Faux Finish vs. Natural Finish

The debate goes on! In a couple of recent posts, there have been a ton of comments on whether or not the majority of us are at least a little bit tired of white rooms, white furniture, and magazines with page after page of white photographs.

I mentioned a couple of alternatives to white, such as seafoam green, or maybe just adding a little silver to an otherwise white piece of furniture, to give it a little zing.

The one alternative that I left out was good , old, natural. You don't hear about it much anymore, but I love a beautifully done, natural finish, more than anything else. Perhaps, I am just an old school guy.

I know that there are sometimes a multitude of problems when applying a natural finish. Numerous clear coats, stripping, staining, sanding by hand, and polishing is a little more work than most people want to go to and it is really time consuming to do it right. But consider this...

White and seafoam green paint may not be in demand when the next fad rolls around, but beautifully finished furniture is always in style, even if it is not the "trendy" way to furnish a room. Here is an example of a table I refinished, instead of painting.





This one was done with 3 coats of polyurethane, sanding between each coat, and polishing to perfection. Yes, it was a ton of work. Yes it took some skill. But it turned out to be a real showstopper, and will probably be admired long after seafoam green and white are forgotten.

And, with today's green earth thinking, having a table or chair that is practically "fad proof" seems like a good idea to me.

I would love to hear this discussion continue. What does everyone think out there?

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