Four Reasons to Love Wood Furniture

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Sing it out loud with me …

“I like dark furniture, and I cannot lie…

Brown hued furnishings that I can’t deny…”

OK, that’s probably enough. I’m not a rapper, or a song writer, so it’s probably best that we stop there. Mmmm, kay.

I have some beautiful dark solid wood furniture pieces in my home. Most of them came with my husband when we got married and we’ve kept them since they were great solid pieces of furniture. And while I know that painted furniture is all the rage right now (and I love the trend), I haven’t taken a paint brush to a single one. (Well, I did paint two night stands that I got for free, but that’s it.)

I almost started painting everything in sight back when I we had all beige walls. I couldn’t take the brown on brown look one more minute! Or at least that’s what I thought. It stayed brown-on-brown for a whole year. But thankfully, much to my husband’s relief, I fell back in love with all of the dark wood tones when I painted the walls Revere Pewter and put up white Board & Batten. Ahh, much better.

Here are four reasons why I won’t be painting my wood furniture.

Source

Dark wood is one element of the Clean Cottage Style. 

Just this week, and I mentioned on Monday, Layla at The Lettered Cottage posted on how to achieve the Clean, Crisp Cottage style and warm wooden tones are one of those elements. Yes, it includes painted furniture too, but you don’t want everything painted. Some dark, warm tones lend to the beautiful, clean cottage style we all love. I know I love the feeling in my living room!

It brings a sense of masculinity to the room.

Coach (my hubby) really loves dark furniture too, which explains why he brought most of it into our home. Sometimes us decoratin’ girls don’t want to listen to our spouses’ design ideas or wants, but it’s good to incorporate some of what you both love. (Since you both live there and all. Right?) Part of the reason I have embraced the dark wood is because I know he loves it so much.  It brings a masculine element to a room – where there is plenty of feminine.

Source: Our Vintage Home Love

It warms and grounds the space.

While an all white or light space may be your cup of tea, I personally think it would just be too stark for me. (I’m a poet and didn’t know it.) The dark tones warm up an otherwise cold space and bring a grounding element to the light and airy place. I’m afraid if my home was all white it would be too one-dimensional.

Source: The Lettered Cottage

It brings contrast to light or white rooms.

Oh the drama. I used to be an all dark girl. When I lived in my parent’s home, I had dark red walls and dark furniture. It was all dark. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve fallen in love with cooler colors. They just make the home so light and airy. And now I love the drama and contrast the dark wood brings to a light and bright space. It just pops.

Now you know why I love my warm wood pieces, but I do love a good painted piece. I will drool over some bright green, pink, blue (of course) and yellow furniture. In fact I have a Craigslist dresser in my garage that I will be painting very soon. And the reason I’ll be painting it is that it has some damage, I don’t want to re-stain it, and a combination of painted furniture and stained furniture give a mixed look that I love. So, don’t think I hate painted furniture, just don’t want to paint everything!

So if you’re second guessing a style or piece that you’ve always loved, check again. Don’t be swayed by the trends or the majority just because it’s trendy. Maybe you just need to lighten your space or bring in some new fabrics. Rearrange it. And you may fall in love with that dark wood piece all over again.

Do you love dark furniture or are you a painted furniture guy or gal?
Have you fallen in love all over again with an old piece?

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31 Comments

  1. It got me when you said that having a wooden furniture will be able to make a cold room appear cozy due to its dark tones. With that in mind, I will be buying one for our vacation house since it is located in a colder part of the country. The decoration of that house is light in theme, so I guess it didn’t help with the temperature of the house. Thanks!

    1. Hi Gretchen, my TV stand is from a store called Nadeau {Furniture with a Soul} and my rug is from RugsUSA.com. Thanks for stopping by!!

  2. great post! I’m about to paint my new home Revere Pewter and love seeing how stunningly beautiful the color looks in your home. You’re right, darker furniture adds contrast and warmth to the space. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Great reasons, I’m a huge fan of the dark wood against lighter pieces too. I also love it because it’s easy to maintain! Every once in a while I’ll use wood finishes on all my wood pieces from my furniture to my floors. I use a basic Tung Oil and it really brings everything back to life.

  4. This is a great post. I love stained wood furniture mixed with some painted pieces. I have never really had very dark classic woods, my favourite is pine in mid shades. but the same thing applies I think. I do paint thrifty finds, damaged pieces and wood tones that I don’t like to get that mix of painted and stained. My favourite room in our home currently is our living room and it is because of a $10 wood stained dresser against white walls with a leather sofa. Your living room is lovely and the media piece is really nice.

  5. Great post. I also love the dark wood furniture . The only pieces I have painted were damaged. I have stripped a piece of furniture from the beginning of the shabby chic style and it isn’t fun to do. Thank you for joining Home Sweet Home.
    Sherry

  6. CONGRATS!!
    You have been featured at The DIY Dreamer! YAY! Come on over and grab your featured button, you deserve it!

  7. This is such a gorgeous post-full of wonderful ideas and beautiful pictures!

    If you have a minute to spare I’d be so thrilled if you could share this post at my weekly Say G’day linky party. It’s on right now and this post would be a perfect addition!

    Best wishes and happy decorating,
    Natasha in Oz

  8. I love painted furniture (no big surprise there), but I think a room needs natural wood tones too!

  9. Yeah! I’m glad to know there are others who appreciate the warmth a few wood pieces give a room. I’m currently in the process of painting our dark woodwork because it competes with my favorite vintage wood pieces and makes our old house too dark and gloomy. But I do love me a piece of well worn wood furniture!

    Your home is just lovely with your new paint color! Visiting from FJI.

  10. You are so right! Many of my wood pieces belonged to my Grammy. They remind me of her and I just couldn’t bear to paint them over 🙂

  11. Agree!! Especially with that beautiful gray that you painted your living room. That room is just gorgeous.
    Heidi @ handmadefrenzy.blogspot.com

  12. I’m so glad you didn’t paint all your furniture!!! It’s so fun on some pieces, but you’re right that it’s important to have a balance! Your home is beautiful

  13. I love the dark wood too and I REALLY love your living room makeover!! Gorgeous!!

  14. Yes!! I love brown and white together! I’m so glad you did this post! As much as I love all white, I think sometimes it looks better in photos or magazines then real life. I still love my dark floors and light colored walls and it’s awesome so nice to have a dark wood piece in the living room/family room/dining room. It seems to ground everything better!!
    Hugs,
    Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com

  15. I must agree with you: wood furniture is so classy!!!!
    LOVE your pics… 🙂

    hugs x
    Crystelle

  16. I agree. I like white and painted furniture, but generally not everything, so I have a mix of both in all rooms except my daughter’s which is unique unto itself.

    Some woods are so gorgeous, so high quality, that it feels sacrilegious to paint.

    Turquoise has been my favorite accent color for years.

  17. What a beautiful living room! Thanks for sharing at Project Inspire{d} ~ pinning to my party board.

    Hugs, Mary Beth

  18. I agree! And I think the point about the wall color is sooo true. I painted some of my walls beige and realized there needs to be a cool color to let the wood furniture shine.
    – Lora

  19. Definitely agree with you on the “mix”. High and low, rustic and modern, light and dark. It all looks so nice when you put them together tastefully. Love how you mentioned that certain paint colors can look terrible against wood. So good to remember that. Thanks for posting.

  20. I love to mix all finishes in a room! I believe that painted, worn, dark or light, modern, antique, just putting it all together creates interest! I love your big dark piece you use for your TV stand! I agree that some pieces call for painting and some need to be left alone! I usually choose to paint when the wood finish is damaged or worn. I love your living room, looks so cozy! Have a great weekend!
    Jeanne

  21. I like wood tones myself….but I have a few (free) pieces sitting in my garage that are on my “project list” for this summer that I’m dying to tackle with a paint brush! ~Kim

  22. Oh yes…I believe there are some pieces that are just crying out for paint, but then others just need to be LEFT ALONE!! Or perhaps just refinished with new stain. I’m in love with your living room, BTW. 🙂

    -andi

    1. I agree! This world is big enough for painted and non-painte furniture. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!!

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