BedStuy Reno
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November 6, 2007
bathroom division: serious black
Some pics of the black paint on the mouldings in the future bathroom. Instant badass-ness.
Comments
This is so inspiring! I am about to embark on a huge painting project and felt I had to go white even though I hate it. Nice work!
Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 3:26 PM
I asked before about the black paint - to clarify, I meant is it semi-gloss, satin? What finish and you said Benjamin Moore - is it basic black?
Posted by: guest4 at November 6, 2007 5:31 PM
not a basic black - it was expensive for a small amount of the stuff, so that's how I know. I can't find the swatch anymore. I'll see if it's noted on the can. I think it's a satin - G hates anything with gloss for the most part, so we took what we could with minimal gloss but not total matte like the purple and white for the walls.
- Peter
Posted by: guest at November 6, 2007 8:24 PM
WTF are you doing to that wood. You don't paint those moldings. You have to strip the old paint off, sand, and then STAIN them the specific color you need, after the stain then you put the shine to finish them off, but never ever ever paint wood. Stupid MTFERS!
Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 4:12 PM
wow, it looks really nice. i would have never thought to paint our wood work black.
-lc
Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 4:27 PM
4:27
I disagree -- painted moldings can be quite beautiful and let you see the details more. If the woodwork is pine - which a lot in our house were, it is not a beautifully grained wood.
Chill, you can respectfully disagree w/o going into overdrive.
Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 4:32 PM
Why on earth can't you paint the woodwork? I have seen so many brownstones and coops alike so respectfully honoring the last century or the century before that. Painted wood looks so much lighter and blends in so that you can live in the space. This trend must have started when people started removing years and years of old paint. and I never would of thought of black. Great idea.
Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 4:34 PM
Yes, TheGrammarLady here. Many homes had painted pine door and window casings as well as baseboards. This was business-as-usual in the 1800's. At one point, faux graining became popular: pine was smoothed out with plaster and then glazed/ shellacked and worked to give them the look of a more costly wood. It is not until later, pretty much post-That-Little-Disagreement (Civil War) when more costly woods were going in for things other than newel posts, handrails and balusters. Also, the style of dark stained, shellacked trim came in later in the 19th Century creating that lugubrious look of late Victorian interiors.
So, if you must, paint away.
:-)
FG/TGL
Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 7:11 PM
I can vouch for the pine woodwork. We have tiger oak on the main floor, less intricate pine moldings on the second and third floors.
As for oak and other "high end" wood: I'd love to strip, but many of us have little ones and lead paint on our moldings. Short of a complete abatement, painting is often the only way to go.
Posted by: Erin Joslyn at November 7, 2007 7:57 PM
Oh, and I have seen some very lovely work with very dark brown paint on trim.
Posted by: Erin Joslyn at November 7, 2007 7:57 PM
Woodwork should not be painted. If you want to give it the glory it truly deserves it should be stripped and stained. My uncle has been in the antique and restoration business for 20 years he'd probably be appalled.
For the sake of time its understandable perhaps you'll find the time to restore in the future.
Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 8:12 PM
wow
i couldn't imagine it, but it looks gorgeous
-ms. crown heights reno
Posted by: neene at November 7, 2007 8:13 PM
Well, I guess we know who's uncle is not being invited over this holiday season!
I personally have no problem now with what we have done with our mouldings. It looks too good to not like it. When we can find solutions for dealing with our house on a budget, that is always a winner. We certainly don't have the cash to spend to have our woodwork stripped, and to take the time to do it is time that could be applied elsewhere. I had misgivings myself, I said so in an earlier post. Painting the mouldings black was G's idea. And seeing it up, I am really into her creative solution for making these mouldings our mouldings.
- Peter
Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 8:39 PM
don't listen to the haters--reasonable folks can disagree about painting over stained wood, but i don't reckon there are any moral issues involved with repainting painted wood. i love the stain trim in my rowhouse--but painted wood can be every bit as attractive.
Posted by: guest at November 7, 2007 9:02 PM
We painted all the wall and ceiling paneling in our parlor kitchen (originally, the dining room) black. It looks way better than the wood. Why? Because stained and shiny wood looks like your grandma's dusty bedroom set.
I had no problem spending the money on stripping and staining. I just hated the thought of living inside of all that wood. Vulgar. Like an Irish pub.
Granted, I did have one of New York's high end millwork companies (experts in all species of wood) come in and tell me what wood was used throughout the house. I asked them their opinion on my idea of painting. Their answer? Expose the wood that's really gorgeous -- the mahogany stair. The rest is pretty standard and it will look just as good painted, if not better.
One more thought towards the wood snob out there: The most beautiful millwork I've ever seen in Europe (Sweden and Italy) is painted. Get an education.
Posted by: guest at November 8, 2007 10:39 AM
10:39-- I agree with you about the painted wood, and 11/7 4:12 sounds like a jerk, but if you're going to criticize someone for their lack of education you kind of undermine your authority when you state that Sweden is in Europe. It isn't.
Posted by: guest at November 8, 2007 1:40 PM
Well, technically, there is that other Sweden, the one that's on the Australian continent, and borders the Carpathian Mountains of Uruguay. But that's also the land of the Snark; it doesn't actually exist, except currently, in my imagination.
I was specifically referring to the real Sweden, which does in fact exist in what is considered "Northern Europe".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden
Posted by: guest at November 8, 2007 3:00 PM
Are you serious with this? That's like saying Buffalo isn't in New York State because it's in Western New York State.
Amy
Posted by: guest at November 8, 2007 3:14 PM
Amy,
I was the 1:40 pm commenter with the black kitchen paneling, AND the 3 pm commenter with the sarcasm. Yes, of course it's in Europe.
I really shoulda left it at your comment, which was funny and short.
My mouth gets the better of me sometimes.
Posted by: guest at November 8, 2007 5:27 PM
Sorry. I've often thought that the internet should have a font called "Sarcastica" that could be used to differentiate between normal posts and snarky ones. I'd use it often. So often, in fact, that I'm embarrassed I didn't see the snark in your posts. I must have woken up on the serious side of the bed this morning.
:-)
Amy
Posted by: guest at November 8, 2007 5:39 PM
Glad you guys worked out your differences. This sort of making peace through comments has got to be a first on Brownstoner.
- Peter
Posted by: guest at November 9, 2007 1:50 PM
Indeed Peter, if peace on brownstoner can be achieved, then there is hope for the middle east.
Amy
Posted by: guest at November 9, 2007 3:31 PM
For a variety of reasons -- brownstone pretensions, so many layers of paint that it was ridiculous -- I stripped all the woodwork in my turn of the century tenement. It was/is a decent yellow pine that when stained, turned a color my ex and I called "Golden Retriever." Very warm. The quality of the woodwork indicates to be that it clearly was always meant to be painted. But stripping it was so much work, I couldn't bear to do so. (Wonder if my ex has....) So there, somebody who fell for the 'never, ever paint' line despite knowing better.
Posted by: guest at November 12, 2007 3:22 PM
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