Monday, February 29, 2016

French Provincial Sideboard - White and Timber

A look I really love is a mix of bright white and natural dark timer. I love the warmth of the timber against the fresh white paint and think it's very practical as well as pretty. For me, it is very French Provincial style.  I recently picked up a beautiful french style sideboard and knew this was the perfect piece for that two toned look.

French Provincial hand painted sideboard by Lilyfield life

I normally lug all my furniture home myself but this piece I relented and paid some one to bring it to me - trying to make life a bit easier on myself :)
The sideboard is solid walnut so it was heavy and well worth the haulage fee.

French Provincial hand painted sideboard by Lilyfield life


I gave it a very good clean and a light sand then used two coats of Zinsser primer to stop any tannin bleeding which is very likely on a piece like this. The primer also helps with coverage for a good opaque white finish.  I also stripped and sanded off the old deep red varnish from the top. I just love seeing the beautiful natural timber emerge. Walnut is one if my very favourite timbers.

French Provincial hand painted sideboard by Lilyfield life - primed and ready for painting

I painted the base in my current favourite white paint and applied dark wax to the top once I sanded it to a very, very smooth finish. If your timber is not smooth enough you will end up with a very patchy finish which looks pretty average especially viewed side on. It's worth taking the extra time to sand and sand  - an extra hour of prep will result in a very beautiful finish.

French Provincial hand painted sideboard by Lilyfield life

French Provincial hand painted sideboard by Lilyfield life

French Provincial hand painted sideboard by Lilyfield life

I am currently in the process of negotiating on two more gorgeous sideboards so keep an eye on my page if you are interested.

Fiona xx

5 comments:

  1. Love keeping the top wood and painting the rest. Looks very nice!

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  2. Gorgeous and good tips on refinishing furniture

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  3. Look at that gorgeous wood (timber) grain! You know seeing such a beautiful finish makes my heart go pitter pat! :) xoxo

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  4. I have a similar walnut piece, so heavy 2 strong men had trouble lifting it! I bought it in the rain for very little, if you can believe it, and once the timber dried out, I realized there was damage to the back of the top drawer that I didn't know how to replace - I think a rail had been nailed back poorly, and subsequent years of jamming it in and out has made the back end of the drawer into toothpicks!

    And so it sits...

    Could you suggest a website or video or give any advice on how to proceed? (I can send you pics, and maybe you would like to write a post about making ill-informed purchases, haha!)

    No but seriously, this could be restored so nicely for my parlour (scattered bits of ornamentation for me to fix or replace, which I very much enjoy doing). Let me know if you can think of a place for me to start!

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    1. Hi – definitely send me some photo. I can help. Love to see it
      Heading to bed now but will respond in the morning.
      Fiona x

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Thanks for taking the time to comment! Sorry if you have trouble commenting, you can always email me at lilyfieldlife@bigpond.com