China White Credenza With Hand-Painted Pine Trees

Take a very plain piece of office furniture and turn it into something amazing this week.  Here’s my own creation that is now a China White credenza with hand-painted pine trees.  See furniture differently. This is exactly what I’ve learned to do since I began refinishing furniture several years ago. Taking on a building, remodeling, decorating, or painting project means you to have to be able to envision a completely different end result.

Look at your starting point as a blank canvas. Look past the current color, print, and hardware.

Tip:

If you’re having a hard time picturing a different end result, prime it all white first.

Start by seeing only the size and shape. Know how you would like it to function.

If you’re re-decorating a room, don’t you first take note of the shape, ceiling height, and location of the windows, doorways, and any architectural elements (fireplace, vaulted ceilings, etc.). You also understand how the space function, right?  A bedroom will function much differently than a hallway that needs to have a clear, uninterupted walking path through it.  That hallway, may need to act as a piece of art as visitors walk through your front door, or it may need to be a drop-zone mudroom for the kids.

The same is true when you’re shopping for and refinishing a piece of furniture. When I find a piece of furniture and place it in the middle of my workshop, I usually stare at it for a while. I consider it’s size and shape and make my best guess at how it will function for a buyer. This long office credenza for example…

Yes it could serve it’s original purpose as an office credenza with file drawers; but at 72 inches long and 29 inches high, it would also be the perfect length and height for a sofa table (with the added functionality of file storage for someone that has their office in the living room).

It could also function as a hallway or entryway table. The long, thin shape would work perfectly along a long hallway wall.  Or, perhaps a media center.   The shelf underneath could hold cable or DVD boxes and the drawers video games.

Once I zoned in on how I imagined it to function, it was time to consider a new look. The original brown finish was scratched and wouldn’t fit into today’s modern home so I began by priming the entire credenza white. Once it was all white, it was easier to envision differently.

I consdered using Frog Tape to create a modern abstract on the front to mimic the straight lines, but in the end opted for some traditional hand-painted pine trees.

Following two coats of BIN primer, I painted on two coats of a high quality enamel.  The color is Benjamin Moore’s China White – a warm off-white.

This paint dries in under an hour and hardens like you wouldn’t believe.   The low lustre finish tones down the modern shape, so this credenza works perfect in both a traditional and modern homes (or offices).

This Credenza is for sale in my Shop.

 

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