She Fears Her Trendy, Painted Antique Table is a Mistake

The other day, I received a comment from Mary, a faithful reader who was bemoaning her painted antique table that she’s using as a vanity.

If you missed Sunday’s post, it was all about bathroom vanities, plus sinks, faucets, lighting and mirrors.

She feels that the navy color she chose is too “bossy” and cold and should probably have been left its original wood tone.

But, at the time, it was a “trend” to paint thrift-store antique furniture and she said fell prey to it.

That one got my curiosity up, because there are already two issues with her painted antique table “mistake.”

• One, is that painted furniture is not and never will be a “trend.”

Oh, sure. People will call it a trend and it’s not hurting anything, but it’s not correct.

• Painted wood furniture of all kinds has been en enduring classic for over 250 years.

It was the rage in the latter part of the 18th century all over Europe.

• And painted furniture is more wildly popular than ever– right now!

But you can’t paint an antique, Laurel!

Uh… yes, you can. I did! You can see more here. And it’s been my favorite piece of furniture ever since I bought it and had it painted, 18 years ago!

Before.

I’m pretty sure that I’ve shown this before because I recall commenting on the Pikachu cake server on the floor. I had two little boys at that time.

The other issue is that in my mind’s eye, I saw a totally white bathroom with a big navy painted table.

Hehe… this will be an easy one, because if the table is bossy, it means the balance is probably off.

So, I wrote Mary and said, if she’s game, I would take a look at it and if I thought it would make a good blog post, I would use the image(s) with her permission.

To my great dismay, Mary sent me an absolutely gorgeous bathroom, with a gorgeous navy vanity that in my opinion, isn’t the slightest bit bossy.

She explained that she painted the vanity Navy and it was because of the adjoining guest bedroom which is dark. AND because it was the “trend of the day.”

Sure. If I want to get super-nit-picky, I could come up with a couple of things. And really. I should talk!!!

And, these are small. But if I were doing bead-board or any wainscoting with an 8-foot ceiling. The max height is about 36″. (unless going up 3/4 up the wall) I might be wrong, but this looks to be about 42″. I would also put the mirror a couple of inches over the wainscoting and the sconce up a little higher. But jeepers, this is a fabulous looking room!

Plus, Mary sewed the custom shower curtain herself.

Before I move on, I want to show another cool bathroom with an antique chest used for the vanity

Coincidentally, another talented reader Amy from @littlecedarfarmhouse on instagram shared this wonderful bathroom in a comment she made, earlier today.

I told her that it might end up in tonight’s post.

The difference is that Mary’s vanity is far fussier in its design and I think in the painted finish feels fresh. And I think in a wood finish would start to look a little fuddy-duddy. It looks to be a Victorian style which was trying to be Louis XV but mixing in a little American-country.

Amy’s piece could easily have gone either way, but it looks lovely here in the wood stain with the pale gray-blue walls.

However, I’m not done because I was curious after seeing that stunning bathroom to see what the rest of the house looked like.  She also had a small complaint about her very dark guest bedroom.

We’ll get to that in a minute.

First—

The gorgeous master bedroom. Mary made the headboard, pillows and maybe the bed skirt. In the dark room, I had suggested mirrors behind the lights, but she beat me to it here.

Can I have those wonderful chests please?

Since the home is a two-bedroom condo, understandably, she didn’t want to repeat the mirrors behind the lamps in the dark bedroom, coming up.

Love the colors!

Speaking of; the bedroom color here, is everyone’s favorite, including me, Benjamin Moore Quiet Moments. It’s one of the 144  Laurel Home Essential paint colors.

This is without a doubt one of my can’t fail no-fail paint colors. It always looks great.

For the draperies, Mary purchased some ready-made drapes and then she pleated them and added the smart-looking button trim.  Now, they look like expensive custom drapes!

Now, let’s take a look at the aforementioned dark, guest bedroom.

(one of my favorite dark teal bedrooms ever is in the link)

The wall color is Benjamin Moore Newburyport Blue hc-155.

Love the sconce in front of the mirror. Perfect!

And the touch of gold. Also perfect.

And I love how the white balances things out. Really great.

Benjamin Moore Newburyport Blue (above)

is verrrry close to another Laurel Home paint color, Benjamin Moore Van Deusen Blue.

Benjamin Moore Van Deusen Blue above

In a low-light room, this color will look navy.

So, why does it look gray-green here?

Most likely the lighting. But, photos can do wonky things. That is why it is most unwise to select a wall color from a photo that you see. Always test your paint colors!

In fact, in the photo editing, I made the image a little bluer, but it’s still going green.

Again, Mary made the headboard and pillow.

The room is absolutely fine as is. But for fun, I thought about some other options that might look nice and at a little lift.

One idea would be to move the light up higher and then put a painting above the bed. I love the colors in this giclee print by Soicher Marin.

photo by Melissa Cholendt – interior design Melissa Oholendt-via Domino

Above is another handsome idea for art over a bed.

I’ve always loved Alexa Hampton’s bedroom for the Kips Bay Showhouse a few years ago.

Stacked mirror from Wisteria

She could also do a mirror OVER the bed. One of these mirrors hung horizontally could work. That would add a lot of light into the room.

Or, it would also be very beautiful to have artwork behind the lamps or as part of a composition. I Love this piece from Artfully Walls. Great company that offers fresh young artwork by “starving young artists.” The beauty is that you can get the art in a number of sizes and frame options and mat or no mat like here. And the pieces are reasonably priced.

However, Mary’s so talented, it would not surprise me in the least, if she created her own art.

Remember another handsome home a while back by the also super-talented photographer Tara Sharma? She had feared too, that she had made a mistake with her sexy dark walls; not at all, but after she changed one thing, the room began to sing and sizzle!

But find out what happens when a no-fail paint color DOES fail and why.

I love this last image looking into the guest bedroom from the dining area.

Thank you Mary for sharing your beautiful, collected, and inspirational home with us!

xo,