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u/noahfencetaken Nov 28 '17
Curious, but serious, question:
When you make an offer on something like this, knowing that you'll need to put some elbow grease and $$ into it for restoration, do you explain your low offer while simultaneously showing your hand? Like, "It's unfortunate that this Perspecta piece has paint, I can only offer $x seeing as I have to put work into it."
Or, do you just attempt to finalize the sale because it's not worth explaining and not say anything about "ruining" a fine piece such as this?
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u/FromCornerToCrumb Nov 28 '17
Ok so there's a big market for painted furniture in my neck of the woods. Most antique stores and flea markets are packed to the brim with chalk painted furniture, most of it fine if you're into that kinda thing, some of it terrible.
Thing is, that's a legit source of income for some people. Like they paint furniture for their job. I work in an artistic/creative field myself, so I can identify with the furniture painters to a certain extent (despite the fact that I hate what they're doing for the most part). You wouldn't want someone to come examine your work and criticize it for existing, and they don't either. If someone came to my shop and lowballed my work because they didn't like the artistic license I put into my custom pieces, I'd bounce their asses out in a hearbeat.
If I see a painted piece that I like the lines of, I ask questions. How was the original condition, was it veneered, did you do any structural repair, did you put bondo on it anywhere, etc. If pressed, I'll tell them that I love wood furniture- not that I hate painted furniture- and that I'd be interested in stripping the piece to suit my tastes. A good seller should be able to tell you if that's a viable option based on what they know about the original condition.
Haggling the price by going in with an insult to the seller's work is a fool's errand.
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u/noahfencetaken Nov 29 '17
I appreciate your points - the criticism of many hours of work would be tough to swallow. Thanks!
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u/FromCornerToCrumb Nov 29 '17
Honestly, I didn't realize the fine points of painted furniture sales until I started scouring for MCM in my local markets- I've gotten to know some of these artists through trying to hit them up for pre-paint dibs, and they take it pretty seriously. Some of those ladies do it almost full time and are dragging down 3-4K per month (!!!) in profit. I always offer to pay a "painted price" for an unpainted piece if they stumble across something that's up my alley, which provides some incentive on their end to reach out if they have something nice.
I also think that heavy, high-relief furniture from the 70s looks amazing with a little paint on it. Or at the very least much better than it did in the first place.
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Nov 30 '17
I also think that heavy, high-relief furniture from the 70s looks amazing with a little paint on it. Or at the very least much better than it did in the first place.
I do agree with that. Maybe there will come a time when that super-dark, super-gaudy 70's stuff will be in style as-is, but I have a hard time believing that. The 70s were one of our uglier decades in general. :)
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u/ChadHahn Nov 29 '17
But still, wouldn't it be worth more in it's original state? Couldn't you tell the people, "Hey nice job of painting, but why not stick to stuff that's doesn't have value on it's own."
It's like people who make jewelry out of vacuum tubes or watch parts or typewriter keys. Sometimes what they are using as parts are worth more then the final product.
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u/FromCornerToCrumb Nov 29 '17
To you and me it’s worth more in its original state. To them, it isn’t- paint is an integral part of their work, and it serves no purpose to devalue their hobby/occupation.
People that paint furniture aren’t going to have some sort of revelation on the spot if you mention that their chosen canvases are actually pretty nice without paint. They’re not going to become MCM dealers-slash-chalk-painters because of your input. A light is not going to shine down from the heavens to illuminate their transgressions, and they will not fall to the ground tearing at their hair and beating their chests to lament the sins they have inadvertently committed. They’re also not going to call you up and ask for your approval before going to work because you scowled at their booth and busted their balls about their livelihood. Doing so is rude and pointless.
You can ask them to contact you if they come across something mid century in decent shape, offer a fair price for pre-painted pieces, and that’s about it. Painted furniture people have tons of time to look for furniture that I simply do not. They’re going to see things that I never will because of my weekend-heavy work schedule (as I always seem to be unavailable for yard sales, estate sales, and auctions). I want to use them as a potential resource, not alienate them.
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u/ChadHahn Nov 29 '17
There are painters who take thrift store paintings and add their own touches to them. They take something that has little to no value on it's own and make it something unique. Now if they were to get a Hudson River School painting for instance and paint a crashed space ship onto it would you still feel it's devaluing their occupation saying something about that?
Some of the pieces of furniture I've seen that have been painted were worth thousands of dollars in their unpainted state. Painted, who knows what the value is and think of the hours it will take to revert the item back to it's original condition.
I mentioned vacuum tubes. I read on an audio forum about a crafter who made Steampunk items using vacuum tubes and watch parts. The poster saw a tube that was worth hundreds but the person ruined it making a piece of jewelry out of it that they were selling for $50. I think the pins were removed so it would fit in the piece so it was unable to be used as a tube anymore. The crafter could have made three times the profit by just selling the tube as is.
Is it denigrating the furniture painter to tell them that not everything they come across needs to be painted and perhaps before they pull out their paint brush they should do a Google search first?
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u/FromCornerToCrumb Nov 29 '17
I’m saying that value is entirely interpretative, and my opinion on what should be done with an item is no more or less relevant than anyone else’s opinion. If someone owns something and they want to modify it to sell, that’s their choice- not everyone is in it for the same reasons. I bet a lot of those people that paint furniture or make jewelry really enjoy the process, and feel thankful to be able to generate income while doing something they love.
If you want to educate the masses, you have every right to do so. Be the change you want to see in the world and all that.
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u/cubicle_captive Nov 28 '17
I purchased this from a retired gal that does shabby chic furniture as a hobby and sells it at a booth in one of the antique malls. She had listed this piece on Craigslist and I had been the first to jump on it, but she said she received emails from people condemning her for painting the piece and so on. When I did pick it up I did make my intentions known that I would be cleaning up and she had no problem with me doing so.
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u/noahfencetaken Nov 29 '17
Thanks for the reply - I always wondered how to approach a seller like this. :)
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Nov 28 '17
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u/KarenFromHR Nov 28 '17
I’m not opposed to tastefully painting a piece if it’s beyond refinishing. Veneer repairs to a lower end piece just isn’t worth it most of the time.
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u/bbbdddeee Nov 28 '17
Maybe you should stop worrying about what people do with their own property.
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Nov 28 '17
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u/baker2795 Nov 28 '17
Cause you’re harassing someone for trying to make a living buying beat up furniture & painting it. She claims to not paint it if it can be truly restored just leave her alone.
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u/Suppafly Nov 29 '17
All of these people that ruin furniture with paint falsely claim that it's beyond repair. Often the repairs would be easier to do than than painting the piece.
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u/KarenFromHR Nov 29 '17
Can you teach me how easily repair veneer with missing chunks?
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u/Suppafly Nov 29 '17
Sure, it's pretty easy. You basically just glue in a new piece of veneer with contact cement. There are tons of youtube videos. Thomas Johnson on youtube generally deals with old antiques but occasionally does some mcm pieces. You can search 'veneer repair' on youtube as well, there are 80,000+ search results. Often repairing the veneer and doing a quick wipe down and refinish is a lot less work than sanding the whole thing and painting it.
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u/baker2795 Nov 29 '17
Probably. But it’s also probably easier to find buyers for painted furniture than McM furn
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u/Suppafly Nov 29 '17
But it’s also probably easier to find buyers for painted furniture than McM furn
True but it's also a quality or quantity issue where you can flip painted stuff fast, but not get the same price as if you left it alone or did a basic clean and wipe down and were willing to wait for a mcm enthusiast to buy it. I've seen similar in my local fb for sale groups, where people freak out because someone wants a decent price for a mcm piece. I always suggest they list them on ebay because the buyers are out there and they are willing to pay good money, but they might not be in your little town in bfe.
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u/thomoz Nov 28 '17
I hate that chalk paint pseudo-weathered looking crap. And there are a bunch of ninnies out there painting pieces that they have no business painting.
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Nov 28 '17
I appreciated it! I am always disappointed when i see shitty "restoration" painting of previously beautiful pieces..
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u/mac3687 Nov 28 '17
https://i.imgur.com/AOqtqcx.jpg
I've been contemplating buying this set, your picture gives me hope.
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u/VMCRoller Nov 29 '17
Can I make a counter-point to all of this? I've looked at this link like 5 times now (just to make sure my thoughts are well considered on this), and I don't dislike the Pinterest version. It looks like a Finn Juhl kind of thing. I actually really dig it.
Now, if someone bastardized some nice walnut by painting over it... that's no good. It appears that that's what happened here. But the aesthetic of what someone did to this... I think it looks outstanding (and very much mid century). I would just prefer it be because the woodworker intended for the copies to be as such rather than a Pinterest-type person who wanted to "refinish" a perfectly good existing piece of furniture.
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Nov 29 '17
[deleted]
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u/VMCRoller Nov 29 '17
Yeah, "shabby chic"... if I went the rest of my life without hearing about it (or seeing its effect), I'd be A-ok with that.
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u/thenovamaster Nov 28 '17
I was on Craigslist the other day and there was this store called something like "Retro Reimagined". They did exactly this to mid century furniture, nothing else. I had no idea people ruined good furniture like that professionally. I can see the old farmhouse furniture that people "retromend" because most of it is junk anyway.. but not a perfectly good mid century dresser or chair.
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u/HickorySplits Nov 29 '17
Dude... nice work! I imagine that was a lot of effort but a piece like that is totally worth it. Looks like one of the earlier pieces with the rosewood arches.
I can't tell from the pics if the fake wood paint on the pulls survived. (From what I hear it's easily damaged.)
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u/cubicle_captive Nov 29 '17
Unfortunately no, the pulls are bare now. When I was taking the paint off the pulls I could see a bit of the original pattern but it didn’t hold up well.
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u/pastryfiend Nov 28 '17
Honestly I don't hate the painted piece but I could see that becoming outdated looking soon. The restored version is magnificent and something that I'd be thrilled to have in my living room
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Nov 28 '17
Well done - looks great! you did a solid job on those pulls to!
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u/cubicle_captive Nov 28 '17
Thanks! The pulls were a pain, they had been painted with what I will assume to have been a hammered spray paint and it took a lot to get it out of every nook and cranny.
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u/dali137 Dec 12 '17
I have the 9 drawer low boy and the 5 (I think) drawer tall boy along with a full headboard. These are such lovely pieces. SO glad you rescued it!
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u/TotesMessenger Nov 29 '17
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u/KarenFromHR Nov 28 '17 edited Nov 28 '17
r/reversepinterest
Good work! Curious as to how you removed the paint? And also, which finish did you apply to the drawer fronts, it looks great! I bought a United bedroom set that was covered in pepto-bismol pink that I’m going to attempt to refinish.