To Paint or Not to Paint?: 3 Important Factors to Consider

Have you ever wondered should I paint or not paint a piece of furniture? To paint or not to paint furniture can be a bigger question than you think when the piece is in relatively good condition. Today I will share three factors to consider when deciding whether to paint or not paint furniture.

Well I was pretty much convinced after yesterday’s post that I would make over the hope chest. So thanks to those who gave me some input! Although the hope chest was in pretty good condition, it was in need of a makeover. So now the even harder question for me is do I paint or not to paint the hope chest?

And if you have re-done furniture you know that this can be a bigger question than you think. There are a lot of different factors and even more options. So today I am going to share the 5 factors that influence whether or not I chose to re-do a piece of furniture. And at the end of the post I will show what I chose!

3 Factors in determining whether to paint or not paint furniture:

1. Does painting the furniture decrease the value of the piece?

One of the most important factors when deciding to paint or not paint furniture is the value. With most antique pieces of furniture, valued more than a few hundred dollars, painting will decrease the value. And of course even with newer furniture that you are hoping to use as an hierloom painting would most likely decrease the value over time.

But if I a piece of furniture was a few hundred dollars or less or is relatively modern in most cases I wouldn’t hesitate to paint.

2. How much time do you have to make over a piece of furniture?

Another factor for me is time. Painting furniture with furniture paint like chalk paint is probably the quickest and easiest way to re-do furniture.

If a piece of furntiure has a lot of grooves and tricky edges sanding a piece down to the bare wood will be quite a process. So when I think about the amount of time required And for me at this season of my life with little kiddos, time often trumphs all other factors.

3. Does paint match the style of the piece?

This last factor is more of an artistic one, but it can be very helpful. Do you envision the piece being in any particular style or color? Sometimes a piece of furniture is just screaming to you a certain color to use or style to shoot for, but sometimes it’s not as clear.

At times like that I would reccommend doing a quick google or pinterest certain and looking for inspiration. What colors are you drawn to, what style of knobs do you like? Browse the internet or in stores to try to find pieces to model your piece after. This way you can also determine if you want to follow current trends of do something of your own.

These are the three main factors I consider when choosing to paint or not paint furniture. What about you are there other factors that are important to you? I would love to hear about them below. Leave me a note and let me know if you think of any other helpful deciding factors.

Choosing to paint or not paint the hope chest

Well as I mentioned time is often the ultimate determinant for me as a busy mom with young kiddos and the hope chest was no exception. Although I did sand the piece down almost completely (thinking I would shoot for the bare wood look) I lost interest when trying to strip the handles.

The handles had too many grooves and stripping them with Citristrip did not do the trick, neither sanding or using a heat gun. So I finally decided the handles would have to go. And after the handles were removed I was looking at a whole different piece of furniture.

The trunk now looked a lot more modern. So I decided I would trim off the bottom decorative edges and go for a more modern look. I actually grabbed my circular saw and cut off the bottom decorative edge and made it into a simple rectangular corner. I was pretty stinkin’ proud of myself for cutting the edges.

But since I was alone, I didn’t grab pictures while cutting. Here’s my husband doing it with another buffet we modernized.

I decided to leave the lid of the trunk bare wood, so I will just use a polyeurthane to seal the top. But I decide to paint the bottom of the hope chest. Here are the paint colors I am trying: cream, black, green, and gray. I am trying to decide which color will look the best with the bare top.

Let me know if the comments below. What color of paint would you choose? I am leaning towards one of the colors but I will let you tell me what you think first!

Stay tuned for the paint color coming soon!