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A perfectly good waste. Some things don't need to be orange. It's a cliché.

Danielle, you are going to start a shit storm posting this again.

That orange one would look so fantastic in -
Southwest #1: Benjamin and Elizabeth's "Citrus Harmony"
place, just the right funk to their clean contemporary.

I have a Danish Modern secretary that I use in my entry way for the same function. I have a home office and had to move it out of the office..Now I actually use it not only for storage but a spot for fresh flowers, holds doggy poo bags, leash and keys so I am not spending time looking for these things like I use to.

Wasn't this posted a few months ago?

yes, it was a complete mistake back then too.

That is freakin' godawful. What a waste of pretty wood.

This was posted a few months ago but this time at least it's acknowledged. See the last bit of the post: (Edited from a post originally published on 3.31.08)

Yes, it's rerun season still here it seems! And it still looked better before. If you feel compelled to paint some vintage piece, there are plenty of unattractive, cheap wood ones that would be much improved without doing this to a beautiful piece.

Ghastly.

It's nice that she reused an old piece of furniture, but it's incredibly sad that she felt the need to cover the beautifully inlaid and bookmatched mahogany with that atrocious orange paint.

This is one for the "Don't" file.

it hurts...

criminally vulgar

What a crime!

That wood was chosen for its cut - the decorative ripples, long strips of wood split and carefully aligned for symmetry... a lot of pieces like this have mates, and work as a set.

This was a nice antique piece that has been ruined with gawdy paint - no better than painting over all wood molding in a beautiful Victorian home. On that note, try painting those wood floors while you're at it. The only excuse I can even conceive of would be covering for heavy dents and scratches or water damage.

:(

... follow up - on second thought, it is your choice of style, not mine.

Well I like it. We have a similar store here in Chicago called White Attic that specializes in painted vintage furniture, and it's a great source for inspiration & cool finds.

Good lord, the INDIGNATION people can work up on this site is crazy.

Repost.

I personally think Chippendale pieces are in general, hideous. I don't mind covering it up with paint because it makes it less offensive.

But yes, it's a repost.

Why is everybody painting everything??? Isn´t the wood beautiful as it is? I don´t get it.

I liked both the versions. But yes, I agree it is better to paint cheaper wood.

what? I don't think it's that bad! maybe it wouldn't gave garnered such strong reactions if the cabinet was beat up to begin with?

As I said the last time this was posted, there's nothing good about the unpainted cabinet. There are good antiques and there are bad antiques. This is the latter. Painted orange, it is fresh and young -- a new life for something that would no doubt end up on craigslist for $25. Nice job.

I think its only a waste in that all that clutter should be ALCOHOL!

I like it better orange, really, it was ugly before. But in general I feel uncomfortable painting over fine wood that is in decent shape.

Bring back the liquor! :)

A question:

*if* an antique piece is painted like this, can the paint subsequently be sanded off and the wood then stained/varnished/waxed (what-have-you) to bring back the luster of the original, if one so chooses?

This isn't a question aimed at retrieving the value of an antique, but rather for regaining the *look* of the original.

i don't get the constant reposts.

if the original one was beat up, i could see painting it. but from the photo it looked really beautiful. it started out looking like an nice expensive piece. it ended up looking like partical board ikea. while i like both for different reasons, i would never have been able to take a paintbrush to it if it was in great shape.

i think it looks nice orange.

Oh the anger. This may be my favorite part of AT.

I also like the orange. So sue me!

i'm all for painting things that are shabby and in need of repair, but i can never bring myself to paint nice wood. the before piece had such a gorgeous woodgrain.

While it looks good orange, I also think it's a sin to paint nice wood, and the grain on this wood looks beautiful. If a piece is damaged or the finish is really shot and too expensive to refinish, I could understand painting it. Plus, most people don't do good paint jobs on furniture, with all the sandinng and coats and prep work required, so you are just decimating the value of your piece. Old filing cabinets are good things to paint.

UGgh... I dont love Chippendale, but I'm sure someone does somewhere. And to them this is the same as someone painting an Eames lounge chair orange would be to me - awful.

It reminds me of this junk shop I used to walk by in college. Every morning the woman would be outside, diligently prying the beautiful old oak veneer off of a dresser, or the mahogany veneer off of a table, or sponge painting an old oak rocker... tragic waste.

not opposed to painting wood, or painting something orange. i just don't like THIS piece being painted. the idea is viable overall though; there are some butt-ugly wood pieces out there. something isn't automatically better looking because it's wood

Quick! Scrape it off!

This quite obviously wasn't a real valuable antique : the legs aren't curved exactly the right way, and the ornaments are clearly molded, not sculpted. It probably is a mass made piece, and isn't older than the 1920s, more surely the 1940s, perhaps event the 70s so its not that much of a tragedy.
However, this is just personal, I'm not fond of the orange myself.

Very likely a repro, but still a sad undoing of perfectly nice looking wood. And the easter chick marshmallow orange is visually un-tastey too.

i was gonna say what a shame to paint over good wood, but after reading the indignant posts...i changed my mind. this cabinet is just a freaking piece of wood and not a very nice specimen at that! so what's the big deal?!

it could be lime green with mickey mouse stenciled on the doors for all i care.

i agree with someone up there though that it should house copious amount of liquor and cool drinking gears...

as is...it's not sexy

I truly think the cabinet was hideous before. Pure grandma. Original wood does not automatically equal pretty or even good quality. I actually like orange too but this one for some reason, I think it's maybe a little to cantaloupe-y for me? I would prefer either a true marigold or a darker orange, and plenty of shine to achieve a lacquer effect.

But seriously AT, control the rage. If they liked the bare wood, they would not have painted it. It seems fair to say you preferred it before, but not to call it a "crime."

I think it looks fine either way. I'm not crazy about medium-brown wood or orange, but get a grip people, it's her furniture to do as she pleases!

Reposting on the other hand...meh!

Second all the comments about the table being horrible to begin with. Nothing displays our lack of knowledge of true craftsmanship more than crying over painted-over mass-manufactured stuff because it's an "antique." The thing is old, but still pretty ugly.

Why didn't they just go to IKEA and buy a piece of crap furniture and then paint that orange?

I prefer the wood to the orange paint.

WD is MR. DANGEROUS