Meghan: Painting furniture has been used as décor for hundreds of years but rather than talk about antics, I am here today with artist Heidi Shannon to discover how with a little bit of paint, turns old and forgotten furniture into works of art.
I am hitting the road searching for answers and finding great design. It is across the beauty, function and of course inspiration.
When looking for a piece of furniture to paint do not think you have to break the bank old unwanted furniture is the perfect candidate and also happens to be artist Heidi Shannon’s favorite canvas.
So was it true that you only spend $20 on every piece of furniture you get to start with.
Heidi: I do not like to say it but yes.
Meghan: That is right, she typically spends no more than $20 on a furniture she paints, which makes painted furniture a budget-friendly option.
Heidi: Yes, you can get really great stuff out there and do not have to spend a lot of money.
Meghan: So what do you look for when you buy them, like when you are looking for a piece that you want to paint, what is it that—
Heidi: A good piece of wood, I do not look for laminate or things that are—I can fix some things but when you know, it is a beautiful piece of furniture but all the drawers are all cadiwampus, I do not like to get into that.
Meghan: When choosing a piece of furniture to paint first try to see if it is made of wood and in good condition. Then look at it shape, but do not get distracted by the knobs, those can be taken off. It is the details of the furniture that matter.
Heidi: The legs, you know if they are turned legs that is really fun, you can do a lot of great creative things with that. If it has too much architectural detail, I tend to tone down the colors because it is a crazy wild piece that I do not want to have crazy wild colors on the crazy wild piece. But if it is a normal very simple piece then I might do a crazy wild color on it design on it.
Meghan: Well, man people like solid colored painted furniture, Heidi has perfected the whimsical fun look.
Heidi: But there is a lot of things the dressers, a dresser drawer you know you can even take each drawer and treat it as its own single painting for like a better resource. So each one can be different but the overall color is the same.
Meghan: for inspiration, Heidi looks through magazines, catalogues, wallpaper, books, anything filled with patterns. And to give her pieces and extra punch of color and texture, Heidi goes beyond using just paint and adds everything from gems to decorative knobs.
Heidi: And then after I paint the color, I will now do a couple of coats just to get the good even solid color on there. I might come back and do detailed painting whether it is a girly-type flower or a leaf or a design somewhere on it. And then even with these legs, their beautiful turned legs, you can have fun with the legs and you know color or paint this one color this a color and so on. And even all the way down to the bottom I love putting extra knobs down pair. And paint those real funky and—
Meghan: Just adding anything on with good character.
Heidi: Add just a little bit and when you add a little bit, it so goes a long way because it just adds a little bit more volinsical 3:34 feel to the piece.
Meghan: And if you really want to give your painted furniture a special touch, decorate the inside.
Heidi: A lot of times I will stick either a wallpaper inside the drawer just to get another little—
Meghan: Oh, that is neat, to get a little bit of interest
Heidi: Yes.
Meghan: Herpes is definitely have kick. If there is one thing they can learn from Heidi, it is to be creative. Paint and furniture does not have to be boring. Regardless of yours style, you can turn your painted furniture into a focal point by adding extra decorative details.
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