If it is an antique, keep it as it is. If it is simply an old thing, paint it.

Refinish if I like the style and the wood is nice, paint otherwise. (In my opinion, those red Mediterranean chairs in a previous post this week are a vast improvement over the originals!)

Paint!

My husband and I have this debate all the time. He's a hobby woodworker and comes from a family of carpenters and woodworkers. He grew up in the house his father built, with exposed beams and lots of exposed wood (mostly pine). They all believe painting over wood is sacrilege.

I definitely appreciate the unmatched beauty of wood, but I'm really picky. Some woods just get ugly with time, and some dark-wood furniture can really bring down a room, especially if it's big. I definitely wouldn't paint over a piece of furniture made out of bird's eye maple or purpleheart, but if it's made out of some old, ugly pine or oak - gimme the brush!

depends

Team "Paint"...it's (almost) instant gratification to breathe new life into a thrift store find with a fresh coat of paint. Just painted a dingy Goodwill side table Ben. Moore's "peony" and it's looks terrific. Cheap and cheerful is the way to go.

It all just depends... on the piece and the wood.

In pictures and on blogs, I love all the painted pieces, but in real life, I never paint them.

I really want to paint a whitewashed china cabinet that I have, but I'm afraid it will look cheap if I paint it.

I think you should never paint quality wood in good condition. Paint something cheap and crappy? Sure. But the people who do things like buy an Arts & Crafts home, full of gorgeous oak, and then want to paint over that? No, no, no. PLEASE buy a different house if you don't want a house full of quarter-sawn oak and hand-carved details.

Refinish!

I agree with the majority of the posts that if a piece of furniture is of good quality and constructed of beautiful wood, then there is almost an obligation to allow its natural beauty shine. (Most wood antiques would be in this category.) However, if it is a lesser piece, then it's an opportunity to have fun and go crazy with paint, stencils, crazy hardware or whatever.

Depends on the quality of the furniture and the decor of the room.

If it's a nice antique, or vintage piece, that retains charm or originality, then take care of the wood. If it's something cheap, paint.

Middle option - pickle or stain.

there's wood and there's wood... good wood should never be painted in my opinion, but I don't think just because something is wood it shouldn't be

I say, "let the piece speak to you."

I've debated this issue for awhile, and have decided that if a fresh coat of paint will make you love the piece more, or keep it from ending up in a landfill, it's worth it.

I recently painted the frame of a wooden mirror and plan to paint and antique bench to give it an update.

Some friends were horrified at hearing I was going to paint an antique as it would decrease the value, but I didn't acquire it for its value and if paint will give it new life - I'm all for it.

Both! I love painted wood, but also respect wood and love it just the way it is. I usually tend to leave antiques unpainted (unless they're already painted), and the more "thrift store" types often need some paint (and wow, what a wonder it can do!).

Completely depends on the quality of the piece. I have an antique hope chest that was poorly cared for. I'd love to refinish it but I think painting might be the only way to go.

I am normally of the camp of "don't ruin a good antique piece," but I *really* want to paint over the clear maple beadboard and chair rail my LL installed in my apartment 10 years ago. It's not high quality, thick stuff... it's definitely an add on, not original to the house, and very OBVIOUSLY so. I'd LOVE to paint it white, but he is vehemently opposed... and it's not like it's pine, so I guess from a taste standpoint, he's entitled. ;)

Toni, when your furniture appears to be striking up a conversation, I'd say that you'd have more pressing matters than deciding whether to paint it or not... ;)

I'm fine with painting....just depends on the item.

I'm actually debating on whether to paint or refinish an item right now; it's an oval empire pedestal table that I acquired, and has been in a warehouse fire (not burned, but there's a lot of black soot). When I got it, I was sure I would paint it, but after sanding off some of the surface, it appears to be a very nice tiger oak veneer, underneath; now, I'm not sure what I want to do. Hate when that happens.

I was originally going to refinish an old wooden trunk that had been kept in my family for the past sixty years, but after sanding at the 'finish' that was already on it, it turned out to be made out of a bunch of scrap wood from four different types of trees. The finish itself turned out to be a whitish-yellow paint that they had then covered with a sheet that looked like wood. Devestated that I would not be able to finish it, I went out to buy some mint paint, and now it's absolutely beautiful! Bad things can turn out pretty well in the end.

PAINT!!!!

Hmm. Half the time I say repaint and half the time refinish.

95% of the time, paint:-) I have never painted anything & then regretted it.

most of the time: repaint. if it's got a great wood or look to it, than refinish. i think it just depends on the piece and where you see it going. but for me again - 90% of the time i would say paint.

I personally love repainting something to give it new life. I generally end up finding some beat up piece, paint and antique and have been pleased each time.

Some furniture I believe needs to stay wood, mainly antiuqes or anything with a really nice presence. I appreciate wood, but love the option of paint.

If it's mediocre quality, paint. But if it's an antique (i.e. a hand-crafted piece 100 years old), please don't. Once an antique is painted, there's no way to restore its patina -- it's just a crappy Craigslist piece.

I know people think that if you own it you should be able to do whatever you want with it. But antiques aren't being made anymore; once you destroy them, they're gone.

I've done both. The way I see it is this: as long as the person who does the project loves the end result, what does it matter??? It's like my exbf's mom used to always yell at me for adding premium vodka to a slurpee. Who cares what you do with it, as long as you put it to good use- NAY- ENJOY IT! That's what I think. (That being said, I am really partial to nice wood and will go out of my way to do it right... when it's worth it.)

Everything I've taken the time to refinish has taken forever to do.

I say do what you want. It's your property. That might mean taking a $500 piece and painting it into a $100 piece, but it's yours so do what you want.

Quick edit for the post: You have written, " . . . times out of 10 that restoring a piece . . ." You are missing the word "means" in there, or something to that effect.

Paint -- every time!

I hate all the brown. I vote paint it if that's what you want. I plan on painting all the brown furniture in my place. I don't care how old it is. I have to live with it. If you don't want it painted, don't paint it. It's really pretty easy. Like it? Do it. Don't like it? Don't do it. Stop being rude to those who choose something you don't agree with.

Like others have said - it depends on the type of wood and the quality of the piece.

It really depends on so many things. Is it really old? Rare? In what condition is the wood? Is the damage done to the wood even repairable? Some things really shouldn't be painted, in other cases it is the only thing that keeps it from a landfill.

Paint. If you are even asking the question, it means the wood is less than impressive. Paint, paint, paint!

As so many people have said above, context is everything. People who paint over antique cabinets with $1 pots of garish paint should be poked with pointy sticks until they shriek. And then themselves painted a really horrible colour.

But actually, my preference? Wood, all the way. Wood has a story to tell. It should be allowed to tell it. Every knot, every chip, every scratch is part of that story. There's a way to coax those "imperfections" out and still make the result look classy (take Hudson furniture: http://www.hudsonfurnitureinc.com/2007/). And I love stories. The more stories my furniture tells, the better. (Barring wine stains. Those stories should be forgotten, ahem).

I think I swing slightly towards refinish, depending on the piece. It's definitely a personal taste thing. I painted over yellowed knotty pine plywood cabinets. They were in really bad shape, and after wasting two weeks trying to save the wood from vintage grease and water damage, I just gave up. On the other hand, I have a mid-c dresser that I just can't bring myself to paint, the wood is gorgeous and in great shape.

It depends. I prefer unpainted wood furniture when it's been left unpainted because it's unusually beautiful wood. Refinishing or painting is great if someone else does it. When I do it, the results aren't worth the effort. Antiques are a non-issue since I rarely buy them. A lot of furniture is constructed of wood that doesn't look especially good and wasn't intended to be left unpainted. There's nothing untouchable about plain wood, and I enjoy bright color. That said, I dislike crackled or absurdly distressed paint finishes.

Wood. So in my house I have wood. No sense in arguing with the paint people.

My grandma was an antiques dealer so I say Refinish. But in general, I'm just happy to see an old piece of furniture get used again. Deforestation is rampant and even FSC certified wood displaces wild animals. So whatever makes you happy - personally, I'd refinish unless the wood was in pretty bad shape.

there is so much waste in the world, hopefully we are exiting the throw away and buy new cultural attitude...I have beautiful pieces that suit me, and my personal feeling is if it is a difference in toss or reuse, I say do what you want...you own it so own it!

It depends. Many pieces are made out of crap wood or unmatched wood because they were meant to be painted. Others are made to be unpainted. BTW, the same is true of moulding in houses; many Victorian houses have moulding that was meant to be painted while houses of, say, the craftman era often have moulding that was meant to be unpainted. You need to decide based on the piece itself, as well as your goal for the piece.

Paint.

And:
ITS (not it's) glory...

I only like refinishing wood if it is a nice quality. Some woods are so horrible that there is literally nothing you can do except paint it. I don't understand when someone on AT laments the loss of cheap looking wood.

I have an antique wood dresser that I love and would never paint over. Then I have a bathroom that has hideous cheap wood cabinets that I happily painted brown.

Paint, unless it's a true antique, in which case if you don't like it as-is you should find it a new home with someone who does. Because, as was pointed out above, they don't make 'em anymore...

If it is a high end antique piece...refinish..if it is some cheap thing from a thrift store or something you've had for a long time then definitely paint it. Paint it a fun, pop of a color. Yay! :)

depends...hard & fast rules are wrong, is my hard & fast rule.

& as rustypantina noted, it is its, not it's as you have...

ive got a piece from 1905 apparently, its a hutch and old and dark in colour but rich with some design.. im thinking painting it would likely kill the beauty of it, so i agree, dont paint, let the story tell itself in the wood. but if you have a really blah piece, like a little lipstick, add the paint.

I like wood but I grew up with antiques, My parents have a quarter cut oak dining room set with 6 chairs that my great great grandfather brought to this country in a covered wagon. My Dad is a woodworker and has restored a few pieces and built many things. I think it depends on the piece but if it is an antique with value or anything teak I wouldn't paint it. I think honey oak is horrible though.

I can go either way. When I saw that chest of drawers, both in wood and paint finishes, I immediately thought, "Wow, that would look great with the carcass painted white, the drawers stripped and refinished with modern brush nickel pulls."

I have a heywood wakefield dresser with an ugly stain on top I debate every once in a while to paint or not to paint. Not paint seems to win out every time. I've never seen a painted hw item. Pretty sure it would just look wrong but sometimes I wonder...

It all depends on the quality of the piece. If the wood is in good condition and wouldn't be too difficult to remove the remaining finish without destroying, I'm all for refinishing.

If the piece is heavily damaged and needs patchwork or other modifications, I say paint.

There is always glazing as well - which would give some color and still let the grains show through. I'm not a huge fan of this idea, typically, but going darker it can work quite well.

I don't know. I can't be objective because whoever painted, chose a hideous colour of paint. I don't like either picture.

Meh. Paint unless the piece is beautiful. And if it is, there's no question.

I think people who say "refinish" haven't refinished anything. It's a HORRIBLE process. And paying someone else hundreds of dollars to refinish something I got for $40? I just don't live in that economic bracket, and don't know anyone else who does, either.

But I'm not someone who can spend thousands on antiques. I guess if I were, I'd buy beautiful pieces that didn't need refinishing, and I would not paint them.

Mary

For me it doesn't depend on the piece of furniture and whether or not its an antique or not. It depends on the wood grain, so I guess you can say I let the wood speak to me. It also depends on whether or not it was already painted. I got 2 antique dressers from my grandmother. The one I completely left alone because everything right down to the patina of the finish was AMAZING and WALNUT so the grain is wonderful. The second dresser was originally yellow. We're talking a garish 60's yellow...not pretty. We sanded it down and my husband stained it and now I wish we had painted it because whatever type of wood it is made of is hella sturdy but there is hardly any wood grain to it at all so staining it became a completely mute point anyway. Now with the dresser in the picture... I would have refinished it and if I REALLY wanted to add color to the area it was going in would have painted the drawer pulls or a runner on the top, a bold graphic design painted on, or a colored stain...anything other than completely painting it so that the wood grain disappeared.

It depends on the quality of the wood and how it will look in your home. As long as it's not an antique, and the wood does nothing for you, just looks tired, or is a piece of junk, paint, by all means, without hesitation. Ugly, dated pieces can be transformed with paint. There is nothing sacred about wood.

If you're itching to do something different with an old wood dresser, hutch, bookcase, etc., (but are hesitant to paint it) line it with a great wallpaper or paint the inside recesses. That'll give you the satisfaction of giving it new life without the possible regret.

The more ornate the piece, the more I love to paint it.

I leave MCM and arts-and-craft era furniture alone.

As others have said, it depends a lot on the quality of the wood and the wear of it. I recently bought an old hand-carved newspaper stand with hopes of refinishing the beautiful wood. But unfortuantely there were far too many gouges and breaks on it, and although the intricate woodwork could be filled other parts could not be smoothed out while maintaining structural integrity.

In the end, I decided to paint it since it'd be a better way to preserve the intricacy of the piece. I have no regrets.

It could depend on the antique. Late Victorian antiques were actually factory produced and so there's heaps of them and they're not as rare as something Georgian. In fact, you can tell by the joints (super neat dovetail joints in later funiture) that they're machine cut (yet still excellent quality).

So in a long winded way, I guess I'm saying, you could do something funky with certain 'ten a penny' antiques like balloon back chairs but you really have to have great style and flair to get away with it. I've see designers do this, but they don't do 'cheap'. The upholstery and everything would be excellent quality.

I'm on both sides of that fence. But it took me a long time to get there. I used to turn my nose up at people who painted over nice wooden pieces, and sometimes I'm still a little jolted to see painted pieces on AT and elsewhere.

But I've learned to see the value of that: a little can of paint can complete alter the look and feel of a piece, and that can be wonderful!

I'm even contemplating paint for a wooden trunk that we use for our coffee table. I finally took an objective look at it and realized it isn't "rustic"; it's just plain ugly. Some glossy paint might spruce it up. Just admitting that is progress indeed!

Growing up I stripped a lot of old painted furniture, sort of strange for a 12 year old stripping a dresser for her bedroom, right? But after all that work, I know I am for sure a wood fan.

Refinish!

easy, do what you want!

Unless you are a collector, I see no reason to not simply do what you'd prefer in order to enjoy living with a piece. Wood is beautiful, but I don't think any object constructed out of it is so precious that it would be "ruined" by paint.

This reminds me of how my mom painted many things in the 80s and then in the 90s slaved away on the back porch trying to strip all the paint because it was suddenly not in style anymore... something to consider. (I'm a re-finisher myself, unless the wood is bad quality)

I say paint!
If I'm picking up a used piece of furniture for $50 or less, I'm picking it up with painting it in mind.
I never look for antiques, just old furniture that I can make my own and painting is basically the only way I know how.

Depends upon the piece.