The Furniture Restoration & Colour Issue
March 2019 by Velaphi Mpolweni, owner of Lowe Furniture & Decor
Furniture Restoration
We have been blessed with good rains in this part of the country. My grandparents used to tell me that rain means prosperity. I am not entirely sure of this however what our customers relay to us is that “it is tough out there”. We experience stage four (4) electricity load shedding for the first time in South Africa, one step before total blackout. Businesses have been hit hard due to unreliable customer services or production schedules due to unstable electricity supply.
Tough times require desperate measures. This brings us to one of our topics of today, furniture restoration. Furniture restoration can be done as a hobby, preservation of yester-year’s furniture designs or just as a way to save costs of replacing old furniture.
Regardless of what your reasons are for restoring furniture, not all furniture can be restored or is easy to restore. Furniture made of Melamine or Chipboard is not easy to restore or can totally not be restored. This is because of the nature of this material, once assembled you cannot disassemble and reconfigure them again. The original furniture piece is normally purchased at a very cost effective price hence considered a once off piece, if broken it is not worth it to restore such a product or unit.
Furniture created of hardwoods like Mahogany, Oak, Kiaat etc are favourites for restorations. To an extent, furniture pieces manufactured with softwoods like Pine and Poplar can still be restored. Solid or hardwoods are pricier because of many factors. Some of these species are classified as exotic woods that are imported from abroad, their prices depend on the exchange rate at the time, demand and supply etc. These furniture pieces carry their value for many years.
At Lowe Furniture and Décor, we are seeing an increase in the need to restore, repaint or re-stain sentimental furniture pieces. Staining is done through application of green, low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) staining products. Chalk paints are very popular due to their easy to apply characteristics. Customers can consider the following decorative painting finishes as options:
- Staining
- Liming
- Weathered wood
- Antiquing
- Gilding
- Distressing etc
Painting is one easy way to give furniture a new revamped look. Colour projects our personality, mood and emotions. This leads us to our next topic:
Source: Lowe Furniture & Decor
2019 Colour of the year
PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral is the colour of the year for 2019.
This is a calm and authentic colour reflecting the human connection and authenticity. It is also a colour that works with the other current popular colours, like grey and also the whites and black. Some of the Turquoise colours also blend beautifully with this shade. Bring back the gold touch in accessories. This is a perfect colour for golds.
In the age where we talk of Post truths, Fake news etc there is no better time where we need to be authentic and develop our connections with our fellow human beings. This colour will just help us to be what we are supposed to be in this universe and that is to be optimistic in the mist of chaos around us.
Source www.Pinterest.com
Colour of the year helps designers to set the tone on what will be trending as statement pieces for the upcoming year. My wish is for Style readers to restore one furniture piece in their homes and finish with this colour as a statement piece or focal point. Living coral come in many shades, one can use paint or upholster a sofa, chair or occasional chair with fabric in this shade.
By Velaphi Mpolweni
Velaphi is the owner of Lowe Furniture & Décor (www.Lowesfd.co.za)
Winner of Tsogosun 2018 Achiever of the year and 2017 SA furniture design Competition
Author: Derrick Markotter
RCCI Webmaster Derrick runs a boutique web marketing agency, IdealMedia Marketing.