We love a sturdy wood trunk for storing blankets, bedding and seasonal clothes. They also double up as a coffee table or a landing zone in the entryway or bedroom. We're used to seeing the standard wood trunk in a home but Alice takes hers up a notch with a bit of creativity...
Taking a gently used wood trunk, Alice primes and paints it the lightest shade of pale blue. To us, the next step is the most impressive. She hand stencils an outdoor vignette complete with a tree, growing grass and a bird (the effect is nothing less than spectacular). The black silhouette of a tree gives the wood trunk a new life that is inspirational. If you're not an artist by nature, we're thinking vinyl decals or ready-made stencils are the way to go.
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Comments (26)
The "after" is so much more upbeat than the "before". Well done, too!
very nice!
very very cool.
it may be very pretty and well-done, but I still consider it a waste of beautiful wood (and, it must be said, she rather adds insult to injury by painting over said beautiful wood with an image of a tree).
Well done. Bravo!
envy your talent; i've been dying to do put a stencil to my kitchen cabinets.
abby
Nice work Alice. I have a big soft spot in my heart for old wooden furniture, but the results are nice.
The before was attractive and timeless...
...the after is far too trendy.
the end result is very pretty, but with just a little bit of work, that would could have been restored to it's full beauty. I agree with bewarethebaobabs on this one, but I understand taking what you have and making it fit in your space does not always allow you to think about preserving wood. It is a very nice execution, regardless!
great work, but i hate to see an antique covered in the black tree and perched bird fad that is on its way out. if you plan to recover it aas the fads change, so be it, but you are not creating a lasting piece.
I think it's beautiful. And to the haters, it's not like people didn't paint wood in the olden days. A friend has a milking stool that his grandpa built and his grandma and mom and now he have repainted dozens of times. It's got such great character - which some people around here seem to be in need of.
The before was much better in my humble opinion :( why paint over such beautiful wood? While the artwork was very nicely done,the 'after' looks too trendy for my tastes
The before was definitely better. The piece had character.
She did a nice job with stenciling, but I agree with the others that the after is too trendy and well, juvenile in comparison.
I'm with Sam. I think it is super cute.
ditto bepsf
With bepsf on this one too...Another beautiful piece of furniture ruined in the name of trendiness.
I agree with bepsf and ponytailed_informant. I just knew I'd get mad when I opened this post.
People should so NOT paint furniture unless it's cheaply made or already scratched up or something.
People should do whatever they like w/their own furniture!
I am not one who decries the use of paint on hardwood, but in this case I would have stopped w/the paint and not done the stencil. Just a personal preference.
Wow, beautiful work! I am really surprised how some people would prefer to have some wood trunk you can find in any home compeer to art that you created! That’s how you can make an apartment into a home.
sure it is very well executed, but would i do it? no. i find it disturbingly busy. but hey, not my furniture, not my house.
I totally disagree that it is wrong to paint over wood. Sometimes the dark, dreary color of it is too much. The wood item is not being wasted, the item is being reused. I think the painting of the tree and bird is whimsical and cheery. Sometimes we take the wood thing too far; it's ok for it to have a new life; it apparently lived the old life for a long time.
In about five years this will be so outdated that it will likely be refinished and returned to it's original glory. For the time being it gives the owner pleasure.
In five years this will likely be so outdated that it will be stripped and returned to it's original glory. For the time being it gives the owner pleasure.
I agree... the after is too trendy for me, and the before was gorgeous. It didn't even need refinishing, the wood was lovely. But she did a great job painting, I'm impressed with her stenciling skills. Still, not my taste at all.
And about things having been painted in the past - yes, this is not a revelation. Of course people have been painting things for a long time. That doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't have painted THIS. When the wood is unattractive, painting can be preferable, but if the wood is beautiful, I would usually prefer to leave it as is.
Doesn't win my heart. I don't understand why disagreeing makes some commenter a "hater". If AT didn't hype this stuff so much, random comments that don't follow the party line wouldn't seem so harsh.
It's not a fine antique in the first place, but I guess I'd rather have seen it either refinished or painted a decent solid, but the stencil looks like every etsy shop offering. Maybe in the context of the room, it's more successful.
I like it. She didn't throw it in the landfill or use it to start a campfire. The wood is still under the paint and if she tires of it, stripping it can be a project for another time.