and enlarged. Remember these are virtual images created on my computer. This next step is to actually start working on that bow front chest in my garage. To be continued.....

Paint and Pattern

There are so many creative ways to enhance vintage furniture beyond simply painting a solid color. Texture and patterns, in the form of stencils, wallcoverings, and illustrations can be transferred, painted on or decoupaged making it a piece of art. My post today explores different options for a simple bow front chest. Pieces like this are easily found anywhere, and depending on the condition or just plain luck can be quite inexpensive. Perfect for trying out new ideas and experimenting. Sometimes I just jump right in. But if it involves more planning, measuring, materials, I will sketch my ideas or take a photo and load it onto my computer. Using a program like Photoshop allows me to think out of the box, push my boundaries, experiment and refine my plan before I begin. 

In my image above, I have tried out four different ideas on the same generic piece of furniture. These are virtual representations, I have not actually painted or decoupaged this chest yet. But it is a great place to start before committing to any one idea.