Relaxed Chic: Painted furniture

I have always loved the welcoming and relaxed look of painted furniture. French and Swedish design often features painted furniture, and it makes for a light and airy feeling.

Both from Art et Decoration, France

I have plenty of brown furniture, but the painted look brings something very different to a room as a single piece, or as an overall decorating plan. 

House Beautiful

Auction decorating lends itself well to this aesthetic. That wonderful distressed piece of furniture need not be given a restoration work over, but will look best if left exactly as it is. 

Some of the upcoming auctions have good examples. 

Stair Galleries Auction March 27, Hudson NY

The upcoming Stair auction of a Hudson Valley estate has some wonderful antique examples of painted furniture that I wouldn't want to do one thing to 'fix'. The green painted cupboard on the left above (Lot 383) is estimated at $600 - $800. The New England red painted cupboard (Lot 475) on the right above is estimated at $700 - $1,000.

This lovely table is from the Clarke Auction scheduled for March 27th in Larchmont, NY. 

Clarke Auction March 27th, Larchmont, NY

This table (Lot 171) is described as a Louis XVI carved marble top center table and is estimated at $1,000 - $1,500. There are other examples in the auction as well. 

New Orleans Auction March 27 - 28

What better place to find French inspired antiques in the US than in New Orleans. New Orleans Auction coming up March 27 and 28 has this settee (Lot 441) described as Continental Neoclassical and is estimated at $1,800 - $2,500. 

Elle Decor

These photos are both from the interior designer Paula Caravelli's New York apartment featured recently in Elle Decor which was titled 'A New York City Home with a Paris Accent'. I can see the settee from New Orleans auctions fitting in well to the living room in the photo on the above left. I could also see the red painted cupboard from Stair above being a more distressed version of the one in the photo above right. 

All these auction houses mentioned with auction March 27th and/or 28th take absentee bids so take a look at their on-line catalogues for some tempting ideas.