TO PAINT OR NOT TO PAINT - french country cupboard

Many people go through the struggle of whether they should paint wood furniture or not. I also struggle sometimes with the
decision. I have had many pieces of beautiful wood furniture that I have re-home because they didn't fit in here.

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VINTAGE KEY HANGERS - combining wood with white

I find something very appealing about natural

worn wood working next to a fresh white

palette. The old pieces of wood I use for

projects like this are from vintage furniture

that have gone past the point of saving in

there original form. The wood used behind

this painted tree & house key hanger was

the side of a deep filing drawer in a turn of

the century desk almost a half inch thick.

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WHAT IS MDF - painted mid century dresser

I turned this elegant mid century dresser into a chic and modern TV console.

Look at these wonderful carved wood handles extending the full length of each of the 9 drawers.

George picked this up from a nice lady quite some time ago

but I refused to work on it till he recently egged me on again.

The drawers are beautifully built with solid wood front to back, top to bottom.

I wish I could find this level of quality in every piece I work on.

The entire inside frame structure is constructed with solid hard wood.

Now to the reason I refused to work on this piece.

The 6ft long top surface *interior* is ... (listen carefully for the scarey music)

MDF - medium density fiberboard

This invention of the 1960s is formed by gluing together wood fibers under high heat and pressure.

This piece dates to 1972, thus becoming an early subject of this invention.

Good News! this piece also has a thick solid wood veneer covering the MDF,

making it possible to strip, sand, and refinish the surface.

Many DIYers are finding ways to refinish it and repurpose pieces constructed of MDF.

Like these MDF cupboards at

KFD Designs

Or this wall art using MDF from

All Things Thrifty

  MDF hardboard was used to transform this guest bedroom at Miss Mustard Seed

So George made one last attempt to convince me to give it a shot and offer a MDF revamp.

I'm pleased, well very pleased with the end result but I don't feel my opinion on MDF is going to change any time soon. If this MDF hadn't been wrapped up in so much beautiful craftsmanship it would have never got my attention.

I opted to industrialize it and give it the low profile needed for a sleek TV console

with vintage metal casters I picked up from my favorite antique dealer.

"Now that's stunning"

is what George said as he walked around the corner not expecting to see it finished for the first time.

He actually keeps saying it every time he passes by.

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