I don’t love all of the transformations but this brown-to-black piece is really striking.

i happen to think barb’s work brings OUT the piece’s interest and she always manages to make the details POP. i really like the dark richness of the first piece! btw i must say – those plates are DELIGHTFUL! any info on those?

ooooooh, I adore the black hutch! Gorgeous. I would put it in my house (with the great plates, of course) in a second.

that first transformation of the china cabinet is amazing – it looks gorgeous now!

Paint Wood!!!! these look great. I used to be a don’t-paint-wood person but I’ve learned to love it. There’s only so much wood I can handle in a room, and painting a unit, or pieces of, can do so much good.

I don’t understand the B&A of the bottom 2 pictures… But the top cabinet is beautiful in black! For some reason I feel like some gold lining in the bottom area would have been a lovely addition, BUT it’s very nice how it is too.

I love painted wood myself, and these are great!

I love the dresser with the uneven milk-paint job! SO STRIKING!

I don’t mind some painted wood. What I mind is people who don’t do their research and try to make something it isn’t. If you want a shabby chic victorian look don’t paint modern 1950′s wood end tables white and try to chip the paint.

Want your house to look like an Urban Outfitters store with all the crazy colored furniture displays? There are dozens of boring chipped veneer pieces in thrift stores that you can paint neon green with flower linings and dorky handles to your heart’s content. Leave your great grandmother’s solid wood pieces alone I beg you.

I like Barb’s redo here because she stuck to the history of the cabinet and it looks expensive, classic yet modern.

I love painted wood. I am on the hunt for an old armoire to paint right now and these offer a lot of inspiration!

I adore all of Barb’s work. She has a great eye for taking the drab and making it look fabulous. These pieces are just a couple of examples.

the black cabinet looks flawless! great, great job.

I absolutly LOVE Barb’s make-overs- I am a huge fan of ‘painting wood’- I think all of her transformations are absolutly delightful!

A lot of those Mediterranean pieces of furniture were not really wood on the intricate “carving” part–but just plastic made to look like wood. Over the years, it starts to look more and more like plastic and not match the wood around it. Painting the whole piece of furniture one solid color can make a piece of garbage into something lovely! This piece was all wood, but I’m ready to go back to the thrift store and try it on a cheap plastic and wood combo that I saw last week!

Nice balance and compromise- I just love milk paint: it coats the wood beautifully, you can still see the grain and it is not toxic like acrylic.

I like the painted wood too. I’m so tempted to paint this old table my aunt gave me, but I’m so worried that years from now I’ll want it to be wood again.

Love the cabinet though!

The first transformation is gorgeous. The second one kinda makes me sad.

The first one is perfect. The before has that plastic Good Will look that Lyn alluded to. Add black paint, and the cheesiness becomes elegance!
I am struggling with the bottom piece, however.

Sorry to be so ignorant, but what is milk paint exactly ? How do you proceed to obtain than absolutely stunning effect on the second piece of furniture ?

The texture is just incredible, so cool and graphic. What do I need to replicate it ?

Thanks for the inspiration and the explanations !

Hello everyone!!

I’ll try to answer both questions to the best of my ability:)

Plates are by Thomas Paul although they may be retired!!:) I only have two sets left.

Milk paint is available online at http://www.milkpaint.com and it comes in powder form that you mix with water! The most awesome thing about milk paint( as evident with this piece) is you have no control over where it will adhere or not and so you end up with a different look every time!:)

I understand some peoples dislike of the graphic nature of the finish …… you either really love it or hate it …. I of course love working with it and seeing what finish each piece actually takes on.

This particular piece sold before I could get it out on the floor.

both pieces are fabulous!

I love real wood…but not EVERY piece of real wood. The china cabinet is a great example of taking a dated piece in poor condition and making it look modern and chic. However, not everything needs paint, and some pieces look exquisite in their original wood finish.

bottom one is pretty awesome. modern and rustic!

i’ve been peeking at these two examples on the knack website for inspriation for some time. sorry you took a beating for the orange piece. that was a matter of opinion. but i don’t think anyone can deny, paintophiles or purists alike, that these two pieces are great. thanks for the great how-to you put on your blog for the black hutch. i’ve committed it to memory for when i finally get the nerve to paint the piece i have in mind.

I usually don’t like painted wood, but I do like the first piece (maybe because it doesn’t look overly painted and more like dark wood).

Oh, also, I was checking out Barb’s blog and there is a before picture of the second piece on one of the posts: http://knackstudios.blogspot.com/2008/08/another.html

Thank you for your answer !! I noted it in my Inspiration Book…

I’m obviously in the “I Love that cabinet” category…

I am often on the fence about painting wood. But this piece looked dated and tired, the coat of paint and new hardware gave it a new life. It reminds me of antique heavy ebony cabinets while at the same time looking clean and modern.

LOVING the top/first piece, my mother has almost this identical hutch that i’ve been bugging her to paint for years!!!

I would have to say, this wood to paint transformation if pretty sweet. I think not all wood is created equal and sometimes a little goes a long way. Nice work!

I really love the painted wood look. I have a question though- what type of paint does she use and how does she make it non-streaky? Thanks!

some wood should not be painted. gorgeous quarter-sawn oak, beautifully marbled or burled exotics, etc. but this hutch was hideous and i am so glad she painted it. it is gorgeous now and i’d do it myself, too.

Grace, thanks! Got it now.

Aw, I liked it so much better before. It had character, didn’t look like something you wouldn’t notice.

I have a piece almost identical to this that we inherited. We have been contemplating getting rid of the piece, but this is inspiring. We may try the technique with a white wash.

im usually the guy saying how horrible the afters are, but the deep orange wood peaking through that lottery scratcher gray is BEAUTIFUL!! a nice masculine note. It looks like a shop would charge BIG money for it as opposed to the usual cheap back-to-school wal*mart-modern stuff i usually see “after.”

I love these transformations! I feel that anytime someone can or wants to transform something “old” into something “new” they should go for it. It’s not only a cheaper and economical alternative to buying new, but a wonderful way to get creative and make something cool (or sometimes not cool) even cooler. Truly well done!

i agree with orlando!

Totally love them both! Awesome how the bland blondish brown wood turns Asian chic with the dark paint. As for the orange/gray funky piece it reminds me of life – never perfect and ALWAYS full of surprises:)