Linen and Twigs

Hello Everyone! I’m coming at you with a super easy way to give new life to some old wood…That probably could have been worded better. 

Anyhow, did you ever have a piece of furniture or home decor that you loved the shape or lines of but the wood color itself was dated looking? Since I’m a collector of old things, I run into this problem often. Personally, I’m a huge fan of wood pieces with all of it’s grainy detail but I’m not a fan of wooden pieces that have darkened too much or turned orange over time. 

I found a vintage mirror at a local thrift store that had such pretty lines but since it is made of oak, the color had darkened quite a bit. It also felt super heavy due to it’s color.

Here is a before shot of the back of the mirror because of course in typical Diane fashion, I get excited and jump into a project without thinking of taking a picture before I get started. The color of the wood on the back of the mirror is the same as the front of the mirror.

The mirror is not that large so I thought it would look beautiful as a tray to hold perfume bottles, etc…however, it was much too dark for my liking. 

I have discovered that by giving it a wash with some leftover paint, it will give it a fresher look without losing all of that beautiful grain and texture that I love.

You could use any leftover paint as long as it doesn’t have much of a sheen to it.  I prefer anything in the flat, satin or eggshell finish. On this particular piece, I used mineral paint which also has a flatter finish. I prefer using whites and grays to give it a weathered barnwood look but you could use any color that makes you happy. 

I used a brush to lightly apply some paint and then immediately wiped it off with an old dry towel. This gave it a bit of color without covering up the wood grain. It lightened the piece up without losing it’s vintage flair. You’re basically just washing the color over the wood. If by some chance you applied too much paint and would like to remove it just dampen a cloth with water to remove what you don’t like. 

It’s as easy as that! Don’t overlook those beautiful treasures just because the color is off. 

Thanks for stopping by friends! As always, it means so much to me!