Jimmie Martin sideboard

I’m a total preservationist when it comes to antiques, yet I get this. It’s groovy baby. Yeah. Quite a few London designers are giving antique pieces a new life by vandalizing them.

German, Dutch trained designer Martin Baas is burning chairs, Burke and Hazelden are painting graffiti on armoires and Le Tramac is upholstering day beds in high gloss colorful PVC.

I hope they are only working with pieces that are beyond restoration, but I have a feeling that’s not always the case.

I paint furniture sometimes. My criteria is:

1. The wood has to be so severely damaged that most of the piece would need to be faux painted.
2. Ugly wood. Never a nice piece to begin with.
3. Parts missing that need to be replaced with new wood. If it’s an otherwise perfect and valuable piece of furniture or home detail, I’ll find an antique piece of wood to match.